Welcome to day 200 of the year! Known as National Stick Out Your Tongue Day and Daiquiri Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of October 26th 2022.
1941 – Winston Churchill introduced his ‘V for Victory” campaign which rapidly spread through Europe. The BBC took the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which matched the dot-dot-dot-dash Morse code for the letter V, and played it before news bulletins.
Todays birthdays
1947 – Brian May (76), British rock guitarist (Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”; “We Are The Champions”), born in London, England.
1970 – Nicola Sturgeon (53), Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland, born in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
1976 – Benedict Cumberbatch (47), British actor (Sherlock; Doctor Strange), born in London, England.
1979 – Michelle Heaton (44), English singer (Liberty X), stage actress & television presenter, born in Gateshead, England.
2002 – Fabio Silva (21), Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, born in Gondomar, Portugal.
The day today
1969 – British rower John Fairfax arrived at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after becoming the first person to row across the Atlantic alone.
1972 – The Battle of Mirbat, arguably the finest moment in SAS history. The battle was fought in the Gulf state of Oman, with British troops supporting the Sultan of Oman. Just nine Special Forces soldiers overcame 300 Communist guerrillas, known as the Adoo.
1986 – English boxer Frank Bruno was beaten in a heavyweight world championship contender fight by American Tim Witherspoon.
2001 – Former Tory MP, Jeffrey Archer, was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice and sentenced to four years in prison.
2009 – A black spot the size of Earth is discovered on Jupiter after an unknown object crashed onto the planet.
Today in music
1975 – The Bay City Rollers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Give A Little Love’, the group’s second and final UK No.1.
1980 – Queen scored their third UK No.1 album with ‘The Game’, featuring the single ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.
1997 – Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘D’You Know What I Mean’. The first single from their third album ‘Be Here Now’.
2005 – James Blunt was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You’re Beautiful’, from his debut album ‘Back To Bedlam’. The UK singer songwriters first No.1, spent 5 weeks at the top of the charts.
2014 – Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with X (pronounced multiply), his second studio album. The album peaked at No. 1 in fifteen countries, and the lead single, ‘Sing’, became Sheeran’s first UK No.1 song. By the end of 2014 Spotify named X the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
Historical events
1333 – Wars of Scottish Independence: The English won a decisive victory over the Scots at the Battle of Halidon Hill, near Berwick-upon-Tweed. In England the victory, the first for many years, brought a great boost to the morale of the nation. Bannockburn had finally been avenged.
1545 – The Mary Rose, the pride of Henry VIII’s battle fleet, sank in the Solent with the loss of 700 lives. (The ship was raised on 11th October 1982 to be taken to Portsmouth Dockyard where she is undergoing conservation in the Mary Rose Hall.
1553 – Lady Jane Grey was replaced by Mary I as Queen of England after having the title for just nine days.
1843 – The steamship SS Great Britain is launched, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and the largest vessel afloat in the world.
1941 – Winston Churchill introduced his ‘V for Victory” campaign which rapidly spread through Europe. The BBC took the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which matched the dot-dot-dot-dash Morse code for the letter V, and played it before news bulletins.