ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JANUARY 22, 1949
RADIO comedians and their gag-writers are studying a new BBC list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ covering jokes about politics, MPs, religion, drink and physical defects. It forbids impersonations of Mr Churchill, Biblical references in comedy settings and suggestive references to chambermaids, fig leaves, ladies’ underwear and animal habits.
JANUARY 22, 1990
JOHN McENROE ( pictured) became the first player to be disqualified from a Grand Slam event yesterday after being thrown out of the Australian Open in Melbourne for a stream of four-letter abuse. McEnroe, the three-times Wimbledon champion who claimed just a month ago that he had matured, said: ‘I don’t have anyone to blame but myself.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BARONESS (GILLIAN) SHEPHARD, 80. The Tory peer was nicknamed ‘Iron Lady Mark II’ after serving in the Cabinet. Yet after talk of Shepherd as a prospective party leader, Margaret Thatcher reportedly said: ‘Are we really that desperate?’ Famous for her temper, Shepherd once made a Belgian minister cry after a tirade and later said: ‘I can be propelled by rage for days. I’m a kicker and a swearer and a jumper as well.’ DIANE LANE, 55 (pictured), star of movies Unfaithful and The Perfect Storm, had made ten feature films by the age of 20. At 13 she was described by Laurence Olivier as the new Grace Kelly when she acted opposite him in A Little Romance. While married to actor Josh Brolin, Lane was the stepdaughter-in-law of Barbra Streisand.
BORN ON THIS DAY
MALCOLM McLAREN (1946-2010). The Sex Pistols manager and ex-partner of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood once said he hoped to stand for London mayor on a manifesto that included selling alcohol in libraries and legalising brothels. Journalist Julie Burchill said he was so influential on popular culture that ‘we are all children of Thatcher and McLaren’. LORD BYRON (1788-1824). The Romantic poet is believed to have had a daughter with his half-sister, Augusta. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, became a mathematician and computing pioneer (his first words to her were: ‘Oh! What an implement of torture have I acquired in you!’).
ON JANUARY 22…
IN 1962, James Hanratty pleaded not guilty to killing scientist Michael Gregsten. The A6 murderer was convicted and hanged on April 4, one of the last executions in Britain.
IN 2008, actor Heath Ledger died, aged 28, from an accidental overdose. He won a posthumous Oscar the following year for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Chthonic (c1840)
A) Heavenly. B) Of the underworld. C) Disastrous. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
It’s not rocket science: Meaning it’s not difficult to understand. It comes from the fact that rocket science is, of course, difficult to understand.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
“If” and “only” are the two words in the English language that should never be put together.
Sir John Hurt, English actor (1940-2017)
JOKE OF THE DAY
ROBBERS went to a stationery store yesterday and stole 1,000 blunt pencils.
Police say the crime was pointless.
Guess The Definition answer: B.