ON THIS DAY
MARCH 28, 1939
ENGLAND’S most famous scenic designers — responsible for lavish stage shows — are to camouflage factories and public utility works from bombers in the event of war. They’ve done a course on camouflage defence at the Air Ministry in Hampshire.
MARCH 28, 2003
THE lecturer accused of using coded coughs to signal answers to a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant had a ‘convincing’ explanation, a medical expert told a trial yesterday. Professor Alan Morris said Tecwen Whittock had a dust allergy and hayfever the night it is alleged he helped Major Charles Ingram pocket the top prize on the ITV quiz show.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LADY GAGA, 38. The U.S. singer, born Stefani germanotta, has won 13 grammys, had six UK no 1 singles including Just Dance and Poker Face, and won an Oscar for best original song for Shallow from A Star Is Born, for which she was also nominated for best actress.
SIR RICHARD EYRE, 81. The Devonborn former artistic director of the national Theatre, who also made hit films Iris and notes On A Scandal, says his Ladbrokes account is ‘a good deal safer’ than investing in the stock market: ‘I had a big win a few years ago on the new Pope at 36/1.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR MICHAEL PARKINSON (1935-2023). The chat-show host from yorkshire interviewed more than 2,000 guests. One ‘who got away’ was Bob Dylan, though they once stayed in the same hotel. The singer mistook Parky for a waiter and asked for ‘eggs over easy and coffee’.
QUEEN INGRID OF DENMARK ( 1910- 2000). The Danish Queen Mother was a descendant of Queen Victoria. After she had three daughters, the law of succession was changed to allow her eldest, Margrethe, to become queen — until her abdication this year after 52 years.
ON MARCH 28…
IN 1964, pirate station radio Caroline began regular broadcasting.
IN 2013, singer Justin Bieber’s pet monkey Mally was confiscated after he brought it to germany illegally.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION
Bostruchizer (coined 1870)
A) Small comb for curling the whiskers. B) ‘Sausage’ curl on a wig. C) Someone who used to examine candidates for degrees. answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
On the horns of a dilemma: referring to the act of being faced with two equally undesirable alternatives. It comes from lemma in Ancient greek, meaning a thing taken for granted or assumed, and ‘dilemma’ is a double lemma, like a two-edged sword which strikes one both ways. A bull tosses with either of its horns.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
The deeper the truth in a creative work, the longer it will live.
Charlie Chaplin, actor (1889-1977)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHO did Mr Salt ask about his back pain? Dr Pepper.
Guess The Definition answer: a.