ON THIS DAY
MARCH 1, 1935
CONSIDERATION is being given to Princess Elizabeth (right, aged eight) broadcasting on the BBC in His Majesty’s Silver Jubilee week. It has been felt that along with celebrations for adults, something should be done for children. [In the event, the future Queen was not heard on radio until 1940, when she was 14].
MARCH 1, 1946
THE Sun Life Assurance Society announced yesterday that claims will not be met on new life insurance policies if death is caused by atom bombs. Previously, many policies covered normal war risks but future ones will not, owing to the ‘development of modern weapons’. ‘If only one atom bomb fell on London, it is estimated we would have to pay out £750,000 to policyholders,’ a Sun Life spokesman said yesterday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JAVIER BARDEM, 49. The Spanish actor is married to actress Penelope Cruz. He is known for playing Bond villain Raoul Silva in 2012’s Skyfall but, in fact, he was a rugby player before embarking on a film career. His nose was broken in an assault when he was 19, and he refuses to watch his films because he hates seeing how crooked it looks. LUPITA NYONG’O, 35. She was born in Mexico City when her Kenyan parents were in political exile but grew up in Nairobi and is fluent in Spanish, English and the East African languages Luo and Swahili. Lupita was the first Kenyan actress to win an Oscar — in 2014 for 12 Years A Slave (pictured) — and stars in the new superhero film Black Panther.
BORN ON THIS DAY
GEORGI MARKOV ( 1929- 1978). The Bulgarian dissident writer, who defected to Britain in 1968, is known as the ‘Umbrella Murder’ victim. He died four days after crossing Waterloo Bridge in London and feeling a sting on the back of his thigh and seeing a man pick up an umbrella and flee. It is said a ricin-filled pellet had been fired into his leg, probably by a KGB-trained killer. GLENN MILLER (1904-1944). The American big band leader had hits with In The Mood and Pennsylvania 6-5000 — the telephone number of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York where the band had a long booking in 1940. After joining the U.S. Army in 1942, Miller died in 1944 when the small plane in which he planned to fly from the UK to Paris disappeared over the Channel.
ON MARCH 1…
IN 1783, the fourth of five strong earthquakes hit the Calabria region of Southern Italy. In total, up to 50,000 were killed.
IN 1981, IRA man Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. He died on the 66th day.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Tulchan (1789) A) Ill-balanced, shaky. B) Calf’s skin set beside a cow to make her give milk freely. C) The wrong way. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED Pin money:
Small sum to spend on inessentials. Comes from an age when husbands gave their wives money to buy pins, then a luxury.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
ONLY put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter (1881-1973)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHICH composer is a favourite among dogs? Poochini. Guess The Definition answer: B.