ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE aUGUST 4, 1914
THe British army will mobilise today. Diplomatic relations between Germany and France were broken off last night. and a German demand for the passage of its troops through Belgium was rejected. Sir edward Grey said in the House of Commons that Britain would use its forces to defend the countries against Germany.
aUGUST 4, 1971
THe apollo 15 astronauts rested last night as they orbited the Moon before leaving for home today. Instruments on the command ship mapped the lunar surface and tested for space radiation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
GreTa GerWIG, 39. The U.S. filmmaker directed the oscar-nominated films lady Bird and little Women. In 2020, she competed against her partner, Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach, for the Best Picture academy award. Steven Spielberg said: ‘The poetry of Greta Gerwig’s filmmaking is that breeze I cannot wait to feel again.’
BaraCK oBaMa, 61. The 44th U.S. President applied to appear in a pin-up calendar while at Harvard. He read the Harry Potter books alongside daughters Malia and Sasha, but his favourite is Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. obama won two Grammys for audio versions of his books.
BORN ON THIS DAY
TIMI YUro (1940-2004). The Chicago-born ‘soul powerhouse’ had hits with Hurt and I apologize. Yuro, whose father beat her for singing, started out in clubs aged 14. She worked with songwriter Burt Bacharach, but refused to record What The World Needs Now (Is love) — so it became a hit for Dionne Warwick. Yuro attempted a comeback in the 1980s, but lost her voice, then her life, to throat cancer. reG GrUNDY (19232016). The ‘godfather of australian television’ produced Neighbours. He is said to have given just one TV interview and never carried cash, saying: ‘Why do I need to? I say, “Buy me a lamborghini”, and somebody does.’ The former boxing commentator once ran one of the world’s largest independent production firms, making shows for more than 70 countries.
ON AUGUST 4...
IN 1962, U.S. film star Marilyn Monroe died, aged 36. IN 1972, Ugandan President Idi amin announced the start of what would become the expulsion of 80,000 Ugandan asians.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Barchan (coined late 1880s)
a) Happy-go-lucky. B) amount of liquid by which a container is short of being full. C) a crescent-shaped, shifting sand dune.
answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED Dead in the water: Meaning unable to operate; its nautical derivation is from the notion of a ship unable to move.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Whenever I dwell on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people’s characters. Margaret Halsey, U.S. writer (1910-1997)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHaT do you call a sunburned librarian? Well red. Guess The Definition answer: C.
Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD