ON THIS DAY
April 17, 2017
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 17, 1934
‘LeT film stars tell the truth about their salaries and kidnapping threats will cease,’ says Bing Crosby, the famous American crooner. He and his wife, Dixie Lee, and son, Gary, are protected day and night by the police following threats of abduction. ‘From a financial point of view, I am no great prize for kidnappers,’ he said.
APRIL 17, 1961
FIDEL CASTRO today blamed America for the bombing of Cuban airfields [that was followed less than two days later by the failed Bay of Pigs invasion — an attempt to overthrow the Cuban leader] and called President John F. Kennedy and his government cowards. He alleged that six Guatemala-based planes made the attack and said it was Cuba’s ‘Pearl Harbor’.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
VICTORIA BECKHAM, 43. The fashion designer, formerly known as Posh Spice (right), said of the group that made her famous: ‘We were going to be the Spicy Girls but that was the name of a porn site, so we had to change it.’ SEAN BEAN, 58. The Sheffield-born star of Sharpe, The Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones once worked on a Marks & Spencer cheese counter and says his guiltiest pleasure is Fray Bentos steak and kidney pies.
BORN ON THIS DAY
NIKITA KHRuSHCHeV (1894-1971). The leader of the Soviet union from 1958 to 1964 launched a ‘de-Stalinization’ programme as soon as he came to power. He focused on improving living standards for his citizens, frequently asking: ‘And what sort of Communist society is it that has no sausage?’ JOE ALASKEY (1952-2016). The American impressionist was the voice behind Bugs Bunny (right), Daffy Duck, and Looney Tunes character elmer Fudd. Alaskey went on to voice Richard nixon in the 1994 film, Forrest Gump.
ON APRIL 17...
IN 1969, Bernadette Devlin, 21, became Britain’s youngest-ever female MP when she won the seat of Mid-ulster as an independent unity candidate.
IN 1984, PC yvonne Fletcher, 25, was killed and ten people were injured after shots were fired from the Libyan embassy in London. IN 1999,
after far-rightat least extremist45 people David were Copelandwounded detonated the first of three nail bombs in London. NEW WORD OF THE DAY
Grass ceiling: The barrier to business promotion from one’s inability to play golf or join the right golf club. GUESS THE DEFINITION Shillibeer (coined eponymous 1835) A) A street brawl. B) Someone posing as an enthusiastic customer to encourage other buyers. C) A horse-drawn hearse with seats for mourners. PHRASE EXPLAINED
High seas: It refers to all the sea that is not the property of a particular country, similar to a highway being for public use; the sea three miles out belongs to the adjacent coast and is called mare clausum.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
MONDAY is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life. Steven Wright, U.S. comedian
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY does a space rock taste better than an earth rock? Because it is a little meteor. Guess The definition answer: C.