ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
AUGUST 5, 1914
The following announcement was issued at the Foreign Office at 12.15am: ‘Owing to the summary rejection by the German government of the request made by His Majesty’s Government for assurances that the neutrality of Belgium would be respected . . . His Majesty’s Government has declared to the German government that a state of war exists between Great Britain and Germany as from 11pm on August 4.’ Huge crowds in Whitehall and Trafalgar Square greeted the news with cheers.
AUGUST 5, 2000
The Queen Mother (right) capped her 100th birthday with a trip to the ballet last night. Her day began as it does for anyone who reaches 100, with a message from the Queen. Hers was different. It was signed not elizabeth R, but ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s pet name. The Queen Mother was waiting outside her London home to meet the postman. But it took her gallant equerry, Captain William de Rouet of the Irish Guards, to add the most stylish of starts to the day as she struggled to open the card. ‘Can you use your sword?’ she asked. And he did, slicing the envelope open.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LOUIS WALSH, 67. The Irish ex-manager of Boyzone and Westlife — with 20 No 1’s between them — was a judge on The X Factor for 13 years. The second of nine children, his career in music management was kick-started when he sat next to Irish star Johnny Logan on a bus and later convinced him to sing at the eurovision Song Contest. Logan became the only singer to win eurovision twice, in 1980 and 1987. MARk STRONG, 56 (right). The actor from London has starred in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Imitation Game and the baddie in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movie. One critic said he has ‘the most photogenic, magnetic face in the history of cinematography’. He says that he doesn’t mind being typecast as villains because ‘they are the best parts and get the best lines’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
JOHN HUSTON (1906-1987). The double Oscar-winning U.S. director made The African Queen and The Maltese Falcon. He cast his father Walter in The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre in 1948 and his daughter, Anjelica, in Prizzi’s Honor in 1985. Both won Oscars. Huston married five times to what he called ‘a mixed bag: a schoolgirl, a gentlewoman, a motion picture actress, a ballerina and a crocodile’.
ON AUGUST 5 ...
IN 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her bed at home in Los Angeles after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 36. IN 1966, The Beatles released double Aside Yellow Submarine and eleanor Rigby.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Enuresis (1800) A) A cough. B) A headache. C) Involuntary urination, especially when asleep. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Back to the drawing board: To start all over again; it dates from the Forties when artist Peter Arno put the expression, which refers to an architect’s designing table, in his comic strip. Used after an idea fails.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Give me the luxuries in life and I will willingly do without the necessities. Frank Lloyd Wright, U.S. architect (1867-1959)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHO did I bump into on the way to the optometrist? Everyone! Guess The Definition answer: C.