April 5, 2018 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
APRIL 5, 1946 GLAMOROus underwear and nightgowns, bedecked with frills and bows, will soon be on the market again. A Board of Trade order lifting austerity restrictions on women’s lingerie comes into operation today. APRIL 5, 1968 BRITAIN is rapidly becoming a nation of fatties, two scientists warn today. Young and middle-aged men are about 15lb heavier than men of the same age and height 30 years ago — and we seem to be getting fatter younger. Earlier surveys showed that fatness increased with age until 55, but the two latest ones showed the fatness peak was reached at about 35.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LILY JAMEs, 29. The surrey-born star of Darkest Hour will play the younger version of Meryl streep’s character in sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, released this summer. The actress, whose real surname is Thomson, took her father’s name, James, as her stage name after his death from cancer in 2008. COLIN POWELL, 81. A retired four-star general, Powell was the first AfricanAmerican chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under President George Bush sr and also President George W. Bush’s secretary of state. Leaked emails revealed Powell called Donald Trump ‘a national disgrace and an international pariah’. Trump hit back on Twitter: ‘I was never a fan of Colin Powell after his weak understanding of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq = disaster. We can do much better!’
BORN ON THIS DAY
JOHN LE MEsuRIER (1912-1983). The Bedfordborn actor (right) is best known for playing sergeant Arthur Wilson in Dad’s Army. He married three actresses: June Melville, Hattie Jacques and Joan Malin. He wrote his own death notice in The Times, which announced he had ‘conked out’. His last words to his wife were: ‘It’s all been rather lovely.’ sPENCER TRACY (1900-1967). The u.s. screen star was the first to receive two consecutive Oscars for best actor in Captains Courageous and Boys Town. On the initial win, he had to be given a new statuette after an embarrassing gaffe that saw the first engraved with the name of comic strip character Dick Tracy.
ON APRIL 5…
IN 1874, Birkenhead Park, the first publicly funded park in Britain and inspiration for Central Park in New York, was opened. IN 1994, u. s. rock star Kurt Cobain, frontman of Nirvana, shot himself, aged 27.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Celeusma (coined 1680) A) A battle-cry or watchword. B) Despondency. C) A dash or flourish. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Bell, book and candle: Accompanies a severe reprimand and exclusion; derives from excommunications from the Roman Catholic Church, with the bell being tolled, the book closed and the candle extinguished by being thrown to the ground.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I’VE often found it’s a sign you are working on the right lines when everyone detests you. Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the RAF (1873-1956)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I DON’T make puns about chemical elements very often. Just periodically. Guess The Definition answer: A.