ON THIS DAY

October 25, 2018

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE

OCTOBER 25, 1940 PARAMoUNT Pictures in New York today announced that a cable from London had informed them two members of the unit filming Quiet Wedding had died when a bomb hit the studio they were working in. OCTOBER 25, 1941 THE first 30 unofficial members of the women’s Home Guard in Britain will this afternoon learn to handle a rifle in case of invasion. Mothers, typists, telephonists and ambulance drivers are among those who will get their first lesson on the Guildhall roof, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

KATY PERRY, 34. The U.S. pop star, ex-wife of British comic Russell Brand, has a racy image, but was born to evangelical Christian pastors who banned her from listening to pop. With them, she picketed Madonna and Marilyn Manson gigs. Nor was she allowed to eat Lucky Charms cereal, as luck was linked to the devil, although she told an interviewer: ‘I think that was the sugar. I think my mom lied to me about that one.’ With 108 million followers, Perry (above) is the most followed Twitter user. PHIL DANIELS, 60. The London-born actor made his film debut at 17 in 1976 in Bugsy Malone. He went on to star in Quadrophenia, Scum and the video for Blur’s Parklife video in 1994, as well as appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. But he said his mum was most excited by his appearance on quiz show Pointless Celebrities.

BORN ON THIS DAY

PABLo PICASSo ( 18811973). The Spanish artist (right) was the subject of the first question on Mastermind. In a 75-year career, he produced a record 13,500 paintings and designs, 100,000 prints and engravings, 34,000 book plates and 300 sculptures and ceramics. He carried a gun to fire blanks at people he found boring. SIR MARTIN GILBERT (1936-2015). The London-born historian wrote six of the eight-volume Winston Churchill official biography, which is the world’s longest. He almost turned down the job, after being invited to a meeting with Churchill’s son Randolph, who wrote the first two: ‘I was loath to go because I had seen him drunk and loud-mouthed,’ he once recalled.

ON OCTOBER 25…

IN 1971, the UN General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan. IN 1978, Halloween, in which Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut, was released. A sequel, also starring Curtis, is out now.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Epilimnion (1952) A) Flattery. B) Top layer of water in thermally stratified lake. C) Veiled insult. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED

Lame duck: Said of somebody unsuccessful, it comes from Britain’s stock market in the mid-18th century, when brokers were divided into bulls and bears. The least successful were called lame ducks as they were said to waddle out of the exchange.