September 17, 2021 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE SEPTEMBER 17, 1970
LIBERACE’S reported offer to loan the Queen his 50-room converted hotel at Palm Springs, California (piano-shaped pool, 1920s-style nightclub, Pompeian bathroom with erotic decor), has not yet been received by Buckingham Palace. A spokesman said: ‘In any case, it would not be accepted.’
SEPTEMBER 17, 1984
AT ONE day old, Prince Henry Charles Albert David, Harry for short, made his public debut yesterday when his parents took him home to Kensington Palace. A 1,000-strong crowd cheered as Princess Diana and Prince Charles left St Mary’s Hospital.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BAZ LUHRMANN, 59. The Australian director of Strictly Ballroom, romeo + Juliet and Moulin rouge! says he grew up on a ‘farm and a tiny gas station in the middle of absolutely nowhere’. He was born Mark Anthony but changed his name to ‘Bazmark’ after being called Basil Brush by other youngsters, due to his hair. DAMON HILL, 61. The former racing driver from London was the son of another world champion, Graham Hill, who died in a plane crash when Damon was 15. He admitted this year he had been sent on a speed awareness course. Participants could put any name on their badges: ‘I couldn’t help it. I put “The Champ”, which was probably a bit cheeky. I think they knew who I was anyway because everyone was looking at me.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
HANK WILLIAMS (1923-1953). The u.S. country and western singer-songwriter’s hits include Hey, Good Lookin’ and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, which Elvis Presley said was ‘probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard’. He died at 29 of a heart attack in the back of a Cadillac on the way to a show. BARONESS (Tessa) Jowell (1947-2018). The Labour culture secretary persuaded Cabinet colleagues to back the London 2012 Games bid. She helped bring in media regulator Ofcom and a Licensing Act that liberalised pub opening hours. Her bid for ‘super casinos’ sparked protests and she said she went from ‘the nation’s nanny’ to ‘gangster’s moll’. She had a brain tumour and on turning 70 said: ‘More people living longer better lives with cancer is my birthday pledge’. She died less than a year later.
ON SEPTEMBER 17 . . .
IN 1787, the final draft of the u.S. Constitution was signed. IN 2000, 41-year-old TV presenter Paula Yates was found dead.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Propinquity (coined late 14th century)
A) Support. B) The attraction of the opposite sex at breeding time. C) nearness in time or space. Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED Russian roulette:
refers to a deadly game of chance in which players put a bullet in one of a revolver’s six chambers, spin it, then press the trigger with the gun at their head. It is said to have come from Tsarist russian army officers who gambled this way.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
A good eater must be a good man; for a good eater must have a good digestion, and a good digestion depends upon a good conscience.
Benjamin Disraeli, UK prime minister (1804-1881)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT’S an astronaut’s favourite part of the computer? The space bar. Guess The Definition answer: C.