May 26, 2022

ON THIS DAY

FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MAY 26, 1945

BRITAIN’S Ve-celebration lights are banned from today, plus neon lights, floodlights and any other outdoor illumination. The Ministry of Fuel imposed the ban due to an ‘urgent need for continued fuel economy’. Street lighting is not affected.

MAY 26, 1995

The guest list for the lavish wedding celebrations of Imran Khan and Jemima Goldsmith reads like a mix of Debrett’s Peerage and Who’s Who — although it is understood Princess Diana has had to decline due to a prior engagement.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

STEVIE NICKS, 74. The U.S. singer-songwriter, who shot to fame with Fleetwood Mac, was the first woman to be inducted into the rock & roll hall of Fame twice. Nicks says she has had Botox just once — as it ‘only makes you look like you’re in a satanic cult . . .’ SIMON ARMITAGE, 59. The huddersfield-born Poet laureate — who writes in his shed and received a barrel of sherry on his appointment — describes his work as neither high-brow nor low-brow, but ‘nobrow’. his parents burst into tears when he told them about his selection by the Queen. his father said: ‘If your grandad had been alive today, this would have killed him.’

BORN ON THIS DAY

PEGGY lee (1920-2002). The Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated U.S. jazzsinger songwriter made her name with the 1958 hit Fever. She was born Norma Deloris egstrom, but was renamed ‘Miss Peggy lee’ by a radio announcer. She was the voice of Peg the dog in Disney’s lady and The Tramp, and wrote the film’s songs, but had to wage a long legal fight to receive royalties, triumphing 35 years after its release.

STAN MORTENSEN (1921-1991). The Blackpool footballer from South Shields has been described by the english Football hall of Fame as ‘one of england’s all-time great centre forwards’. In 1953, he became the first man to score an Fa Cup Final hat-trick. During World War II, and aged 18, he was the only survivor of his RAF bomber crew after a crash in 1939.

ON MAY 26 . . .

IN 1923, the first 24 hours of le Mans was held in France. It is the world’s oldest endurance car race. IN 1994, lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of the King of rock and roll, married the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Salvo (c1590) a) healing ointment for sores. B) round of fire, cheers or applause. C) a greeting. Answer below. PHRASE EXPLAINED To bow down in the house of Rimmon: Means to pay lip service to some principle or to sacrifice one’s principles in order to conform. From the Bible in which rimmon was a Syrian God, and Naaman, cured of leprosy, begged forgiveness for his future participation in the worship of rimmon out of allegiance to the king.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

No humorist is under any obligation to provide answers P. J. O’Rourke, U.S. satirist (1947-2022)

JOKE OF THE DAY

WHAT happened when a ship carrying red paint crashed into one carrying blue paint? Hundreds of sailors were marooned.

Guess The Definition answer: B.