ON THIS DAY

October 26, 2021

OCTOBER 26, 1971

DELEgATES sang, shouted and danced in the aisles at the United Nations today after a vote cleared the way for the admission of mainland China and the expulsion of the Nationalist Chinese. It came after the general Assembly rejected by 59 votes to 55 an American motion demanding a twothirds majority before the Nationalists could be expelled.

OCTOBER 26, 2005

PANIC could set in during a flu pandemic if the public is not told who is first in line for drugs, the government was warned last night. Ministers have ordered 14.6million courses of antiviral drug Tamiflu, the amount world health chiefs say the UK needs to deal with a pandemic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

ROgER ALLAM, 68. The actor from London played Inspector Javert in the original London production of Les Misérables as well as appearing in game Of Thrones and sitcom The Thick Of It. The former Haringey council litter picker said his most challenging role was playing the drag queen Albert in La Cage Aux Folles: ‘I had to ask my beloved to help me shave my entire body once a week with a beard trimmer.’ DAME SARAH STOREy, 44. The Manchester-born athlete is the most successful British Paralympian of all time, with 17 golds across eight games. She first competed in the Paralympics aged 14, as a swimmer, before switching to cycling. Storey was born without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord.

BORN ON THIS DAY

MAHALIA JACKSON (1911-72). The U.S. singer and civil rights activist’s rendition of Thomas Dorsey’s gospel song Precious Lord, Take My Hand was Martin Luther King’s favourite — and whenever he asked her to perform at an event, she agreed. That included the 1963 March on Washington, at which Dr King made his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at Jackson’s urging. BOB HOSKINS (1942-2014). The Suffolk-born actor, star of Mona Lisa and The Long good Friday, fell into acting after waiting in a pub with a friend who was at an audition. Hoskins was mistakenly called in and was ‘too p***ed to argue’. When he received a call in the early hours from Francis Ford Coppola offering him a role in The Cotton Club, he thought it was a prank and yelled: ‘And I’m f **** n’ Henry the Eighth and you’ve just woken my kid up,’ and put the phone down. He still got the part.

ON OCTOBER 26…

IN 1881, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place. The Wild-West shootout inspired the 1957 film of the same name. IN 1918, Cecil and Mary Chubb donated Stonehenge to the nation, having bought it for £6,600 at an auction.

WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION: Pipkin (c1560)

A) A youth between boyhood and manhood. B) A grumbler. C) A small earthenware pot or pan. Answer below.

PHRASE EXPLAINED Golden handshake:

A lump sum paid to a retiring director or manager or to a redundant worker; the term originated in Britain in the mid-1960s.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

People generally see what they look for. Harper Lee, U.S. writer (1926-2016)

JOKE OF THE DAY

WHAT sound does a 747 make when it bounces? Boeing, Boeing, Boeing! Guess The Definition answer: C. Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD