ON THIS DAY
April 29, 2024
APRIL 29, 1967
VANESSA REDGRAVE was granted a decree nisi yesterday because of adultery by her film director husband, Tony Richardson, with French star Jeanne Moreau. Ms Redgrave, 30, was not in court.
APRIL 29, 1971
WOMEN’S lib is moving on to the garage forecourts. A survey by BP found there is a new and growing, class of women drivers who have broken away from the male influence in motoring. They run their own cars, decide if the oil needs checking and which brand to use, when the car needs servicing and pay the bills. To cater for these women, BP will build more canopies at petrol stations to protect hair styles, provide more lavatories, and cover pump nozzles with plastic shields to protect feminine hands from cold steel.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MICHELLE PFEIFFER, 66. The American actress was Oscarnominated for Dangerous liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys and love Field. During her audition for Scarface, she accidentally cut Al Pacino with broken glass — and still got the role. FRANK AUERBACH, 93. The german-born painter, described as ‘Britain’s greatest living artist’, came to the UK aged eight to escape Nazi persecution (his parents perished in the Holocaust). He did not have a bank account until he was 50.
BORN ON THIS DAY
LORD JACOB ROTHSCHILD (19362024). The financier and philanthropist was born in Cambridge. His father joked: ‘Jacob is so brilliant at finance, and I so much the reverse that some people think it casts doubt on his legitimacy.’ All he inherited from his father was an inkstand.
CELESTE HOLM (1917-2012). The U.S. actress won an Oscar for gentleman’s Agreement. But she said that Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Twentieth Century Fox, ‘ was furious . . . He thought I was going to get difficult. Not at all. It never occurred to me.’
ON APRIL 29…
IN 1945, the U.S. Army liberated Dachau concentration camp.
IN 2022, Boris Becker was jailed for 30 months for hiding millions of pounds’ worth of assets after being made bankrupt.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION
Jentacular (coined 1721)
A) Pertaining to breakfast. B) The wrong way. C) Out of shape.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
In a nutshell: used when summing something up in a concise way; from a copy of Homer’s epic poem the Iliad being written on a piece of parchment small enough to fit into the shell of a walnut.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
When you write a good song, it will be good even if it’s sung by somebody with a bad voice.
Ray Charles, U.S. singersongwriter (1930-2004)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT did the alien say to the cat? Take me to your litter.
Guess The Definition answer: A.