ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
juLy 20, 1940 LARGE crowds of new Yorkers who gathered around loudspeakers in Times Square to hear Hitler’s speech booed on hearing a translation. It is believed Britain will reject the feeler for peace included in it. ‘Hitler calls on Britain to yield or be crushed’ is the new York Sun headline. juLy 20, 1966 FRAnk Sinatra, 50, and Mia Farrow, 21, will wed in Las Vegas tomorrow. It will be actress Miss Farrow’s first marriage. Sinatra has three children by his first marriage. His second wife was actress Ava Gardner.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME DIAnA RIGG, 80. The actress from Yorkshire played leather-clad Emma Peel (right) in The Avengers and Bond Girl Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, the only woman to marry 007. Of her Emmy-nominated role of Olenna Tyrell in Game Of Thrones, she said: ‘There are times I think it would be nice if they took into consideration the fact that I am the age I am … it would be nice if they didn’t make me get up at 5am for a 12-hour day.’ PAUL COOk, 62. While a teenager, the Sex Pistols drummer met the band’s manager Malcolm McLaren, who said he ‘saw himself as Fagin, who wanted to turn us into his band of urchins’. Regarding Brexit and modern music, he said: ‘You will never curtail the uniqueness of British youth culture. We’ll never end up with homogenised European pop music here.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
LORD (JOHn) REITH (1889-1971). The name of the Scottish first director general of the BBC is a byword for serious public service broadcasting, with his mission to ‘educate, inform and entertain’. But his daughter Marista said: ‘My father shared many characteristics with Mussolini. He was dictatorial, ruthless and exploitative.’ Under Reith, the BBC did not broadcast on Sunday before 12.30pm, to give listeners time to attend church, and for the rest of the day broadcast only religious services and non-frivolous programming. WEnDY RICHARD (19432009). The British actress ( pictured), who played Miss Brahms in shop sitcom Are You Being Served?, had worked in the fashion department at Fortnum & Mason aged 16. Wendy took her role as EastEnder Pauline Fowler so seriously she would call the studio when on holiday if she saw her character’s fruit bowl being moved.
ON JULY 20 . . .
IN 1973, actor and martial arts star Bruce Lee died, aged 32, after an allergic reaction to headache medication. IN 2015, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba resumed after 50 years.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Jubjub (Lewis Carroll 1871) A) Scarecrow. B) Imaginary bird. C) Urchin. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED
Everything but the kitchen sink: Meaning just about everything. Originates from 1900s and was popular in World War II, when it was said everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at the enemy.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
A CLEVER, ugly man every now and then is successful with the ladies, but a handsome fool is irresistible. William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist (1811-1863)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I ORDERED a book of puns last week . . . but I didn’t get it. Guess The Definition answer: B