ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE

may 20, 1982 THE view of Mrs Thatcher presented to Argentine magazine readers has gone from villainy to total evil. She has appeared in Tal Cual magazine as a pirate, a vampire and a Nazi with a Hitler moustache, with the cover headline: ‘La Thatcher Worse Than Hitler’. The latest issue says that ‘even Denis has discovered she’s a monster’, and claims: ‘The English hate her, laugh at her and don’t support her.’ may 20, 1991 HELEN SHARMAN woke to a world that had turned upside down yesterday. The first Briton in space floated in the capsule of a Soviet Soyuz rocket and gazed awestruck through the window at the Earth. But Helen, 27 (right), received a mild telling-off from ground control, asking her to stay away from the window and get on with some work.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

CHER, 74. The Oscar-winning actress and singer set a record in 1999, aged 52, for the oldest woman to top the UK charts, with Believe. In 2013, many of her fans thought she had died after the hashtag #nowthatchersdead appeared on Twitter (now thatchers dead ). In fact, it referred to Mrs Thatcher (now thatchers dead).

LYNN DAVIES, 78. The retired athlete, known as ‘Lynn The Leap’, became the first and still only British man to win an Olympic gold for long jump, in Tokyo in 1964. The Welshman won BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year twice, but never got the national title, although he did make it as a runner-up. He was too ill to go the awards and when his name was announced, the host declared: ‘Unfortunately, she can’t be with us tonight because she has flu.’

BORN ON THIS DAY

REGINALD (R.J.) MITCHELL (1895-1937). The engineer (right) from Staffordshire was diagnosed with cancer as he began work on designing the Supermarine Spitfire, which would be dubbed the ‘plane that won the Battle of Britain’. When he heard what the Air Ministry were going to call his plane, he said: ‘Just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose.’ Sadly, he died before he could see its final success. DAVID HEDISON (1927-2019). The American actor is best known for his role as the scientist-turned-insect in 1958 film The Fly, as well as Captain Crane in the Sixties TV series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. He is also famous for playing CIA agent Felix Leiter in two 007 movies, 16 years apart, opposite two different Bonds: Roger Moore in Live And Let Die (1973) and Timothy Dalton in Licence To Kill (1989).

ON MAY 20 . . .

IN 1965, Home Secretary Sir Frank Soskice announced that some police officers would be armed with tear gas guns and grenades. IN 1973, Royal Navy sends ships to protect fishing trawlers in the ‘Cod War’.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Wallaroo (c 1820)

A) An unnamed thing, a whatsit. B) A large reddish grey kangaroo. C) A blowpipe. answer below.

PHRASE EXPLAINED

In seventh heaven: Meaning to be ecstatic; from Islam and the belief of seven levels of heaven, with the seventh being God’s home.