April 29, 2021 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE APRIL 29, 1967
CASSIUS CLAy refused to become a soldier and faces a five-year jail sentence. The world heavyweight boxing champion stood still when asked to step forward for induction into the U.S. Army at Houston, Texas. Clay, 25, who calls himself Muhammad Ali, claims exemption from conscription as a Black Muslim minister.
APRIL 29, 1986
SCOReS of Russians are feared dead and hundreds more hit by radiation sickness after what is believed to be the world’s worst nuclear accident at the Chernobyl atomic power station in Ukraine. It is thought the nuclear core of one of the four giant reactors melted.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
UMA THURMAn, 51. The U.S. actress starred in Pulp Fiction, Batman & Robin and Kill Bill. She has married and divorced two actors — Gary Oldman and ethan Hawke and is a mother of three. Before filming 2003’s Kill Bill: Vol 1 Thurman shed 60lb of pregnancy weight by training in kung fu, sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat. She once said: ‘I’ve learned that every working mom is a superwoman.’ MICHeLLe PFeIFFeR, 63. The American actress, star of Grease 2 and The Witches Of eastwick, said she was vacuum- sealed into her latex Catwoman costume for Batman Returns. Pfeiffer could only wear it for a short time before feeling faint and passing out.
BORN ON THIS DAY
HIROHITO ( 1901- 1989). The 124th emperor of Japan was the country’s longest-reigning monarch — 62 years — and the longest surviving of the World War II heads of state. His final official appearance was at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the end of the conflict. FRed dIBnAH ( 19382004). The steeplejack from Bolton found fame after appearing 240ft up in the air repairing the town hall clock tower on local news. He was such a steam engine obsessive that when Alison, his first of three wives left him, taking their three daughters, she complained: ‘He’s married to his engines.’
ON APRIL 29 . . .
IN 1909, Liberal Chancellor david Lloyd George introduced his People’s Budget to Parliament, giving over-70s a pension. His speech lasted four-and-a-half hours, with only a cup of beef tea for refreshment. IN 1978, The Bee Gees were riding high with night Fever, their third UK no 1.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Teratology (c1670s)
A) The study of fossils. B) The study of abnormal growths. C) The study of reptiles.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Navel-gazing:
Meaning looking back on one’s mistakes instead of forward to new solutions; it comes from a 19th- century religious sect whose members would gaze at their navels to fall into a trance.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars. Gustave Flaubert, French novelist
(1821-1880)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT did one wall say to the other wall? I’ll meet you on the corner. Guess The Definition answer: B Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD