ON THIS DAY
February 22, 2021
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
FEBRUARY 22, 1956
THE Duke of Edinburgh has introduced his own award for youth. Boys between 15 and 18 will eventually be able to compete. They will be judged on such activities as first-aid and rescue work, study or craftsmanship, adventurous enterprise and fitness. Boys who qualify will receive a signed certificate and an emblem or medal. There will be three grades of award.
FEBRUARY 22, 2001
BRITAIN was effectively in quarantine last night in the wake of the first major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 20 years. A worldwide ban was immediately placed on the export of all meat from pigs, sheep and cattle, as well as milk and live animals, in an effort to halt the spread of the devastating virus.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME SHEILA HANCOCK, 88. The actress, from the Isle of Wight (pictured), was made a dame in the New Year Honours. She said last month that death ‘weighs heavily if, like me, you’re greedy to learn new things’ and recently revealed that she had hidden the fact she suffers from crippling rheumatoid arthritis for fear it would lose her work.
DREW BARRYMORE, 46. The American actress auditioned for a dog food commercial at 11 months, was a cocaine addict by 12 and legally divorced her parents at 14. She asked ET director Steven Spielberg to be her godfather and, after posing naked for Playboy at 19, he sent her a large quilt with a note that read, ‘Cover up’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
CHRISTINE KEELER (1942-2017). The model, from Middlesex (pictured), whose 1960s affair with John Profumo, Secretary of State for War and a claimed liaison with a Soviet agent helped bring down the Macmillan government, went on to say: ‘I took on the sins of everybody, of a generation, really.’
SIR JOHN MILLS (1908-2005). The Oscarwinning actor from Norfolk starred in Great Expectations and king Rat. Of 1958’s Ice Cold In Alex, he said: ‘I was so disappointed in my love scene with Sylvia Syms. Up to then I’d made love on the screen to virtually nothing but submarines and tanks, and this was my big chance — and then most of it was cut out.’
ON FEBRUARY 22…
IN 1992, Shakespears Sister started an eight-week run at the top of the charts with their only number one, Stay. IN 2012, Sunday Times war reporter Marie Colvin was murdered by the Syrian regime while reporting from the city of Homs.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE CORRECT DEFINITION: Moreen (coined c1690)
A) Stout, woollen furnishing material B A sadness, a depression of spirits C) A street brawl Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Chattering classes: meaning journalists, artists and intellectuals who meet regularly to discuss current affairs; the phrase was coined by Frank Johnson, editor of The Spectator in Now! magazine in 1981.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style. Quentin Crisp, English writer (1908-99)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY does ‘Where’s Wally’ wear stripes? Because he doesn’t want to be spotted. Guess the Definition answer: A.