ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 6, 1933 AT 5.30pm New York time, Prohibition was no more. Broadway, the symbol of the nation’s gay life, was alive with people. Whistles and cheers greeted the announcement that the long ‘dry’ era had ended. People toasted each other with an abandon not equalled since the Armistice revels in 1918. Whoopee was the order of the night. DECEMBER 6, 1947 TWO female Board of Trade inspectors who bought Mackintoshes from a market stall in Ormskirk, Lancashire, said the salesman kissed them instead of taking [ration book] coupons. Nathan Bassovitch, 30, of Manchester, was fined £12 [£400 today] for selling clothing without coupons and at excessive prices.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ANDREW ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, 41. The ex-England cricketer from Preston, one of the new hosts on BBC’s Top Gear, was the only British contestant in the first Australian version of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! — and won. He once turned down a dinner invite from designer Donatella Versace. He said later: ‘Who is she anyway, and what would I say to her? “Did you enjoy the Ashes, luv?” The missus weren’t too happy though ’cos she fancied a new frock.’ DEBBIE ROWE, 59. The nurse became the centre of international attention when she married pop icon Michael Jackson in 1996 and later gave birth to two of his children Prince and Paris. She met Jackson, her second husband, at the clinic where he was being treated for skin condition vitiligo. They divorced in 1999. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and lives in Palmdale California.
BORN ON THIS DAY
IRA GERSHWIN (1896-1983). The U.S. lyricist made his name alongside his younger brother, composer George, famous for shows such as Treasure Girl, Show Girl and Girl Crazy (George believed titles should be no more than two words long and make reference to a girl). Ira was the first lyricist to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama. AGNES MOOREHEAD (1900-1974). The U.S. actress was most famous for playing magical motherin-law Endora in sitcom Bewitched, right, but the devout Christian, who took her Bible on set, did not like to be known for playing a witch. A four-time Oscar nominee, she wanted to be remembered for films such as The Magnificent Ambersons, directed by Orson Welles.
ON DECEMBER 6…
IN 1877, Thomas Edison tested his first phonograph, recording himself reciting a verse of Mary Had a Little Lamb.
IN 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, making southern Ireland a self-governing ‘dominion’ within the British Empire.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Infandous (1628) A) Notorious. B) Odious, unspeakable. C) Of an infant. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
On a hiding to nothing: Meaning to be engaged in a hopeless endeavour. It appears in 19th century in racing reports.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
WHERE there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. Benjamin Franklin, American statesman (1706-1790)
JOKE OF THE DAY
COSMETIC surgery is no longer a taboo subject... Now you can talk about Botox and nobody even raises an eyebrow. Guess The Definition answer: B.