ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JANUARY 12, 2000
The insult was ‘holocaust denier’, and more than 60 years since the start of World War II, it ricocheted like a bullet around an english courtroom yesterday. It was aimed at the Right-wing historian David Irving at the start of a libel action. Mr Irving is suing publishers Penguin and U.S. author Deborah Lipstadt over her 1993 book Denying The holocaust. he said its attacks on him were part of an international conspiracy. [Irving later lost the case.]
JANUARY 12, 2008
The Queen is to send a message of sympathy to the family of Sir edmund hillary, who has died aged 88. he was the first person to conquer Mount everest, along with Tenzing Norgay, on May 29, 1953, only days before elizabeth II’s coronation. The Queen had met the climber many times over the years.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
GUY ChaMBeRS, 60. The songwriter from London co-wrote Robbie Williams’ biggest hits, including Millennium, Let Me entertain You and angels — over which he said he ‘got a migraine from overexcitement’ because he ‘knew it was a winner’. he once said: ‘You have to write ten songs to get one good one. There’s a high wastage to being a songwriter.’
ShIRLeY eaToN, 86. The actress from Middlesex starred in Goldfinger as Jill Masterson, the girl who dies from ‘skin suffocation’ after being covered in gold paint as a punishment for helping James Bond (Sean Connery, pictured with eaton). after roles opposite Bob hope and Christopher Lee, she stepped away from the spotlight in 1969 to raise her two children.
BORN ON THIS DAY
JaCK LoNDoN (1876-1916). The U.S. novelist wrote The Call of The Wild and White Fang. having been a sailor, a tramp and a prospector in the Klondike Gold Rush, he became a war correspondent in Korea in 1904, reporting on the Russo-Japanese War. But London was threatened with a court martial after punching a Japanese officer’s groom, whom he caught stealing fodder from his horse. only an intervention by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt saved him.
KIRSTIe aLLeY (1951-2022). The U.S. actress starred as bar manager Rebecca howe in almost 150 episodes of Cheers. her character was supposed to be a ‘sexy villainess’, until co-creator Glen Charles noticed her ‘comedic talents’. She died from colon cancer aged 71 last month.
ON JANUARY 12 . . .
IN 1999, the BBC’s holby City — a spin-off from Casualty — first aired. IN 2004, Queen Mary 2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Florida.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Foehn (early 1860s) a) a worthless, slovenly person. B) a dry wind descending a mountain. C) The soft hair of a rabbit. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED Play hardball:
Meaning to use ruthless and methods; in North america hardball is baseball as opposed to softball.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Italian writer (1896-1957)
JOKE OF THE DAY
NeveR discuss infinity with a mathematician . . . They can go on about it for ever. Guess The Definition answer: B.