Welcome to day 198 of the year! Known as World Emoji Day, National Tattoo Day and Yellow Pig Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of October 24th 2022.
1981 – The Humber Estuary Bridge was officially opened by the Queen (opened to traffic on 24 June 1981). For 16 years after its construction it was the world’s longest single-span structure.
Todays birthdays
1947 – Camilla Parker Bowles (76), British wife of King Charles III, and Queen of the United Kingdom, born in London, England.
1952 – David Hasselhoff (70), American actor (Knight Rider, Baywatch), born in Baltimore, Maryland.
1965 – Alex Winter (58), English actor (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and Bill & Ted Face the Music.), born in London, England.
1976 – Gino D’Acampo (47), Italian celebrity chef and Television Presenter (Family Fortunes), born in Torre del Greco, Italy.
1985 – Tom Fletcher (38), British pop singer, and guitarist (McFly – “5 Colours In Her Hair”; “All About You”), born in Harrow, London, England.
The day today
1918 – The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, was sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55, with the loss of 5 lives.
1923 – The birth of John Cooper. He developed the British Motor Corporation Mini Cooper, adored by rally racers and ordinary drivers.
1964 – British speed pioneer Sir Donald Campbell set a new land speed world record of 403.10 mph in his car, Bluebird.
1974 – An explosion in the Tower of London left one person dead and 41 injured. The incident happened without the coded warning typical of the IRA.
1981 – The Humber Estuary Bridge was officially opened by the Queen. For 16 years after its construction it was the world’s longest single-span structure.
Today in music
1975 – Bob Marley and the Wailers played the first of two nights at The Lyceum, London, and both nights were recorded for the November released ‘live’ album, featuring the single ‘No Woman No Cry.’
1982 – Irene Cara was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Fame’, which was based on the hit TV series about a New York drama school. Cara (who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the original movie) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for the same.
1993 – Take That had their first UK No.1 single with ‘Pray’. Their first of 8 No.1’s, they went on to be the most successful British boy band of the 1990s.
1995 – Robbie Williams left Take That. The group had scored six UK No.1 singles and two No.1 albums with Robbie in the group.
2019 – Snow Patrol’s ballad ‘Chasing Cars’ was named the most-played song of the 21st Century on UK radio. Originally released in 2006, the lovestruck ballad never reached No.1 in the UK, but remained on the charts for more than three years.
Historical events
1453 – Battle of Castillon: The last battle of the Hundred Years’ War, the French under Jean Bureau defeat the English under the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is killed in the battle.
1585 – The English secret service discovered the Babington Plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
Anthony Babington was one of the plot’s chief conspirators in killing Queen Elizabeth I and replacing her with her cousin Mary Queen of Scots. The plot’s motive was to restore England to its previous religion, as Queen Elizabeth I was a protestant and Mary Queen of Scots was a Roman Catholic.
1717 – King George I of Great Britain sails down the River Thames with a barge of 50 musicians, where George Frideric Handel’s Water Music is premiered.
1917 – King George V issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal Family will bear the surname Windsor.
1918 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are executed by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.