ON THIS DAY
JULY 13, 1976
THERE was nothing solemn about the vows at singer Frank Sinatra’s high society wedding to Barbara Marx. As the judge asked the bride: ‘Do you take this man for richer or poorer?’ Sinatra joked: ‘Richer, richer.’ The 60-year- old singer has been married three times before — to Nancy Barbato, Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow.
JULY 13, 1982
MICHAEL FAGAN, the man accused of burglary at Buckingham Palace, appeared in court on Saturday and was remanded in custody, charged with trespass on June 7 and stealing half a bottle of wine. Yesterday, royal security had become a national crisis after the further revelation that early on Friday an intruder got into the Queen’s bedroom at the Palace.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ERNO RUBIk, 76. The Hungarian inventor created his ‘magic cube’ (right) to demonstrate 3D movement to his university students. He quickly realised children would love it and the Rubik’s Cube, which has 43 quintillion permutations, went on to sell more than 350 million and become the world’s best-selling toy. HARRISON FORD, 78. The U.S. star of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Blade Runner, who earns up to £12 million a year, is a self-taught carpenter. In 2017, he landed his singleengine plane on a taxiway instead of a runway, just missing a jet waiting to take off. He told air traffic control: ‘I’m the schmuck that landed on the taxiway.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
DOROTHY ROUND (19091982). The sportswoman from the Midlands (right) has been described as ‘one of the greatest tennis players you have probably never heard of’. She is the only Brit to have won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles twice, and twice won its Mixed Doubles alongside Fred Perry. Asked why she is so little known compared with her tennis partner, her daughter said: ‘Perry was a man.’ MæRSk Mc-kINNEY MøLLER (19132012). The Danish businessman turned his family business, Mærsk, into the world’s largest shipping empire, transporting 15 per cent of all manufactured goods. It also became Denmark’s largest company, accounting at the time of his death for almost a fifth of the country’s GDP. On his birthday, every employee around the world was given a Danish pastry.
ON JULY 13…
IN 1930, the first World Cup began in Montevideo, Uruguay (a tournament that would be won by the host nation). IN 2016, Theresa May entered No 10 as the Uk’s second female Prime Minister.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Fleam (c 16th century)
A) The wind. B) Bees working forward in flight. C) A lancet or surgical knife used for blood letting.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
All singing, all dancing: Meaning full of life and vitality. It was first used in 1929 in U.S. film The Broadway Melody whose posters announced it as ‘all talking, all singing, all dancing’ to convey a sense of excitement.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I have a predilection for painting that lends joyousness to a wall.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (1841-1919)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I HAD a game of quiet tennis today.
It’s just like regular tennis but without the racket...
Guess the Definition answer: C.