ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE OCTOBER 11, 1949

PRINCESS Elizabeth saw her racing colours carried to victory for the first time yesterday when Monaveen, the Grand National steeplechaser, beat two rivals in the £300 Chichester Handicap Chase at Fontwell. Smiling delightedly, she exclaimed ‘Well done’ to jockey Tony Grantham.

OCTOBER 11, 2005

ANGELA MERKEL is to become Germany’s first woman Chancellor after a powersharing deal was struck between the main political parties. Yesterday’s decision, three weeks after the deadlocked general election, means the woman dubbed ‘Germany’s Mrs Thatcher’ won’t be able to carry out many of her planned economic reforms.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

RODNEY MARSH, 77. The player-turned-pundit, dubbed the ‘clown prince of English football’, played for West Ham, Fulham, QPR and Manchester City. His England career was cut short after a risqué quip to manager Alf Ramsey went down badly. His most memorable request from fans was ‘to sign the knickers of the entire Tampa Bay Rowdies cheerleading team — while they were wearing them’. DAWN FRENCH, 64. The Welsh-born comedienne, actress and novelist says her ‘spirit animal’ is a sloth. Asked what she’d be doing if she had never met long-time comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, she said: ‘I’d probably be in jail.’ French has admitted feeling envious over Saunders’ solo success with Absolutely Fabulous.

BORN ON THIS DAY

JEROME ROBBINS (1918-1998). The U.S. choreographer and director worked on hit musicals The King And I, Gypsy and Fiddler On The Roof. The son of a corset manufacturer, Robbins was such a hard taskmaster that one of his dancers said: ‘I wouldn’t work with the man, except his ballets are so good.’ He won two Oscars for West Side Story.

JEAN ALEXANDER (19262016). The actress from Liverpool played Hilda Ogden (right), ‘the nosy, pinchmouthed tattle-tale’ of Coronation Street, for 23 years. The headscarf-and-curlers-wearing cleaner of the Rovers Return was once voted the fourth most popular woman in Britain (after the Queen Mother, the Queen and Princess diana).

ON OCTOBER 11…

IN 1958, the BBC broadcast the first edition of Grandstand. It became the world’s longest running live sports programme. IN 2006, a Malawian confirmed U.S. pop star Madonna had adopted his one-year-old son, david Banda.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Fainéant (c. 1880s) A) Lazy. B) Chic, elegant. c) Spectacular, bedazzling. Answer below

PHRASE EXPLAINED Win on points —

meaning to win an advantage without crushing one’s opponent. It’s from boxing, in which the contestants score points at the end of each round which are then used to declare the winner when no knockout has been achieved.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

IT TAKES a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.

Gertrude Stein, U.S. novelist (1874-1946)

JOKE OF THE DAY

I WAS fired from the keyboard factory. I didn’t put in enough shifts.

GUESS The Definition answer: A

Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD