ON THIS DAY
April 27, 2021
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 27, 1953
BRITAIN prints more books than any other country in the world, a report by Unesco today states. in 1950, Britain’s publishers printed 17,072 books, the U.S. 11,022 and France the year before published 9,993.
APRIL 27, 1976
SID JAMES, craggy-faced star of the Carry On films, died last night after collapsing on stage at the empire Theatre in Sunderland with a heart attack. His wife Valerie rushed on and cradled the 62-year-old comedian’s head in her arms as he lay dying. Sid had been one of Britain’s best-known comedians since he co-starred with Tony Hancock in the radio series of Hancock’s Half Hour.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME Darcey Bussell, 52. The former Strictly Come Dancing judge, born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle, became the royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal dancer at 20. She has been described as ‘a shimmering figure, apparently boneless and weightless, an image of unearthly perfection’. ANNA CHANCELLOR, 56. The london-born actress was encouraged to audition for the role of Henrietta in Four Weddings And A Funeral after a friend told her: ‘it’s about posh people ******g in the back of land rovers’ and she caught the eye of the director. The character was nicknamed ‘Duckface’ and Chancellor said: ‘The irony is that i love ducks. i had a pet duck.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
NIKKI VAN Der Zyl (1935-2021). The Berlin-born, rada-trained actress voiced the Bond girls Honey ryder and Jill Masterson (played by Ursula Andress in Dr. No and Shirley eaton in Goldfinger). She said proudly: ‘i was the first girl ever to speak in a Bond film’, and titled her memoir For your ears Only. in the 1960s she trained as a barrister and became a Commons assistant to Tory politician David Mellor. SHEILA SCOTT (19221988). The actress-turned-aviator from Worcestershire flew three times solo around the world — one of which was the longest solo flight — 31,000 miles — ever made in a single- engined aircraft. Scott acquired more than 100 world light-aircraft class records and flew barefoot so that she could better feel the vibrations of her plane.
ON APRIL 27…
IN 1968, the Abortion Act came into force, legalising terminations by a registered practitioner under certain conditions. IN 2020, PM Boris Johnson returned to work after being in hospital with Covid-19.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Espalier (c1660)
A) To train a tree or shrub to grow flat against a wall. B) long shears for cutting high branches. C) An apple tree on a boundary.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Ball and chain:
Meaning to be a hindrance to someone’s progress; it alludes to when prisoners had a very heavy iron ball attached by a chain to one leg so that they could not run away.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
NAME the greatest of all the inventors... accident. Mark Twain, U.S. author (1835-1910)
JOKE OF THE DAY
HAVE you heard about the restaurant on the Moon? It’s got great food but absolutely no atmosphere. Guess The Definition answer: A