ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
APRIL 16, 1942 SHIRTS and pyjamas are to have the ‘austerity’ cut, the Directorate of Civilian Clothing announced last night. Shirts will be shorter and pyjama pockets and trimmings will be abolished. And on women’s and girls’ underwear and nightwear, embroidery, applique work and lace will be prohibited on all such garments not completed by June 1.
APRIL 16, 1973 POP star Lulu, who has separated from her Bee Gee husband Maurice Gibb, yesterday angrily attacked his suggestion that they should go straight to bed then go out and get drunk together. Said Lulu: ‘This is typical of Maurice. I have repeatedly pointed out to him that this is an immature way of settling our problems.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RuTH MADOC, 77. The Norwich-born, Radatrained actress, right, made her name in 1980s sitcom Hi-de-Hi!. Last year she broke her hip while rehearsing for her role on stage in Calendar Girls. She stripped off on ITV’s The Real Full Monty to raise awareness of breast cancer and said: ‘I first bared my bosoms when I was 29 for the film under Milk Wood with Richard Burton.’
BARONESS (Joan) Bakewell, 87. The broadcaster and Labour peer from Stockport was dubbed ‘the thinking man’s crumpet’ after presenting the BBC’s Late Night Line-up in the 1960s. Of her eight-year affair with playwright Harold Pinter, which inspired his play Betrayal, she declared: ‘We always said we had a damn good time.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SPIKE MILLIGAN (19182002). The India-born Anglo-Irish comedian, hailed as the ‘godfather of alternative comedy’, right, was the last surviving member of The Goons. After making fun of Prince Charles in a live show in 1994, Milligan faxed him, asking: ‘I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?’ Charles, a long-standing fan of The Goons, bestowed an honorary knighthood on him a year before his death.
SIR John Harvey-Jones (1924-2008). The businessman from East London rose to become chairman of ICI, a company that under his leadership was the first in British history to make £1billion in annual profit. He became a household name as the guru on the BBC’s Troubleshooter and was called ‘the acceptable face of capitalism’.
ON APRIL 16…
IN 1958,
English chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose X-rays were crucial to the understanding of DNA, died of ovarian cancer.
IN 1996,
Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, announced they were divorcing.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Pannikin (c1815)
A) upside down B) A small metal drinking vessel C) A bread basket (Answer below)
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Throw one’s hat into the ring — to nominate oneself, or challenge someone; from boxing, when someone wanting to fight would throw their hat into the ring to let the referee know of the challenge.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it
Bertrand Russell, British philosopher (1872-1970)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you get if you cross elephants with fish? Swimming trunks.
Guess The Definition answer: B