ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JUNE 8, 1931 QUESTIONS of lawn tennis etiquette came up at Le Touquet when two young women arrived at the courts attired in shorts. Mr Simond, the referee, was nonplussed by the abbreviated garments. Short skirts, trouserskirts and bare legs are permitted, but Mr Simond had to draw the line at ‘shorts’. JUNE 8, 1945 DESpITE warnings about picking up war souvenirs, six Suffolk children, aged from five to 13, were injured last night, three being taken to hospital. One boy aged ten had a bag containing parts of incendiary bombs. It is thought an explosion occurred when he emptied these on to the ground.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MICK HUCKNALL, 58, right. The Manchester-born Simply Red singer and former Labour donor has been dubbed a champagne socialist: he bought a Sicilian vineyard in 2000 and an Irish hunting estate in 2005. Of the insults thrown at him about his appearance (including ‘ginger whinger’), he says: ‘What do they say in showbiz? If you’ve got it, flaunt it.’ SIR TIM BERNERS-LEE, 63. The Londonborn inventor of the world wide web was awarded the Order of Merit in 2007 — the Queen’s gift to just 24 living recipients. Sir Tim, who gave his creation to the world free of charge, believes it is now under threat from tech giants, saying: ‘The fact that power is concentrated among so few companies has made it possible to weaponise the web.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BARBARA BUSH (1925-2018). The former U.S. first lady, who died in April, was wife to one president (the 41st, George Bush Sr) and mother of a second (the 43rd, George W. Bush, right). Her hair turned grey in her late 20s as her three-year-old daughter lost her battle against leukaemia. She tried to get her husband to eat broccoli, but he said: ‘My mother made me eat it, and I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more.’ FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (1869-1959). The U.S. architect loathed skyscrapers and air conditioning. New York’s Guggenheim museum designer enjoyed an Irish whiskey and said, aged 89: ‘A man is a fool if he drinks before he reaches the age of 50, and a fool if he doesn’t afterward.’
ON JUNE 8...
IN 1984, homosexuality was decriminalised in New South Wales, Australia.
IN 1999, former Tory Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken was jailed for 18 months for what the judge described as having woven a ‘web of deceit’ during a libel trial. WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Bandoline (coined 1846) A) Hair preparation made of boiled quince pips, linseed and rose water. B) Tourniquet. C) Song sung at a banquet. Answer below. PHRASE EXPLAINED
Tight-lipped: Unwilling to speak about something. From the financial world of late 16th-century Europe; someone tight with their money soon referred to those ‘tight with the lips’, as in unwilling to speak. QUOTE FOR TODAY ForEvEr is composed of nows. Emily Dickinson, American poet (1830-1886) JOKE OF THE DAY WHAT did the farmer use to mend his trousers? Cabbage patches. Guess The Definition answer: A Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD