ON THIS DAY
December 16, 2020
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE DECEMBER 16, 1966
WALT DISNEy, the film cartoonist who was made a multi-millionaire by Mickey Mouse, died in Hollywood yesterday, aged 65. Mickey became the star of two silent films. The first sound cartoon starring Mickey was Steamboat Willie in 1928. It took America by storm.
DECEMBER 16, 1993
JOHN MAJOR took his biggest political gamble yesterday and threw open the door of peace to the IRA. He invited the terrorists to lay down their arms for good and come to the negotiating table. Mr Major was cheered when he told a packed House of Commons: ‘If we can work together to quell ancient fears and distrust, we can help build a better future for Northern Ireland.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SIR QUENTIN BLAKE, 88. The illustrator and author from kent, best known for his work with Roald Dahl, was first published in the satirical magazine Punch while still at school. He illustrated 150 episodes off the BBC’s Jackanory and says: ‘I draw every day — unless I’m being interviewed.’ BENNY ANDERSSON, 74. The Swedish singer-songwriter — a quarter of pop group ABBA — also co-created musicals Chess and Mamma Mia!. By 18, father- of-three Benny already had two children with his then girlfriend. ‘I chose to keep on working instead of being with my family,’ he revealed. ‘Which, as you can imagine, was a disaster for them. But I’ve been talking to the kids through the years and for some reason, they feel that I made the right choice.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BEN CROSS (1947-2020). The RADA-trained actor from London, who died in August, spent three months ‘training like a madman’ for his role as sprinter Harold Abrahams in oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire — by the time of production, he claimed to be only a second slower than the olympian, clocking up a best time of 11.6 seconds for the 100 metres. But he added: ‘If one second is ten yards, that is ignominious defeat.’ JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817). Her novel Sense And Sensibility did not have her name on the cover — it said simply: ‘By a Lady.’ Her funeral was attended by just four people and the lengthy inscription on her gravestone speaks of her stoicism, but does not mention that she was a writer.
ON DECEMBER 16…
IN 1950, 22-year- old former child star Shirley Temple married her second husband, Charles Alden Black. IN 1969, MPs voted by a majority of 158 to abolish the death penalty for murder.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Perigee (late 1500s) A) Calling hunting hounds. B) A wig. C) Point in a heavenly body’s orbit where it’s nearest the earth Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED: To cover one’s backside — To avoid blame, punishment or harm. From the Vietnam War, when u.S. troops referred to defending themselves from an attack from the rear.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
If The doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
William Blake, English poet and painter (1757-1827)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a three-humped female camel? Pregnant. Guess the Definition Answer: C.