ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JANUARY 5, 1914
A YOUTHFUL soon-to-be bridegroom has begun an interesting experiment by living alone with his prospective mother-in-law a month before the marriage. He wishes to prove that the old idea that the mother-inlaw is a menace to the peace and happiness of a household has become a myth.
JANUARY 5, 2004
IT COULD go down as the shortest showbusiness marriage in history. only hours after exchanging vows with Jason Alexander at a Las Vegas wedding chapel, Britney Spears reportedly admitted it was a drunken mistake. And, after a confrontation with her mother, the singer, 22, is said to have signed an annulment.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JANUARY JONES, 45. The U.S. actress played Betty draper in TV drama Mad Men and Emma Frost in XMen: First Class. She has ‘ Bellatrix’ — Latin for female warrior — tattooed on her wrist. She says: ‘I always meet a director before a project to make sure I respect them. If they’re a hack, I’m not going to listen to them.’ ROBERT DUVALL, 92. The U.S. actor made his screen debut as Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird before starring in Apocalypse Now and winning an Academy Award for Tender Mercies. However, he says he values ‘a nice letter from [Marlon] Brando’ on his wall more than his oscar.
BORN ON THIS DAY
UMBERTO ECO (1932-2016). The Italian sold 10 million copies of his debut novel, The Name of The Rose. Citing Starsky and Hutch and ER as inspiration, Eco said: ‘I suspect that there is no serious scholar who doesn’t like to watch television. I’m just the only one who confesses.’ DOROTHY LEVITT (1882-1922). Britain’s first female racing driver, dubbed ‘the fastest girl on Earth’, achieved both water and land speed records. After being caught speeding, she said she ‘would like to drive over every policeman’. Levitt was one of the first to suggest using a mirror (a make-up compact) to check on the traffic behind.
ON JANUARY 5 . . .
IN 1922, Irish-born explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton died on board the exploration ship Quest, anchored off South Georgia. IN 1970, the BBC broadcast the first episode of TV quiz A Question of Sport, with panellists including George Best (pictured).
IN 1999, Steps were at No. 1 with a cover of the Bee Gees hit Tragedy.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Flageolet (1650s)
A) The young of a mackerel.
B) A small end-blown flute.
C) A flask. answer below. PHRASE EXPLAINED
Grey area — a situation that’s hard to define; ‘grey areas’ were part of British planning lingo in the 1960s and referred to places that needed rebuilding, though not in a desperate state.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Fiction makes me the servant of a process that has no clear beginning and end or method of measuring achievement.
Dame Hilary Mantel, English author (1952-2022)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you get if you cross a parrot with a pigeon? Voice mail.
Guess The Definition answer: B.