ON THIS DAY
January 11, 2018
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JANUARY 11, 1937 A ‘WEDDING’, one of the most important at London Zoo this year, has been arranged. Amur, the Siberian tiger, is to have Jezebel, a Bengal tiger, as his mate. The pair have been put in adjoining cages to get acquainted. Amur has gained Jezebel’s approval but he seems indifferent so far. JANUARY 11, 1962 THE Twist dance craze is too dangerous for people over 40, the American Medical Association warned today. It says: ‘Dislocated joints, slipped discs, muscle sprains and sacroiliac [pelvis joint] damage await the older Twisters.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RACHEL RILEY, 32. The co-presenter of Channel 4’s Countdown (pictured) has an Oxford mathematics degree. Contestants are warned not to use the expression: ‘Can I get..?’ when requesting letters or numbers from her. Rachel is dating her former Strictly partner Pasha Kovalev. She said: ‘As an Essex maths girl who likes football, if I had seen on paper, “Russian ballroom dancer”, I never would have thought we were compatible.’ MARY J. BLIGE, 47. The American R&B singer and actress was at the golden globes this week with nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Mudbound, and Best Song, for Mighty River. Before beating addictions to drink and drugs, she had a fierce reputation — once threatening to punch a female reporter. She was later sent for etiquette lessons by her record label.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ALEXANDER HAMILTON (1757-1804). One of the U.S. founding fathers (pictured) is the subject of the hit hip-hop musical which is named after him. Born illegitimate in the British west Indies, he was at the heart of one of the first U.S. sex scandals. Married Hamilton, described by a biographer as ‘brimming with libido’, had an affair with a woman who, with her husband, orchestrated the fling to extort money from him. It destroyed his career. He was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. HARRY GORDON SELFRIDGE (18581947). The U.S. entrepreneur founded Selfridges department store in Oxford Street in 1909, which boasted the world’s largest glass windows. Selfridges was one of the first stores to provide ladies’ toilets.
ON JANUARY 11…
IN 1569, the draw for England’s first official lottery was held at St Paul’s Cathedral. It took three years to sell all the 10-shilling (50p) tickets and the jackpot was £5,000 (around £900,000 today). IN 2008, Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was the first to climb Everest in 1953, died aged 88.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Defenestration (1620) A) Counting down from a total. B) Throwing someone out of a window. C) fit of depression. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED
Backroom boys: This name for people who work anonymously behind the scenes was coined in 1941 by Lord Beaverbrook in a speech about the valuable wartime contribution made by scientists, code breakers and inventors.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
THE only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise. Peter O’Toole, Actor (1932-2013)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT did the Spanish farmer say to his chickens? Oh-lay! Guess The Definition answer: B.