ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JULY 11, 1959 It WAS the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s closest-kept secret. the Duchess was carrying a half-inch scar on her left cheek. the scar worried the Duchess. She had to wear extra make-up to hide it. So quiet arrangements were made for the scar to be removed, by Sir Archibald McIndoe, the plastic surgeon famous for his work on burned rAF men in the war. the Duchess got the scar when she tripped over a suitcase during an Atlantic crossing. JULY 11, 1966 Four players in tonight’s opening World Cup game between england and uruguay at Wembley will be drug-tested after the match. And in each of the other 31 games, including the final on July 30, four players, two from each team, will undergo similar tests. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LeoN SPINKS, 65. the heavyweight boxer — in only his eighth professional fight and aged 24 — defeated Muhammad Ali to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in 1978. In his heyday, Spinks hired Mr t (later to play BA Baracus in the A-team tV series) as his bodyguard, but the fame and money didn’t last, and Spinks at one stage ended up working in McDonald’s. MArK LeSter, 60, who is best known for playing the title role in the 1968 film oliver! (pictured near right with ron Moody as Fagin and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger). Michael Jackson loved the film and, as a result, the two became friends — even becoming godfathers to each other’s children. Lester, who is now an osteopath, once claimed he could be the father of Jackson’s daughter, Paris. BORN ON THIS DAY GeorGIANA BArrYMore (1856-93). the u.S. actress came from one of the country’s greatest theatrical dynasty. All her children took to the stage or screen: ethel, John and Lionel (who starred in It’s A Wonderful Life and won an oscar for A Free Soul). Her great-granddaughter is et and Charlie’s Angels star Drew Barrymore, whose first name was Georgiana’s maiden name. JoHN QuINCY ADAMS (1767-1848). the sixth u.S. President was the first to also be the son of a predecessor (second president, John Adams). He received a live alligator as a gift from a French aristocrat and was said to have kept it in a White House bathtub, getting a kick out of terrifying his guests. ON JULY 11… IN 1900, Briton Charlotte Cooper became the first female olympic gold medallist in an individual event, tennis, in Paris.
IN 1989, Laurence olivier died aged 82. He would be only the third actor to be interred in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey. WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Lorinery (1891) A) the making of the metal parts of a horse’s harness. B) Pleasantness in conversation. C) Flattery. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED Full of beans: Meaning full of energy, cheerful and in high spirits, it was initially ‘full as prunes’ and came from 1840s europe when horses were fed beans and were seen to become quite lively. QUOTE FOR TODAY HAppiness is having a scratch for every itch. Ogden Nash, U.S. poet (1902-71) JOKE OF THE DAY A CLoWN held the door open for me yesterday... it was a nice jester. Guess the Definition answer: A.