ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JANUARY 15, 1941
MR H. Ramsbotham, President of the Board of Education, inspected bomb- damaged schools in Birmingham and gave this reason why there have been no ‘reprisal’ raids on Nazi schools. ‘The Nazi education is so blunting the intelligence of German youth,’ he said, ‘that, in our own interest, it would be a pity to interfere with this process.’
JANUARY 15, 1963
THE BBC has scrapped a 16-page policy guide that demanded a ban on references to religion, royalty, politicians and sex in its light entertainment TV programmes. Issued in 1951, the guide said all humour must be ‘clean and untainted’, and outlawed jokes about lavatories, effeminacy, immorality, honeymoon couples, chambermaids, fig leaves, prostitution, ladies’ underwear, lodgers and commercial travellers.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN, 47. The Cambridge- educated Strictly Come Dancing host is one of the highest paid women at the BBC, earning up to £380,000, but likes to take the Tube. According to a former colleague, Winkleman once said: ‘The key to success was not to let anyone know how ambitious or smart you are.’ JAMES NESBITT, 54. The Northern Irish actor, who once wanted to be a French teacher, found fame on Cold Feet, which returned to ITV yesterday for an eighth series. The star of BBC TV’s The Missing said his balding pate became ‘practically an obsession’. He’s had several hair transplants — costing him around £20,000 each time — and insists they have boosted his career.
BORN ON THIS DAY
FRANK THORNTON (1921-2013). The former insurance clerk from London found stardom in his 50s playing pompous Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? He said that when he started out in acting, his first question was: ‘What’s the part like?’ This later changed to: ‘What’s the money like?’ But in old age, his primary concern was: ‘What’s the parking like?’ MARTIN LUTHER KING (1929-1968). The civil rights leader delivered his iconic ‘I Have A Dream’ speech to 250,000 people, but got only a C+ for public speaking at school. When he married his wife, Coretta, in 1953, they couldn’t find a hotel in Alabama that would host a black couple. Instead, they stayed at a guest room in a funeral parlour.
ON JANUARY 15…
IN 1919, 21 people drowned in the ‘Great Molasses Flood’ in Boston in the U.S., when two million gallons of the stuff poured out of a ruptured storage tank.
IN 1997, Princess Diana was criticised by government ministers for calling for a ban on landmines. Junior defence minister Earl Howe called her ‘a loose cannon’.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Sciurine (mid 1800s) A) Relating to a robin. B) Relating to a duck. C) Relating to a squirrel. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Rear its ugly head
— refers to something that has made an unwelcome appearance or become a troublesome subject requiring attention. The phrase has been around since the 17th century.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
WHEN the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix, U.S. guitarist (1942-1970)
JOKE OF THE DAY
MY DOCTOR says I’m addicted to brake fluid. But I can stop any time. Guess The Definition answer: C.