ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
AUGUST 15, 1950
YOUNG frauleins who have fallen for the whipped cream and chocolate cakes now on sale are besieging Berlin’s only slimming clinic. Said the clinic’s director: ‘I never thought during the last days of the war and the blockade that Berlin women would ever again worry about slimming.’
AUGUST 15, 1960
A POLICEMAN chased a 2ft kangaroo along tree-lined coningham road, Shepherd’s Bush, last night. It turned into the basement at No. 89, where 13-year- old Eric Fielder, who lives there, made a grab for it. But it bit one of his fingers and escaped.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BEN AFFLECK, 46. the Hollywood star has two oscars — for directing Argo and for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting. He has also won several Golden raspberry awards. In 2004, his Gigli became the first movie to take all six top trophies in the annual ceremony that honours the worst in film. ANNE, PRINCESS ROYAL, 68. Just 18 months after Anne’s birth, king George VI died and her mother became Queen. In 2002, Princess Anne (pictured) became the first senior royal to be convicted of a criminal offence — she was fined £500 and ordered to pay £500 compensation after her dog dotty attacked two children. A year earlier, she was fined £400 after driving her Bentley at 93mph on a dual carriageway.
BORN ON THIS DAY
StIEG LARSSON (1954-2004). the Swedish author died, aged 50, before any of his bestselling the Girl With the dragon tattoo novels were even published. they have sold more than 80 million copies. larsson was a campaigner against the far-right in Sweden and a regular contributor to an anti-fascist magazine in Britain. He feared assassination and never married his long-term partner because he worried it would put her at risk. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (1769-1821). It is still illegal in France to name a pig after Napoleon, out of respect for the emperor. Some historians believe that he suffered haemorrhoids during the Battle of Waterloo, which may have contributed to his defeat. the idea that Napoleon (pictured) was short was down to English propaganda: in fact, he was 5ft 6in, which was average height for the time.
ON AUGUST 15 . . .
IN 1948, the republic of korea — also known as South korea — was established. IN 1962, John lennon and Paul Mccartney drove from liverpool to Skegness to ask ringo Starr to join the Beatles. With an offer of £25 a week, the drummer accepted. IN 1998, 31 people were killed by a real IRA car bomb in omagh, county tyrone.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Vinolent (Chaucer 1386)
A) Addicted to wine. B) Pleasant smelling. c) Fertile; lush. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Big girl’s blouse: Meaning an ineffectual male or a weakling. It comes from the British tabloids of the Sixties and may derive from a liverpudlian comment ‘He’s flapping like a big girl’s blouse’, suggesting both a garment flapping on a washing line and a man flapping about in panic.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
IT IS never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot, English novelist (1819-1880)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT’S the best part about going out to eat with a duck? He’s always stuck with the bill. Guess The Definition answer: A