ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JaNUaRy 31, 1980
WITH five films to her name, Meryl Streep, 30, is the most exciting new actress of the 1980s. Her next picture, Kramer vs Kramer, has been chosen for the Royal Film Performance. Even her hard-to-please co-star Dustin Hoffman, says: ‘Acting with her is like playing tennis with Billie Jean King. She keeps trying to hit the perfect ball.’ JaNUaRy 31, 2002
ABOuT 2,000 volunteers tried to make the Millennium Bridge wobble last night, walking over the £18.2 million structure to find out if its catastrophic sway had been cured, at a cost of £5 million. The bridge shut two days after it opened in 2000. It is thought that around 180,000 crossed the structure in its first weekend. But many could barely stand and others were sick because of the way it swayed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DANIElA BIANCHI, 82.
The Italian actress played
Bond girl Tat i a n a Romanova in 1963’s From
Russia With love. Her lines were re- recorded by another actress due to her strong accent, which limited her career. She retired in 1970, to marry a shipping magnate. PATRICK KIElTy, 53. The Northern Irish comedian hosted ITV’s original love Island series as well as talent show Fame Academy – with Cat Deeley, whom he later married. He once said of their relationship: ‘First find a woman out of your league and then convince her she isn’t.’ He now presents The late late Show on RTE in Dublin and crosses the border for his BBC Radio 5 live show.
BORN ON THIS DAY
SuzANNE PlESHETTE (1937-2008). The u.S. star played a teacher who was pecked to death in classic 1963 Hitchcock film The Birds. Her role in 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show came after she was spotted on a talk show. Writer David Davis said: ‘There she was, just what we were looking for. She was bubble-headed but smart.’ NORMAN MAIlER (1923
2007). The Pulitzer Prizewinning u.S. journalist, author and playwright based his 1948 novel The Naked And The Dead on his experiences in the Army in World War II. The father of nine, who married six times, said his advice to young writers was: ‘Avoid booze, pot, too much sex, too much failure in one’s private life.’
ON JANUARY 31 . . .
IN 1950, u.S. President Harry Truman announced his decision to support development of the hydrogen bomb.
IN 1990, McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Russia — in Moscow.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Urtication (coined 1837)
A) Cupping the hands. B) Whipping limbs with nettles to restore feeling. C) Stuffing one bird into another. answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Blue stocking: An intellectual or literary woman; comes from Venice in 1400 where members of a society were recognised by the colour of their stockings.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I’ve come to realise that it bears a close resemblance to the first.
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president (1911-2004)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a made-up colour? a pigment of your imagination. Guess The Definition answer: B. Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD