ON THIS DAY
May 13, 2017
MAY 13, 1942
THE Nazi newspaper Volkischer Beobachter yesterday reacted to Winston Churchill’s broadcast, calling him an unscrupulous butcher and the Empire’s grave- digger, and the speech ‘a whiskydrinker’s book balance’. It is Politeness Week in Germany.
MAY 13, 1969
THERE will not be a law forcing motorists to wear seat belts. The Minister of Transport, Richard Marsh, said: ‘I don’t see myself as nanny to the nation.’ Surveys show fewer than one in ten wear them.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TREVOR BAYLIS, 80. The inventor, known for the wind-up radio — named among the 50 greatest British inventions — has come up with more than 250 products, including a jar opener for those who can use only one hand and a shoe that charges your phone. But after failing to protect his radio patent, he says he is now ‘broke’. SELINA SCOTT, 66. The former ITV and BBC newsreader got on the wrong side of Donald Trump ( right with Scott) in 1995 after filming a documentary about him in which he said: ‘I like beautiful things. That’s why I like you.’ She later received letters from him ‘rubbishing my looks and questioning my morality’, and glowing press cuttings about himself, addressed: ‘Dear Selina, You’re a loser.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
TIM PIGOTT-SMITH (19462017). The Rugby-born actor (right) appeared in his final TV role this week, in King Charles III, though theatre was his forte. He made his name as sadistic policeman Ronald Merrick in The Jewel In The Crown. The Bafta-winning performance was so believable he was chased out of an antiques shop by its knifewielding owner, who thought Merrick was going to burgle him. SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN (1842-1900). The London-born composer co-wrote comic operas The Pirates Of Penzance and The Mikado, as half of Gilbert and Sullivan. The duo apparently fell out over who would pay for a new carpet at the Savoy Theatre, built for their shows.
ON MAY 13 ...
IN 1940, after Germany invaded, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands fled to Britain, forming a government-in-exile. IN 1950, Silverstone hosted the inaugural round of the Formula One championship. IN 1995, British climber Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or help from sherpas.
WORD WIZARDRY NEW PHRASE OF THE DAY
Boil the ocean: Try an over-ambitious task.
GUESS THE DEFINITION
Trental (coined Middle English 1100-1500) A) Person who turns the rope in skipping. B) Saying 30 masses for the dead. C) Quarrelsome about trifles. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Happy as Larry: Derives either from the word larry, which once meant ‘a statement of excitement’ or from Australian boxer Laurence ‘Larry’ Foley (1849-1917). It also relates to the Australian term larrikin (‘a boisterous, badly behaved young man’).