April 12, 2018
ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 12, 1941
COMPULSORY fire-watching and plans for making this exclusively a women’s service are being considered by the City of london. Mr Colin McDougal, the City’s fire protection officer, said yesterday: ‘It has been proved that these bomb fires can be easily put out by women.’
APRIL 12, 1967
THE Prince of Wales, who is 18, passed his driving test yesterday at the first attempt in a red Rover 2000 at Isleworth, Middlesex. The prince has been driving since he was old enough to reach the pedals. Age ten, he got behind the wheel at Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor. His first instructors were the Queen and Prince Philip.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
SAOIRSE RONAN, 24. The New York-born Irish actress — whose name is pronounced ‘Ser- sha’ — got her first Oscar nomination for Atonement at just 13, her second at 21 for Brooklyn and third this year for lady Bird. Explaining why she plays complex people, she said: ‘I’m not being big-headed, but I’m not a dummy. So I don’t want to play someone who is a dummy on screen. It’s just boring.’ JACOB ZUMA, 76. The ex-South African president resigned in February while facing his ninth no-confidence vote in parliament over corruption allegations. Zuma, jailed on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, now faces fraud and racketeering charges. The father of 21, has four wives and his Zulu name, Gedleyihlekisa, means ‘one who smiles while doing you harm’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
DAVID CASSIDY (19502017). The teen heartthrob from New York found fame in 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family. Cassidy, who revealed before his last year that he had dementia, sold more than 30 million records. He was so popular his fan club was bigger than those of The Beatles and Elvis Presley combined. But a 14-year-old girl died and dozens were injured in a stampede at one of his 1974 concerts in london. In later life, he was detained three times for drink-driving. EDWARD DE VERE (1550-1604). The 17th Earl of Oxford ran two theatre companies and was said by some — including Charlie Chaplin, Mark Twain and Orson Welles — to have been the true author of William Shakespeare’s work. His pen-name ‘Spearshaker’ was due to his jousting success and the lion with a spear on his coat of arms.
ON APRIL 12 . . .
IN 1937, English engineer Frank Whittle successfully ground-tested his jet engine. IN 1945, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt died after suffering a stroke, aged 63.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Tittle
A) Pushing food about a plate. B) Youngest in a litter of pigs. C) Dot above letter ‘i’. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Busman’s holiday: A break spent doing the same thing as at work. It comes from the days of horse-drawn buses, when drivers were said to spend days off riding their route to see if their horse was treated well.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
HUMOUR is the truth; wit is the exaggeration of the truth. Stan Laurel, English comic actor (1890-1965)
JOKE OF THE DAY
AN APPLE a day doesn’t keep the doctor away… it’s just one of Granny’s myths. Guess The Definition answer: C.