ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE AUGUST 8, 1945
HIRoSHIMA, Japanese city of 300,000 people, ceased to exist at 9.15 on Monday morning. While going about its business in the sunshine of a hot summer day, it vanished in a huge ball of fire and a cloud of boiling smoke — obliterated by the first atom bomb to be used in the history of world warfare. AuGuST 8, 1944 TRouBLE developed yesterday at seaside resorts where the public, forbidden to use the beaches, watched the military bathing and playing by the sea. In some places angry visitors on bomb-holiday, tired of wandering the streets and looking at the sea from afar, gate-crashed on to the sands, tore down notices warning them off, undressed and went into the forbidden sea.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
PRINCESS BEATRICE, 30. The Queen’s fifth grandchild (pictured) became the first in the Royal Family to complete the London Marathon, in 2010. She says reading Harry Potter books helped her overcome dyslexia. Her sister Eugenie recently revealed that Beatrice cried after criticism of the outlandish hat she wore to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding. She sold it on eBay, raising more than £80,000 for charity. DuSTIN HoFFMAN, 81. The double oscarwinner and father of six earned a Guinness World Record for the greatest age span portrayed by a film actor, as Jack Crabb in 1970’s Little Big Man, aged 17 to 121. Last year, he was accused by seven women of sexual misconduct, and responded: ‘I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
RuDI GERNREICH (1922-1985). The Austrian-born u.S. designer created the monokini in 1964, the first women’s topless swimsuit (right). Although his design was seen as a symbol of the sexual revolution, only 3,000 were sold and some of these were returned after uproar from church leaders. American model Peggy Moffitt received death threats when she posed in one. TERRY NATIoN (1930-1997). The Cardiff-born writer penned comedy scripts but is best known for his work on Doctor Who and creating the Daleks, basing their salute and desire to exterminate races on the Nazis.
ON AUGUST 8…
IN 1969, photographer Iain Macmillan took the iconic zebra crossing photo of the Beatles for their Abbey Road album cover.
IN 2001, Hollywood’s golden couple, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, divorced. Cruise broke the news to reporters at a film premiere that night.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Dragooning it (1811) A) Abandoning one’s pledge of abstinence. B) occupying two branches of one profession. C) Playing with one’s food. Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Aunt Sally: Someone or something set up as an easy target for criticism or blame. From a 19th-century fairground game in which players would knock a large doll-like figure off a pedestal by throwing sticks at it.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
BeinG a personality is not the same thing as having a personality. Alan Coren, English humorist (1938-2007)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I WENT to a shop yesterday to buy a new boomerang and ask how to thrown my old one away. Guess the Definition answer: B. Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD