ON THIS DAY
March 20, 2018
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MARCH 20, 1963
AN EXTRAORDINARY amount of speculation about the political future of War Minister Mr John Profumo [following claims of his affair with model Christine Keeler] is still circulating among MPs. Last week he categorically denied that he had offered his resignation to the Prime Minister. yesterday, there was a fresh burst of rumour that he was to resign. [He resigned on June 5.]
MARCH 20, 1967
THE BBC and Equity, the actors’ union, are arguing over who should read listeners’ letters on radio programmes such as Woman’s Hour. The BBC uses members of its staff, usually producers, to read the letters. Equity wants its members to do it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME VERA LYNN, 101. The Forces’ Sweetheart (right) — famed for We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs Of Dover — kept up the morale of troops in World War II. She first appeared on stage aged seven and last year, at 100, became the oldest living artist with a UK top ten album. DAVID THEWLIS, 55. Best known for his role as Professor Remus Lupin in five Harry Potter films, Blackpool-born Thewlis dated actress Anna Friel for 13 years, but says he is often mistaken for fellow actor Rhys Ifans (who also once went out with Friel). He says: ‘Twice a week, people come up to me and say, “you were great in Notting Hill ”.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
PAMELA HARRIMAN (1920-1997). The Hampshire-born aristocrat became the U.S. ambassador to France in later life. At 19, she married the first of her three husbands, Winston Churchill’s only son Randolph. Her second husband called her ‘the greatest courtesan of the 20th century — and she was described as ‘a world expert on rich men’s bedroom ceilings’. Her lovers included Fiat heir Gianni Agnelli, Baron Elie de Rothschild and Prince Aly Khan. SIR Michael Redgrave (1908-1985). The Bristolborn star of The Dam Busters was the father of actors Vanessa, Corin and Lynn Redgrave. Redgrave (right) was bisexual and had affairs with Noel Coward, Edith Evans and Oliver Baldwin — son of PM Stanley Baldwin.
ON MARCH 20…
IN 1916, Albert Einstein submitted an article outlining his general theory of relativity to a German scientific journal. IN 1969, Beatle John Lennon married yoko Ono in Gibraltar. IN 1995, 13 people were killed on Tokyo’s subway in a sarin nerve gas attack carried out by a Japanese cult.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Hyoid (coined 1811) A) A U-shaped bone in the neck. B) Shaped like the letter L. C) Anything badly formed. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Top dog: A person in a position of authority or a winner, while an underdog is one thought to have little chance of victory. Some claim it dates from when timber had to be cut by hand: the bottom sawyer stood in a pit and got covered in sawdust (hence underdog) unlike the top sawyer (top dog). The other theory links it to dog fighting — a top dog was the dog that won.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you. Dorothy Parker, U.S. writer (1893-1967)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I WROTE a book on elephants. I now realise that paper would have been easier. Guess The Definition answer: A.