ON THIS DAY
May 3, 2017
MAY 3, 1945
THE Wehrmacht has collapsed. Berlin has fallen. Hitler and Goebbels are now reported to have killed themselves in the dying capital. The German armies — one million men — in Northern Italy and Western Austria have surrendered unconditionally.
MAY 3, 1968
PRINCE PHILIP made no secret of what happened when he met Napoleon, the orangutan, yesterday. ‘He widdled all over me,’ said the Prince as he toured the animal hospital at london Zoo.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BEN ELTON, 58. The comedian, novelist and co-writer of Blackadder once said the public’s perception of him was ‘a smug git in a shiny suit’ and his mother’s only comment after she first saw his stand-up routine was: ‘The F-word is all very well as an exclamation mark, but it’s not much use as a comma.’
FRANKIE VALLI, 83. Born Francesco Castelluccio, the lead singer of The Four Seasons — who had 71 hits, including Walk like A Man — decided to be a singer aged seven after seeing Frank Sinatra live. The New Jersey band had several brushes with the local mafia and were ‘requested’ to do a gig at a prison in Atlanta where the big boss was doing time. They agreed.
BORN ON THIS DAY
GOLDA MEIR (1898-1978). The russianborn politician came out of retirement to become Israel’s first female prime minister aged 70 in 1969. egypt’s president Anwar el-Sadat said she was a ‘tough old lady’ and Israel’s first PM David Ben-Gurion called her the only man in his Cabinet.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI (1469-1527). The Italian philosopher, a senior official in renaissance Florence, has been described as a cynical and amoral ‘teacher of power’ due to his best-known work, The Prince (Il Principe), in which he taught that ‘it is better to be feared than loved’.
ON MAY 3...
IN 1968, Frederick West became the first British patient to receive a heart transplant, at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, london. He died 46 days later from an infection.
IN 1988, the White House admitted that First lady Nancy reagan had used an astrologer to help decide President reagan’s schedule. In her memoir, Nancy (right) said it began after an assassination attempt on ronald left her terrified.
WORD WIZARDRY NEW WORD FROM THIS CENTURY
Quidditching: A social media craze where you post a picture of yourself jumping with a broomstick so you look like you are flying like Harry Potter in a game of quidditch.
GUESS THE DEFINITION Slapsauce (coined 1573)
A) A glutton who enjoys eating fine food. B) eminently embraceable. C) A reckless, happy-go-lucky person.
Answer below. PHRASE EXPLAINED
Blackballed: Said of a candidate proposed but not accepted, as a member to a club. In a ballot, those who accepted the person dropped a white or red ball in the box, but those excluding them put in a black one.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
If A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
Albert Einstein, physicist (1879-1955) JOKE OF THE DAY How was the roman empire cut in half?
With a pair of Caesars. Guess The Definition answer: A.