October 10, 2022 ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE OCTOBER 10, 1940

FAMOUS art treasures which the Germans had stolen from the French and were trying to smuggle to America to exchange for dollars have been seized by the British authorities at Bermuda. Among the 500 paintings and drawings are 270 Renoirs, 30 Cezannes and 12 Gauguins.

OCTOBER 10, 2009

WORLDWIDE astonishment greeted the decision yesterday to give Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. The U.S. President has been in office for less than nine months and is overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the prize committee highlighted Mr Obama’s efforts to support international bodies, build ties with the Muslim world, promote nuclear disarmament and fight climate change.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JUDITH CHALMERS, 87. The TV presenter estimated she clocked up two million air miles in her 30 years hosting Wish You Were Here…? Her golden rule for packing is ‘sticking your shoes in the bottom, and your pants on the top, that’s if you take them’. CHRIS TARRANT, 76. The Berkshire-born TV presenter of children’s show Tiswas says his Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? catchphrases still haunt him. Tarrant said it’s been about 20 years ‘since I could last walk down the street anywhere in Britain without somebody shouting at me: “Hello, CT. Do you want to phone a friend?” ’

BORN ON THIS DAY

MURRAY WALKER (1923-2021). As Formula 1 commentator for the BBC, then ITV, the Birmingham-born broadcaster became ‘the high-octane voice of British motor sport’. He often got so over-excited describing what he saw that it lead to mistakes, affectionately known as ‘Murrayisms’, such as: ‘Mansell is slowing down, taking it easy. Oh no he isn’t — it’s a lap record!’ KIRSTY MacCOLL (19592000). The singer- songwriter from Croydon is best known for her 1987 hit with The Pogues, Fairytale Of New York. The opening lyrics to her song Soho Square are engraved on a bench in the London square: ‘ Your name froze on the winter air / An empty bench in Soho Square.’ She was killed, aged 41, by a speedboat while diving with her sons in Mexico.

ON OCTOBER 10…

IN 1965, Make Yourself At Home was first broadcast on BBC TV and radio to cater to immigrants from India and Pakistan.

IN 1999, the Millennium Wheel, now known as the London Eye, was hoisted into place.

WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Metaverse (circa 2020)

A) A poem written for someone’s birthday.

B) A poem that seems profound but is nonsense verse.

C) A shared online space for activities using virtual and augmented reality technology.

Answer below

PHRASE EXPLAINED Drop your aitches —

referring to the failure to pronounce the ‘h’ sound. Considered by some to be a sign of a lack of education or of being from an inferior social class.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.

Neil Gaiman, English author

JOKE OF THE DAY

WHY did the baby strawberry cry?

His parents were in a jam.

Guess the definition answer: C Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD