ON THIS DAY

January 29, 2020

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE

JANUARY 29, 1945

Disagreement over how Hitler’s fate should be decided was stated today to be the real reason Mr Herbert C. Pell was dropped as the U.S. representative on the War Crimes Commission. Sources close to the State Department said Mr Pell had supported having Hitler and his lieutenants tried. But the department, it was said, was opposed to a trial as it was likely to be inconclusive and would involve the publication of documents which should remain secret.

JANUARY 29, 1946

Free instruction in the gentle art of kissing has grown into big business for Earl robert graham. After telling his local chamber of commerce he was an expert on kissing, the word spread, 3,000 letters arrived from Canada and the U.S., and Hollywood film companies sent representatives by air. ‘Kissing,’ says graham, ‘ is not just a collision of lips, it is a matter of oomph.’

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Katharine Ross, 80. The Bafta-winning U.S. actress played Mrs robinson’s daughter, Elaine, in The graduate. She was initially unimpressed by her co- star Dustin Hoffman, saying: ‘He looked about 3ft tall, so dead serious, so humourless, so unkempt.’ TIM HEALY, 68. The geordie welder-turnedactor has starred in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Still Open All Hours. His son Matt is the singer in band The 1975. While working on ITV sitcom Benidorm in 2016, Healy suffered a mystery illness, which left him in intensive care for a month. His wife, Joan, played The 1975’s album on a loop while he was in a coma. Healy said: ‘It was my son’s music that brought me back to the land of the living.’

BORN ON THIS DAY

W. C. FIELDS ( 1880- 1946). The U. S. comedian and actor, born William Claude Dukenfield, ran away from home at 11 and started his showbiz career as a juggler, using saucepans and tennis balls. He was one of the 57 people featured on the cover of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. ‘I never saw anything funny that wasn’t terrible,’ he said. ‘If it causes pain, it’s funny; if it doesn’t, it isn’t.’ JOHN FORSYTHE (19182010). The U.S. actor (right) starred as oil magnate Blake Carrington in Dynasty, and was the only person to appear in all its 220 episodes. He voiced Charlie in the Charlie’s Angels TV series, becoming the highest-paid actor on the small screen, but never once appeared on camera.

ON JANUARY 29

IN 1928, 1st Earl Haig, commander in chief of the British forces in France during most of World War I, died, aged 66. IN 1958, Hollywood actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward married.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Occiput (c. late 14th century)

A) Anything badly formed. B) In the opposite direction. C) The back of the head.

Answer below

PHRASE EXPLAINED

Keep your shirt on: Meaning not to get agitated. The expression came from the 1800s custom of men wearing starched shirts — if angry and wanting to fight, they would remove their shirt to free up their arms.