ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JANUARY 3, 1959
A FANTASTIC Russian rocket is on its way to the Moon this morning at seven miles a second. It was launched yesterday. And Moscow radio said last night that it was expected to reach ‘the area of the Moon’ at 4am British time tomorrow. [The Russian Luna 1 rocket became the first spacecraft to reach the Moon.]
JANUARY 3, 1979
A PLANT poison twice as powerful as cobra venom killed umbrella murder victim Georgi Markov, an inquest heard yesterday. The 49-year-old Bulgarian defector, who died after being stabbed in the leg in London by an umbrella last September, was injected with the poison ricin, which comes from the seeds of the castor-oil plant.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
GRETA THuNBERG, 19. The Swedish activist became a global star after skipping school to protest outside her country’s parliament — calling for action to tackle climate change. Her mother is opera singer Malena Ernman, who represented Sweden at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Thunberg’s middle name is Tintin. MICHAEL SCHuMACHER, 53. The German seven-time Formula 1 world champion was put in a medically-induced coma for six months after a severe head injury while skiing in the French Alps in 2013 — two years after retiring following a 19-year career. His wife said in September that Schumacher was still battling to recover, adding: ‘Michael is here — different, but here.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
JILL BALCON (1925-2009). The Londonborn actress made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby. The daughter of film producer Sir Michael Balcon, wife of Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and mother of actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis admitted her fame had been eclipsed by family members, saying: ‘It’s very chastening to be a footnote in so many people’s lives.’ Her last film role was in An Ideal Husband alongside Cate Blanchett and Rupert Everett. SERGIO LEONE (19291989). The Italian film director, who shot Clint Eastwood to fame, made his name with Spaghetti Westerns The Good, The Bad And The ugly and Once upon A Time In The West. He said: ‘The Western is a great fable, a myth like Achilles. For me the attraction is the joy of making justice oneself without asking permission.’ Leone started out as an assistant director on classics including Ben Hur.
ON JANUARY 3…
IN 1971, the Open university first broadcast on BBC Two. IN 1988, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s longest continuously serving prime minister of the 20th century.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Dudgeon (coined c1570) A) The last unwilling sheep to be sheared B) A feeling of offence or resentment C) A miser (Answer below)
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LeT Us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good Harold Macmillan, British prime minister (1894-1986)
JOKE OF THE DAY
DID you hear about the revolution at the poultry farm? It was a chicken coup. Guess The Definition answer: B.
Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD