ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JUNE 10, 1929
THE King received the new Ministers at Windsor Castle and handed seals of office to those entitled to them. Those who were not already members of the Privy Council, including Miss Margaret Bondfield, the first woman Cabinet Minister, were sworn and all kissed hands on their appointment.
JUNE 10, 1982
ARGENTINE jets mounted a devastating attack on British supply ships unloading men and ammunition near Port Stanley. The number killed was believed to be ‘substantial’ and between 70 and 80 men were badly burned [they included Welsh Guard Simon Weston, who suffered 46 per cent burns to his body and face].
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SIR LINDSAY HOYLE, 65. The House of Commons Speaker, MP for Chorley in Lancashire, has a parrot called Boris (pictured). He fell out with its namesake last year during a debate about a sleaze scandal, shouting: ‘Sit down! you may be the Prime Minister of this country, but in this House, I’m in charge!’
BEN DANIELS, 58. The Olivier awardwinning actor from Warwickshire, who played Princess Margaret’s husband Lord Snowdon in The Crown, starred in the BBC’s Cutting It and ITV’s Law & Order: UK. He said his worst audition was for a musical: ‘I just fell down on the ground. I didn’t even say anything. I just peeled myself off the floor and walked off the stage.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
LIONEL JEFFRIES (1926-2010). The Rada trained actor from London played Grandpa Potts in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and wrote and directed The Railway Children. But he always struggled to get his cosy projects made, saying: ‘No one wants family entertainment any more. They want explicit sex.’ Jeffries was described as ‘the British film industry’s archetypal officious policeman with his ‘hard-boiled egg of a head, barking voice, interrogator’s nose and demented moustache’.
JUDY GARLAND (19221969). Mother of Liza Minnelli, the U.S. actress and singer, born Frances Ethel Gumm, played Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz. Garland (pictured), who married five times, was ranked among the ten greatest female stars in the history of U.S. cinema. She complained that her studio prescribed her drugs as a child, either to energise or tranquilise her. She died aged 47 in her London home after an overdose.
ON JUNE 10…
IN 1921, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born on a dining room table in Corfu. IN 1997, docusoap Driving School began on BBC1, making a star of Maureen Rees.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Synapse (c 1895) A) Junction between two neurons. B) Strong tendon in an animal’s neck. C) Combination of different forms of beliefs.
(answer below)
PHRASE EXPLAINED
To throw a curve ball — meaning to cause confusion or to present someone with an unexpected problem; from baseball in which the pitcher spins the ball to cause deviation from a straight trajectory
QUOTE FOR TODAY
What has posterity ever done for me? Groucho Marx, American comedian (1890-1977)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a magician who has lost his magic? Ian.
Guess the Definition answer: a.