October 12, 2021 ON THIS DAY
OCTOBER 12, 1945
IF you are going bald, there may be increased hope for you. Reports from u.S. researchers have been reaching scientists here of experiments carried out with paraaminobenzoic acid, which has been used on animals as well as bald human beings — with some astonishing results.
OCTOBER 12, 1991
PRINCESS DIANA continued her crusade for Aids victims yesterday when she comforted two children who fear they will be orphaned by the disease. She laughed and joked with the boy and girl, aged eight and nine, before having tea with their mother, Sally White, in Milestone House, Edinburgh, Britain’s first purpose-built hospice for people with Aids or HIV.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ANGELA RIPPoN, 77. The BBC’s first regular female national newsreader (right), now host of Rip off Britain, said that when she was 50, she was told by then-BBC director-general John Birt: ‘Angela — you just have to accept that you have had your day. you have to make way for the younger women that are around.’
HuGH JACKMAN, 53. The Australian actor, who made his name as Wolverine in X-Men, starred in 2012 film Les Misérables. In 2009, he hosted the oscars, performing a bigband musical medley with Beyoncé. In 2016, he was hailed as a real-life superhero after saving his son and another swimmer from strong currents at Sydney’s Bondi beach.
BORN ON THIS DAY
EDWARD VI (1537-1553). The only legitimate son of Henry VIII was born at Hampton Court Palace 12 days before the death of his mother, Jane Seymour. After he started blaspheming in the schoolroom, his tutors demanded to know why — he said one of his playmates had told him that ‘kings always swore’. Edward became king at nine and died at 15.
LuCIANo PAVARoTTI (1935-2007). The Italian opera star (right) was described as ‘the bestknown tenor of all time’. His signature tune was Nessun Dorma, from Puccini’s Turandot, which was used as the theme song of the BBC’s coverage of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He performed duets with pop stars Sting, Bono and Bryan Adams but said in response to his critics: ‘We’ve reached 1.5 billion people with opera. If you want to use the word commercial . . . we don’t care.’
ON OCTOBER 12…
IN 1979, Douglas Adams’s novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy was published. It sold 250,000 copies by the end of the year. IN 1986, the Queen became the first British monarch to make a state visit to China.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Prestidigitation (c 1850s)
A)A hastiness B) The sitting down for a dinner or banquet C) Sleight of hand used in magic tricks
(Answer below) PHRASE EXPLAINED Worship the golden calf — means to worship money above all else; from The Bible, when Moses went up to Mount Sinai and Aaron put the golden calf before the Israelites who idolised it instead of God.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
POwER intoxicates men. It is never voluntarily surrendered. It must be taken from them James F. Byrnes, American judge (1882-1972)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHy did the grasshopper go to the doctor? Because he was feeling jumpy.
GUESS The Definition answer: C Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD