ON THIS DAY
July 22, 2019
JULY 22, 1959
THE Queen is to fly home at the end of her Canadian tour instead of sailing back in the royal yacht, it was announced. The reason, said her press secretary, Mr Esmond Butler, is that she is homesick. ‘I am very anxious to see the children,’ she told her advisers. The change of plan, Mr Butler stressed, had nothing to do with the two-day stomach upset which marred her visit to the Yukon.
JULY 22, 1994
IT WAS an extraordinary day for the Labour Party. Tony Blair, whose youth and charisma could propel Labour into government for the first time in a generation, was appointed — almost anointed — as leader. As Labour’s youngest leader, at 41, posed with his wife Cherie (right), they looked every inch a couple tailor-made for a TV age. Last night, the new Tory chairman, Jeremy Hanley, was quick to launch his party’s fightback. ‘He is all style and no substance,’ he said.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RHYS IFANS, 52. The Bafta-winning actor from Pembrokeshire starred in Notting Hill and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. In his mid-40s, Ifans dated former Brookside star Anna Friel, who said she was considering freezing her eggs until he was ready for fatherhood, but they split in 2014. Before acting, he was a member of Welsh band Super Furry Animals. DANNY GLoVER, 73. Before becoming an actor at 28, the Hollywood star led the longest student strike in U.S. history over civil rights. But he has supported his Lethal Weapon co-star Mel Gibson, who has been accused of anti-Semitism and misogyny: ‘My take on women’s rights may be different from his. I know Mel is a wonderful human being, a wonderful father.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BRYAN FoRBES (1926-2013). The actor and screenwriter from London directed The Stepford Wives (which starred his wife Nanette Newman) and Whistle Down The Wind. The father of TV presenter Emma Forbes also helped found Capital Radio alongside Richard Attenborough. EMMA LAZARUS (1849-1887). The U.S. poet is best known for her 1883 sonnet The New Colossus, which is inscribed on the base of New York’s Statue of Liberty. The poem, which she wrote in two days, says: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.’
ON JULY 22…
IN 1994, former U.S. football star oJ Simpson pleaded not guilty to murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
IN 2003, Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by American troops after a gun battle in Iraq.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Smut (c1580) A) Particle of soot. B) Wool taken from a dead sheep. C) Anything out of shape. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
A plague on both your houses — meaning a curse on both of you, it comes from a line in Romeo And Juliet spoken by the dying Mercutio, who curses the two feuding families of the Capulets and Montagues for the problems they have caused.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Always tell the truth — it’s the easiest thing to remember. David Mamet, U.S. playwright
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHERE do naughty rainbows go? Prism. Guess the definition answer: A