April 16, 2021 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 16, 1942
COAL, gas and electricity are to be rationed on a ‘points’ system which will come into force in a few weeks’ time. You will be able to spend your points on the form of fuel needed. The first rationing period may be retrospective, so those who have paid no attention to appeals and warnings to ‘go easy’ may, for a time, find themselves short of points to spend.
APRIL 16, 1980
THE handkerchief movie Kramer Vs Kramer ran away with five Oscar awards yesterday. The film, in which Dustin Hoffman plays a father fighting for custody of his son, was named best picture of 1979.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RuTH MADOC, 78. The Rada-trained actress — who was born in Norwich but brought up in Wales — made her name as Gladys Pugh in sitcom Hi- de-Hi! Her first screen role was the ghost of Fruma Sarah in Fiddler On The Roof. Madoc had to emerge from a grave before being suspended in a harness 15 ft off the ground. She later joked: ‘Today, a performance like that by an unknown would lead to more work, but I disappeared into oblivion.’ JIMMY OSMOND, 58. The u.S. singer and actor, youngest member of The Osmonds, began performing at age three. He had his first hit single, the million- selling Long Haired Lover From Liverpool, aged nine and bought his first house at 14.
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR PETER uSTINOV ( 1921- 2004). The actor, writer and raconteur, born Petrus Alexandrus ustinov in London, won Oscars for his roles in Spartacus and Topkapi. Richard Attenborough said: ‘We regarded his potential to be as great as Chekhov.’ Michael Parkinson said Sir Peter was ‘God’s gift to the talk-show host’ and ustinov himself said: ‘I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me to be the most civilised music in the world.’ GERRY RAFFERTY (1947-2011). The singer-songwriter from Paisley, who worked in a butcher’s after leaving school, had hits including Stuck In The Middle With You with Stealers Wheel. Solo, he wrote anthem Baker Street which was still earning him an annual £80,000 30 years after its release.
ON APRIL 16 . . .
IN 1705, Queen Anne knighted scientist Isaac Newton. IN 1912, American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Diluvial (c1650s) A) Demented. B) Of the flood. C) Diagonally across from something else.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Vicar of Bray:
Refers to one who changes his views for his own advantage; a satirical 18th century song of the same name alludes to a vicar in a village in Berkshire who changed his views in accordance with the views of each new Government.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
There are no true friends in politics. We are all sharks circling and waiting for traces of blood to appear in the water.
Alan Clark, Tory MP and diarist (1928-1999)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT’S the best way to console an artist? Give them a shoulder to crayon. Guess The Definition answer: B