ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE SEPTEMBER 16, 2000
IT’S over. After 64 days in which it enthralled and horrified the public, Channel 4’s [first series of] Big Brother has ended. Ten strangers had been locked in a house in East London and filmed constantly while viewers voted every week to evict one of them — until one was left to claim a £70,000 prize. Just before 11pm last night 7.5million viewers chose the winner, Liverpudlian Craig Phillips.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2008
THE momentous impact of Meltdown Monday will hit every saver, pension investor and homeowner in Britain, experts warned last night. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and stockbroker Merrill Lynch has agreed to a cut-price takeover.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
KATIE MELuA, 37. The British singer was born in Georgia from where her grandfather was deported to a Siberian prison camp at the age of 15 under Stalin’s regime. She was the top-selling uK female artist in the world in 2006 — the same year she set the world record for playing the deepest underwater concert, 303 metres under the Troll A oil rig in the North Sea. She loves ironing so much she wrote a song called Shirt Of A Ghost ‘about doing the ironing for someone who had just passed away’.
GEORGE CHAKIRIS, 87. The GreekAmerican actor won an Oscar for his role as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, in 1961’s West Side Story. He has swapped the silver screen for sterling silver jewellery, selling it for £170-£5,400 a piece.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ANDREW BONAR LAW (1858-1923). The Canadian-born son of a Scottish clergyman became the shortest-serving prime minister of the 20th century. He resigned after just 211 days due to ill health and died of throat cancer six months later. At his funeral in Westminster Abbey, Herbert Asquith said ‘the unknown Prime Minister’ was being buried by the side of the unknown Soldier.
SIR ALExANDER KORDA (1893-1956). The first British film producer to receive a knighthood was a master at raising money for movies and paid his stars handsomely. He once quipped: ‘The art of film making is to come to the brink of bankruptcy and stare it in the face.’ Korda, who married and divorced actresses Maria Farkas and Merle Oberon, signed up Marlene Dietrich, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh as head of London Films.
ON SEPTEMBER 16…
IN 1977, T. Rex lead singer Marc Bolan died in a car crash, aged 29. IN 1981, the BBC’s Postman Pat first aired.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Xebec (c1750s) A) An opera hat B) A light carriage for one or two people C) A small three-masted ship
Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Draw a blank — meaning to be unsuccessful; it comes from drawing a blank lottery ticket, showing one has won nothing.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I’d rather be dead than cool. Kurt Cobain, American musician (1967-1994)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT kind of felines like to go bowling? Alley cats. GuESS The Definition answer: C.