ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE SEPTEMBER 30, 1940
LoNdoN Transport has posted bills at Tube stations addressed to able-bodied men, saying: ‘Space at Tube stations is limited. Women, children and the infirm need it most. Be a man and leave it to them.’
SEPTEMBER 30, 1966
NATo secrets have been smuggled to communists inside wooden ‘Russian’ dolls which open to reveal a series of smaller dolls. They were sent to Eastern Europe by a spy cell operating inside NATo HQ in Paris.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MARTINA HINGIS, 37. The Swiss tennis player and former world No 1 (right) holds the title of youngest Grand Slam champion in the history of the sport, having won the Wimbledon women’s doubles at 15. Martina’s mother saw tennis as her daughter’s route to a better life. She was right: she’s won £18 million in prize money across her career. JoHNNy MATHIS, 82. The Texan-born singer was discovered by a jazz producer, who telegrammed Columbia Records: ‘Have found phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts.’ Since then, he’s released 100 albums. of his fans, Mathis says: ‘The British are very loyal. once you’re a success in Britain, you’re a success for life.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
ELIE WIESEL (1928-2016). The Romanianborn Nobel peace laureate was described by then U.S. president Barack obama as ‘the conscience of the world’ for his writings about his experiences during the Holocaust after he was deported to Auschwitz at 15. He wrote more than 40 books, most famously, Night, published in 1958 and brought to a new audience when oprah Winfrey featured it on her TV book club. TERESA GoRMAN (19312015), Conservative MP for Billericay from 1987 to 2001 and one of the Maastricht rebels who nearly brought down John Major’s government. After her first husband, John, died of cancer in 2007, she put an advert in Private Eye saying: ‘old trout seeks old goats. No golfers. Must have own balls.’ She got 128 replies, including from a few golfers. She married again in 2010.
ON SEPTEMBER 30…
IN 1791, Mozart’s last opera The Magic Flute had its premiere in Vienna. IN 1846, for the first time, anaesthetic ether was used during the extraction of a tooth. IN 1967, the BBC’s Home Service, the Light Programme and the Third Programme were replaced by Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION Galea (coined 1854)
A) A headache which covers the entire head like a helmet. B)A small cavity in a rock. C) A gondolier’s song. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
To come up to scratch: Meaning to make the grade or to be good enough to pass a test. derives from the London Prize Ring Rules of 1839: on being floored, a fighter had eight seconds to make his way to a mark scratched in the middle of the ring. If he failed, he was declared the loser.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LifE, if you’re fat, is a minefield — you have to pick your way, otherwise you blow up. Miriam Margolyes, actress
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHy don’t tennis players get married? Because love means nothing to them. Guess the Definition Answer: A