ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MAY 23, 1949
PRINCESS MARGARET today spoke to her father by radio-telephone from the battleship Vanguard, anchored off Venice. She gained permission for Captain Parham to give the order ‘Splice the mainbrace’, which means an extra tot of rum for the crew.
MAY 23, 1956
A RIOT squad was called out last night to control the crowd that gatecrashed the wedding of British film actor Anthony Steel and Swedish starlet Anita Ekberg ( right). In Florence’s 13th- century Palazzo Vecchio, there was pandemonium throughout the 30-minute civil marriage ceremony. For a glimpse of the bride, people scaled priceless statues, clambered through windows and even climbed on the back of the chair of the registrar conducting the marriage.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JOHNNY BALL, 81. the Bristol-born actor and TV presenter hosted children’s programmes Play School and think Of A Number. the father of radio 2’s Zoe Ball still skis every year and tries to maintain the exercise regime he began when he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2012 — the oldest contestant on the series. GRAEME HICK, 53. the 6ft 3in former Worcestershire and England cricketer — born in what was rhodesia — is the only player to have scored first- class triple centuries in three different decades, achieving the feat in 1988, 1997 and 2002.
BORN ON THIS DAY
CAROLUS LINNAEUS (1707-1778). the Swedish botanist created a system for defining species that is still used today. linnaeus wrote the first book to establish a basis for naming plants according to their physical characteristics. He named the banana ‘Musa paradisiaca’ because he believed it might be the ‘forbidden fruit’ of the Bible. DOUGLAS Fairbanks ( 1883- 1939). the u. S. actor (right), famous for swashbuckling roles in silent films such as the Mark Of Zorro, was known as the ‘King of Hollywood’. He co- created the united Artists studio, helped set up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in 1929 was the first host of what became the Oscars. But when the talkies arrived, his career faded. reputedly, Fairbanks’s last words were: ‘I’ve never felt better’ — before he died of a heart attack, aged 56.
ON MAY 23 . . .
IN 1785, Benjamin Franklin announced his invention of a bifocal eyeglass, enabling people to see far away and close up without switching glasses. IN 2017, Sir roger Moore died, aged 89.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Psittacine (late 19th century) A) relating to a magpie. B) relating to a parrot. C) relating to a peafowl. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Bucket shop: Either an agency specialising in cheap tickets or an unauthorised office for speculating in shares or currency.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Gratitude is the fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people. Samuel Johnson, English writer (1709-1784)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY did the child study in an aeroplane? He wanted a higher education. Guess The Definition answer: B