March 25, 2021 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MARCH 25, 1972
CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA, the village dressmaker who became couturier to royalty and film stars, has at the age of 77. His clients included Princess Grace of Monaco and Marlene Dietrich. The late Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel once said: ‘The others are draughtsmen or copyists . . . but Balenciaga alone is a couturier.’
MARCH 25, 1998
TITANIC cruised to 11 Oscars at Tinseltown’s biggest night of the year. The most expensive film ever made equalled the awards tally of Ben-Hur. But there was nothing for its British star Kate Winslet.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JIM LOVELL, 93. The apollo 8 astronaut was one of the first people to see the far side of the Moon. after commanding apollo 13, he spent more time in space than anyone else, notching up more than 700 hours. That mission had almost ended in tragedy: the on-board explosion of a liquid oxygen tank while 200,000 miles from Earth forced the crew to abort and return home. CATHY DENNIS, 52. One of the singersongwriter from norfolk’s biggest hits was Can’t Get You Out Of My Head for Kylie Minogue, which she co-wrote in a few hours with rob Davis from 1970s band Mud. She gave up her career as a pop star to concentrate on songwriting and said: ‘I felt I did have a genuine talent to write songs and if I did not use it, it would be a sin.’ She has written eight UK no 1s for other artists.
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIMONE SIGNORET (1921-1985). The German-born French actress won an Oscar for her role in the 1959 British film room at The Top. She had no time for pontificating about her craft, saying: ‘The less you analyse a role, this mysterious adventure, well, the better.’ not surprisingly she was dubbed ‘l’anti-star’. ARETHA FRANKLIN ( 1942- 2018). The U. S. singer was hailed as the Queen of Soul and Barack Obama, who had Franklin sing at his presidential inauguration in 2009, said: ‘american history wells up when aretha sings.’ She was known as a diva who, when working with soul singer luther vandross, addressed him as ‘vandross’ while insisting he call her ‘Miss Franklin’.
ON MARCH 25 . . .
IN 1306, robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots. He would lead the fight for Scottish independence against Edward I. IN 1807, the abolition of the Slave Trade act entered the statute books, making it illegal throughout the British colonies.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Alembic (c late 14th century)
a) a poem that is really nonsense verse. B) an apparatus used in distilling. C) a poem written for a birthday.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Neither fish, flesh, fowl nor good red herring: Meaning neither one thing nor the other, so satisfying no one. It comes from the dietary laws of the medieval Catholic Church governing what monks were allowed to eat, while also referring to what the rich and poor could afford to serve.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
After the idea, there is plenty of time to learn the technology.
James Dyson, British inventor
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY don’t melons ever run away to get married? Because they cantaloupe. Guess The Definition answer: B.