ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 13, 1913 LEOnARDO DA VInCI’S world-famous picture, La Gioconda [the Mona Lisa], has been found in Florence. It was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in August 1911. Yesterday, the Italian Minister of Public Instruction announced that the picture had been discovered after a man offered to sell it to a dealer in antiques. The dealer recognised the picture. The man, Vincenzo Peruggia, was arrested. He declares he stole the picture in order to avenge napoleon’s art thefts in Italy. DECEMBER 13, 1969 THE 90,000 policemen in England and Wales have been urged to protest to their MPs against the ‘unholy rushing’ of the Commons motion to abolish capital punishment. The Police Federation has also asked 47 branches to send delegates to lobby MPs at the Commons on Monday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SARA COx, 44. The Bolton-born Radio 2 DJ (right), soon to take over as host of the station’s Drivetime show, got her first presenting job on Channel 4’s The Girlie Show in the nineties. Once known as a ‘ladette’, she now dislikes the term, saying: ‘My lovely mum-in-law thinks I’m an angel and gets terribly cross if anyone calls me that.’ JIM DAVIDSOn, 65. The London-born former host of The Generation Game has married five times and says his four divorces cost him up to £60million. In 2013, he was arrested — and cleared after months on bail — over historic sexual assault allegations. Earlier this year, he revealed: ‘I won’t now have a conversation with a woman in a room without someone else being there. I need to protect myself, I’ve been through the hell. I’m easy to accuse.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR LAuREnS VAn DER POST (19061996). The South African author, explorer and soldier was a confidant of Prince Charles and Margaret Thatcher and a godfather to Prince William. During his time serving in the British Army, he was captured by the Japanese and became a prisoner of war. While watching a fellow PoW being struck, he offered himself up instead. The Japanese were so taken aback the beatings stopped. PRInCESS MARInA (1906-1968). The Greek princess married Prince George (fourth son of George V and Queen Mary), becoming the Duchess of Kent. The current Queen’s aunt was the last foreign princess to marry into the British Royal Family.
ON DECEMBER 13…
IN 1997, The Teletubbies went to number one with Teletubbies Say ‘Eh-Oh’, spending nine weeks in the top 40. IN 2007, the member states of the European union signed the Lisbon Treaty.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Clinquant (1613) A) Anything bent like the letter S (from heraldry). B) Something that appears to glitter with gold or silver. C) Having a pearly lustre. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Shrinking violet: A particularly shy person; the sense of shrinking is one of retiring and the violet has long been associated with modesty, as its small flowers are often hidden among its leaves.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
In thE depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. Albert Camus, French philosopher (1913-1960)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT goes down but doesn’t come up? A yo. Guess the Definition answer: B.