ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JULY 26, 1909
M. LOUIS BLERIOT flew across the Channel yesterday in 37 minutes — the fastest passage ever — and won The Daily Mail £1,000 prize. He will be presented with a cheque at a luncheon at the Savoy Hotel today in London, and his aeroplane will be displayed at Selfridge’s, Oxford Street.
JULY 26, 1943
KING Victor Emmanuel of Italy has dismissed Mussolini as Prime Minister. This news, which may put Italy out of the war, came in a radio broadcast last night. The Fascist regime has, to all intents and purposes, passed away.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BARONESS (Tanni) Grey-Thompson, 50. The retired Welsh Paralympian, now a disability rights campaigner and crossbench peer, notched up 11 gold medals at five Games, six London marathon victories and broke 30 world records. Born with spina bifida, she hasn’t walked since age seven. Her real name is Carys, but her older sister called her Tiny when she first saw her, but pronounced it ‘Tanni’, which stuck. JACINDA ARDERN, 39. New Zealand’s prime minister (right) became the world’s youngest female leader in 2017 and last year became only the second elected head of government to give birth in office. Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto was the first. Ardern grew up in a town known for Maori gang activity, where seeing ‘children without shoes on their feet’ inspired her to later enter politics. A poll in May this year found Ardern to be the most trusted politician — in Australia.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894-1963). The English author died on the same day as writer C.S. Lewis, but neither received much attention, as it was when u.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Huxley taught George Orwell (then Eric Blair) at Eton. Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World is often compared to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Huxley coined the words ‘feelie’ (a hypothetical movie with tactile effects) and ‘gamma’ (a class of people displaying third-rate intelligence).
STANLEY KUBRICK (1928-1999). The New Yorkborn director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Spartacus was known for filming up to 100 takes of a scene. Jack Nicholson, star of Kubrick’s The Shining (right), said: ‘He gives new meaning to the word meticulous.’ Kubrick’s films won nine Oscars, but none for best director.
ON JULY 26…
IN 1945, Britain, the u.S. and China issued the Potsdam Declaration, warning of Japan’s ‘prompt and utter destruction’ if it did not surrender.
IN 2006, the final regular edition of Top Of The Pops was recorded by the BBC in London. One of the co-hosts was Jimmy Savile.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Fustigate
A) To enclose. B) To smoke. C) To cudgel or beat. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED: Card up your sleeve:
Meaning to have a hidden advantage — from gambling in the 1800s when a cheat could hide a card inside his shirt sleeve to produce when it was needed to win.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
The english may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes. Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor (1879-1961)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I BACKED a horse last week at ten to one. It came in at quarter past four. Guess the Definition answer: C.