ON THIS DAY
August 20, 2020
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE AUGUST 20, 1951
A MILLION Argentinos will pop the question to Senora Eva Peron in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. An elaborately stagemanaged demonstration in the capital’s Plaza Republica will roar forth the request: ‘Please be our Vice President.’ The rally is designed to pave the way for an unprecedented husband-and-wife victory in November’s presidential elections.
AUGUST 20, 1969
ROLLING Stone Mick Jagger left hospital in Canberra, Australia, yesterday after an operation to remove a piece of metal from the base of his right thumb. He was wounded while using an old pistol in an ambush scene for the film about bandit Ned Kelly. Jagger said: ‘We were using blanks and one of them backfired.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ROBERT PLANT, 72. The Led Zeppelin lead singer from West Bromwich had planned to become a chartered accountant. He said that when the band broke up, he had no idea how to live a normal life: ‘I didn’t even know how to book an airline ticket and I was 32.’ DEMI LOVATO, 28. The American singersongwriter and actress, whose songs include Solo and Skyscraper, has charted with duets featuring Sam Smith and olly Murs. Lovato, once a judge on the U.S. X Factor, rose to fame on the Disney Channel before becoming a pop star. She has battled substance abuse since she was a teenager, going into rehab for the first time aged 18 — the same age she clocked up her first gold album.
BORN ON THIS DAY
YOOTHA JOYCE (19271980). The London-born actress, the daughter of two musicians, trained at Rada alongside Roger Moore. She made her name in the 1970s sitcoms Man About The House and spin-off George And Mildred. She died from cirrhosis of the liver aged 53, with Brian Murphy — who played onscreen husband George — at her bedside. PHIL LYNOTT (1949-1986). The lead singer of rock band Thin Lizzy — who had hits with Whiskey In The Jar and The Boys Are Back In Town — was born to a Guyanese father and Irish mother in West Bromwich but brought up in Dublin. He married Caroline, daughter of TV comic Leslie Crowther.
ON AUGUST 20…
IN 1866, U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed a proclamation declaring the end of the American Civil War.
IN 1990, the first episode of The Moral Maze was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It is still chaired by Michael Buerk.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Gigot (c 1525)
A) Cloth used for covering the head of a dead person. B) The court fool. C) Leg of lamb or mutton. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
To bell the cat — meaning to attack a common enemy at great risk to oneself for the sake of others; from Piers Plowman’s fable of the mice who wanted to hang a bell around the neck of a cat.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
We used to laugh at comedians and listen to politicians. Now we listen to comedians and laugh at politicians.
John Oliver, English-American comedian
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you get if you cross a Beatle and an Australian dog? Dingo Starr.
Guess The Definition answer: C.