ON THIS DAY
August 18, 2020
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
AUGUST 18, 1987 RuDOLF HESS, the last survivor of the Nazi dictatorship, died yesterday in the solitary cell at Spandau jail, West Berlin, which was his home for 40 years. He was 93, frail, confused, senile, a man who in his heyday had strutted one pace behind Hitler at the Nuremberg rallies. In 1941, he flew to Britain with an absurd personal plan to arrange peace between Britain and Germany. AUGUST 18, 1998 BILL CLINTON fought to save his presidency by appealing directly to the American people. He went on coast-tocoast TV to ask forgiveness over the Monica Lewinsky affair. After months of denials, the President admitted an ‘inappropriate’ 18-month physical relationship with the former White House trainee.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HuW EDWARDS, 59. The BBC newsreader, from Glamorgan, earns around £450,000 after taking a voluntary cut of £120,000 in the wake of gender pay-gap revelations. This month, he said the BBC ‘can be a treacherous place to be sometimes’ and he’d had to learn to be ‘a street fighter to survive’.
ROBERT REDFORD, 84. The u.S. actor starred in Out Of Africa and The Sting (right), which won seven Oscars in 1974, though he didn’t watch the film until 30 years later. Hollywood executives were reluctant to cast him in 1969 film Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, with one saying: ‘He’s just another California blond.’ He is a fan of the Prince of Wales because of his environmental campaigning, saying: ‘What Prince Charles has done to commit to that ideal is just incredible.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BRIAN ALDISS (1925-2017). The Norfolkborn ‘Grand Old Man of British science fiction’ wrote 40 novels but is perhaps best known for short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long, which was turned into the Steven Spielberg blockbuster A.I. in 2001. His novel The Hand-Reared Boy was based on real events — his seduction by his school matron when he was 18.
MAx FACTOR Jr (19041996). The cosmetics entrepreneur (right), the son of the company founder, started working as a child, collecting the wigs his dad had rented to actors. He was nicknamed ‘the Nose’ because of his ability to identify fragrances, and was credited with inventing waterproof mascara, indelible lipstick and liquid make-up.
ON AUGUST 18…
IN 1984, George Michael achieved his first solo No 1, with Careless Whisper.
IN 1985, it emerged that for several decades BBC staff appointments had been vetted by MI5.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Hidalgo (c1590)
A) A mythical paradise.
B) Counterfeit.
C) A man of the lower nobility in Spain.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
An Indian summer — a period of great happiness that comes late in a person’s life. It is also literally a late summer. These were common in the west of America which was mostly settled by native Americans when the phrase was first used.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I love being married, I do. It’s so great to find that one special person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
Rita Rudner, American comedian
JOKE OF THE DAY
HOW much does a roof cost?
Nothing, it’s on the house.
Guess The Definition answer: C.