ON THIS DAY
June 15, 2018
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JUNE 15, 1940 WHILE German troops were goose-stepping down the Champs-Elysees yesterday the bulk of Hitler’s Army was streaming to the south, east and west of Paris. Tonight, refugees choke the roads, but there is still hope the Americans may intervene. JUNE 15, 1953 THE Duke and Duchess of Windsor went with four American friends to a Paris cinema last night to see the Coronation in colour. The Duke said of A Queen Is Crowned: ‘I could not have enjoyed it more.’ The rule forbidding smoking was relaxed as the Duke chain-smoked throughout. Towards the end he was visibly and deeply moved.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RICHARD BAKER, 93. The broadcaster (right) introduced the BBC’s first TV news bulletin in 1954, read the headlines for 28 years, presented Radio 4’s Start The Week for 17, and hosted 32 Last Nights Of The Proms. He said fans sent him woolly jumpers. ‘I don’t know why. Viewers must have measured me on the TV screen because they were so tiny but, even after all these years, I still have some.’ LAKSHMI MITTAL, 68. The Indian-born, British-based steel magnate topped the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List with £27.7 billion, but was fifth this year, with just £14.6 billion. His daughter Vanisha’s wedding is said to have been the second most expensive in modern times, costing about £50 million (20-page invitations were encased in silver). It was beaten only by Prince Charles nuptials to Lady Diana Spencer which, adjusted for inflation, cost over £80 million.
BORN ON THIS DAY
JAMES ROBERTSON JUSTICE (1907-1975). The actor who played surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt in the ‘Doctor’ films in the Fifties and Sixties (right) had been a journalist, lumberjack, gold miner and racing driver. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and in the Royal Naval Reserve in World War II. Although London-born, he identified with his Scottish ancestry, once claiming he was born under a distillery on the Isle of Skye. DEMIS ROUSSOS (1946-2015). The Greek singer was immortalised in 1977 TV play Abigail’s Party, in which Alison Steadman’s character Beverly plays his hit Forever And Ever, remarking he ‘doesn’t sound’ fat (he once weighed 23st). The ‘Kaftan King’, who sold 60 million records, attributed his UK popularity to package holidays: ‘My music came right on time.’
ON JUNE 15…
IN 1215, King John put his seal on Magna Carta, at Runnymede. IN 1995, during his murder trial, OJ Simpson struggled to fit his hand into a glove worn by the killer of his ex-wife, Nicole.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Ecdysiast (coined in 1940) A) Strip-tease dancer. B) Argumentative person. C) Enthusiast Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Marry in haste, repent at leisure: Meaning rushing into marriage is a mistake. The phrase first appeared in William Congreve’s 1693 play The Old Batchelour.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I DON’T want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it gain. F. Scott Fitzgerald, U.S. novelist (1896-1940)
JOKE OF THE DAY
MY girlfriend wanted to split up as I kept pretending to be a detective. ‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘We can cover more ground.’
Guess The Definition answer: A.