ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE OCTOBER 3, 1955
AIR CHIEF Marshal Lord Dowding, 73, the Battle of Britain Chief, believes in flying saucers. As president of the Tunbridge Wells Flying Saucer Club, he talked about people from Outer Space who live for 1,000 years, can disappear at will and speak any language. He described a saucer landing at Lossiemouth in 1954, and its crew member who was 6ft tall and sun-tanned. ‘He could have passed as an Englishman,’ said Lord Dowding, ‘except that he had a one-piece suit like chain-mail covering even his feet.’
OCTOBER 3, 1969
ALL TV advertisements for the News of the World’s serialisation of the memoirs of Christine Keeler (right) have been banned. An ITV spokesman said: ‘We did accept them last weekend, but criticism of the series has developed to such an extent that the authority judges a considerable section of the public is offended by the series.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
REBECCA STEPHENS, 56. In 1993, the mountaineer became the first British woman to conquer Everest. The former journalist only got the climbing bug after writing a series of articles about an Everest expedition. She said the joy of reaching the peak, ‘momentarily, is explosive’. CLIVE OWEN, 53. The Coventry-born star of Closer and Gosford Park (right) insists he doesn’t think about his looks, saying: ‘Any actor who ever thinks about that or considers himself to be a sex symbol has got serious problems.’ Angelina Jolie, his Beyond Borders co-star, said that when she told Owen he looked sexy in a white vest, ‘He fell over laughing . . . ’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR PATRICK MANSON (1844-1922). The Scottish physician and founder of the London School of Tropical Medicine discovered insects such as mosquitoes can host a parasite that can cause disease in humans. His breakthrough came after experiments on his gardener — having mosquitoes feed on his blood before examining them. EMILy POST (1873-1960). The American authority on good manners was known for her bestselling book, Etiquette. Asked if it was acceptable to dunk a doughnut, she said: ‘Any place that would have doughnuts would be like a picnic, where, short of smearing wet doughnuts from ear to ear, you could do pretty much as you pleased.’
ON OCTOBER 3…
IN 1906, SOS in Morse code — three-dots, three-dashes, three-dots — was established as the international distress signal. IN 1932, Iraq was granted independence from Britain. IN 1990, West Germany and East Germany officially agreed their reunification.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Yomp (coined 1982) A) A forced military march in full kit. B) A dead tree still standing. C) A twisting double somersault performed on the trampoline. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Go hell for leather: Meaning as fast as possible. Comes from a horseman riding fast and putting a lot of wear into his leather saddle, thus ‘going hell for leather’.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
PROCRAsTinATiOn is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis, U.S. poet (1878-1937) JOKE OF THE DAY WHAT’S the worst thing about generalisations? Everyone makes them all the time. Guess the Definition answer: A.