ON THIS DAY
August 29, 2019
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
AUGUST 29, 1946 JUDGES at an allotment show at Barby, near Rugby, awarded the first prize of five shillings to ‘a fine collection of vegetables’. The winners — 25 german prisoners — were not allowed to receive money, so 100 cigarettes were presented instead.
AUGUST 29, 1996 FROM the Princess who never sought divorce, it was a poignant gesture. No longer Her Royal Highness, Diana marked the end of her marriage yesterday by appearing at the English National Ballet still wearing Prince Charles’s rings — the sapphire and diamonds that marked their engagement and her gold wedding band.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CHRIS HADFIELD, 60. The Canadian astronaut claimed the guinness World Record in 2013 for filming the first music video in space — his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. It showed Hadfield floating onboard the International Space Station while playing guitar (pictured). Bowie sent his support, tweeting ‘Hallo Spaceboy…’, the title of his 1996 hit single.
ELLIOTT GOULD, 81. The actor from New York, ex-husband of Barbra Streisand, starred in the film M*A*S*H and sitcom Friends (as the father of Monica and Ross). He once changed a light bulb for his friend comic groucho Marx, who said: ‘That is the best acting I have ever seen you do.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
JAMES HUNT (1947-1993). The racing driver from Surrey, dubbed ‘the george Best of Formula One’, won the World Championship in 1976. He was known for being reckless in his early career, earning him the nickname ‘Hunt the Shunt’. Hunt died not on the track but of a heart attack, aged 45, in his bed in Wimbledon.
INGRID BERGMAN (1915-1982). The Swedish actress, star of Casablanca (pictured), died on her 67th birthday. She sparked outrage when she had a child with Italian director Roberto Rossellini before divorcing her first husband. Bergman had once said: ‘I cannot understand why people think I’m pure and full of nobleness. Every human has shades of bad and good.’
ON AUGUST 29…
In 1987, Rick Astley had his first and only No1 with his debut single, Never gonna give You up.
In 1977, four men were arrested near a Memphis cemetery for plotting to steal Elvis Presley’s body and ransom it. His remains were reinterred at graceland.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Hingle (1858) A) Leather strap to bind a hawk’s wing. B) Snare to catch a hare or rabbit. C) Spur attached to a fighting cock. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Big Apple: Meaning New York City; it most likely derives from a 1920s horse racing reference to the ‘big apple’, which meant the biggest money prize. Jockeys and owners then called all competitions in New York City ‘the Big Apple’ as it was where the biggest prizes were awarded.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (1828-1910)
JOKE OF THE DAY
HOW do you fix a broken pizza? Use tomato paste. Guess The Definition answer: B.