ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE

SEPTEMBER 27, 1960 MILLIONS of Americans tonight saw Vice-President Nixon and Senator John Kennedy, the presidential candidates, meet face-toface in Chicago for the first of their television debates. Democrat Senator Kennedy seemed more at ease than Mr Nixon, who again banged his recently injured knee getting out of a car as he was entering the studio. SEPTEMBER 27, 1973 THE Concorde airliner yesterday slashed the transatlantic flying time by more than half in its first non-stop crossing from Washington to Paris. With not enough sensation to ripple the passengers’ martinis, the needle-nosed jet flew at twice the speed of sound for two hours and 16 minutes at a maximum altitude of 58,000ft. It covered the 3,390-miles between the two capitals in three hours 32 minutes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SIMONA HALEP, 28. The Romanian tennis star defeated Serena Williams in July to become Wimbledon champion. She said her biggest sacrifice for success was having surgery to reduce her breasts from a 34DD to a 34C aged 17.‘It’s the weight that troubles me,’ she said. ‘My ability to react quickly — my breasts make me uncomfortable when I play.’

DENIS LAWSON, 72. The actor from Perthshire starred in the BBC’s Holby City and New Tricks. He is the uncle of fellow actor Ewan McGregor — both have starred in Star Wars films — though lawson is still irritated that his first name was spelled with an extra ‘n’ in the credits. McGregor has said: ‘He started me off: we used to work on audition speeches and stuff when I was a kid. He’s still my main inspiration.’

BORN ON THIS DAY

GORDON HONEYCOMBE (1936-2015). The Karachiborn broadcaster first appeared on TV as an extra in That Was The Week That Was before becoming a newsreader. After a twominute screen test, the 6ft 4in tall Honeycombe was offered a £25-a-week job as ITN’s main news anchor and later presented for TV-am. He was also a playwright, crime historian and author of horror novels.

BOB SPIERS (1945-2008). The Glasgowborn comedy director worked on shows including Dad’s Army, Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous. Joanna lumley, who played Patsy in Ab Fab, said her character ‘would never have glittered quite so brightly’ were it not for the man she called ‘His Bobness’. He said he preferred working with women because ‘the girls take risks’.

ON SEPTEMBER 27…

IN 1964, the Warren Commission concluded assassin lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in killing President John F. Kennedy.

IN 2017, U.S. entrepreneur and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner died, aged 91.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Chamois (c 1525) A) Violet-coloured. B) A goat-like antelope. C) A pearly lustre. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED A little knowledge is a dangerous thing: Meaning knowing a small amount can make one falsely believe one is an expert. From Alexander Pope’s 1709 Essay On Criticism.