ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JUNE 10, 1943
AFTER Mr Roosevelt’s warning to the Axis powers [of Germany, Italy and Japan] about the use of poison gas, Britain’s Ministry of Home Security said: ‘There is only one way to answer a gas attack: that is to plaster the enemy with a tenfold concentration of his own poison. We are ready.’
JUNE 10, 1954
GROUCHO Marx flew in to London from Rome last night. But the famous eyebrows registered only a frown. At London Airport, he glanced at the clouds, pulled up his collar, and said: ‘It’s raining, just as it was when I was last here — 23 years ago.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
PRINCE PHILIP, 96. Corfuborn, the Duke of Edinburgh (right) is the longest-serving consort to a reigning monarch. Both he and the Queen are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. He gained his RAF wings in 1953, helicopter wings in 1956 and private pilot’s licence in 1959 — and only gave up flying when he was 76. JOHN SENTAMU, 68. The Ugandan-born former barrister and judge was the first senior black Church of England bishop and has been Archbishop of York since 2005. In 2006, he wore a hoodie to a church conference to encourage people not to judge teenagers by their appearance.
BORN ON THIS DAY
HATTIE McDANIEL (18951952). In 1940, the U. S. actress (right) was the first black star to win an Oscar, for playing Mammy in Gone With The Wind. Permission had to be granted for her to attend the ceremony, held at a ‘no-blacks’ hotel and she had to sit at a separate table from the rest of the cast. She played a servant 74 times, and said: ‘Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn’t, I’d be making $7 a week being one.’ SIR TERENCE RATTIGAN (1911-1977). The playwright was an RAF tailgunner. When posted to a squadron in Africa, he took the first act of his play Flare Path with him to work on it. After being shot up by a Heinkel on the first leg of the journey, an engine failed on the next, causing the crew to throw out everything they could to keep airborne — though Rattigan saved his play by ripping off his book’s covers and stuffing the pages in his jacket.
ON JUNE 10...
IN 1940, Italy’s Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain and France.
IN 2000, London’s Millennium Bridge closed on its opening day as crowds made it sway. The ‘ bouncing bridge’ reopened after £5 million was spent on shock absorbers.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY Chatterboxing: Using a social medium to comment on what you’re watching on TV. GUESS THE DEFINITION Blatteroon (coined 1645) A) One who regards poetry with dislike. B) Someone who will not stop talking. C) Padded fencing jacket. Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
To bury one’s head in the sand: From the ostrich’s (untrue) habit, when in danger, of believing it can’t be seen.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LAUghtEr would be bereaved if snobbery died Sir Peter Ustinov, English actor (1921-2004)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I STAYED up all night trying to work out where the sun was. then it dawned on me. guess the Definition answer: B.