August 24th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 236 of the year! Known as International Strange Music Day, Pluto Demoted Day and Waffle Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of December 1st 2022 and your star sign is “Virgo”.
2016 – Astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet named Proxima b. The planet orbits the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, 4.22 lightyears away.
Todays birthdays
1957 – Stephen Fry (66), English actor (Blackadder), broadcaster, comedian (A Bit of Fry and Laurie), director, audiobook narrator and writer born in Hampstead, London.

1958 – Steven Guttenberg (65), American actor (Carey Mahoney in Police Academy), author, businessman, producer, and director born in New York, United States.

1961 – Mark “Bedders” Bedford (62), English rock-ska bassist (Madness – “House Of Fun”), born in Islington, London.
1983 – Katie McGrath (40), Irish actress (Morgana Pendragon in the BBC One series Merlin), born in Ashford, Ireland.
1988 – Rupert Grint (35), English actor (Ron Weasley in Harry Potter), born in Harlow, Essex.
The day today
1967 – Two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during sweltering London temperatures.
1981 – American Mark Chapman was given a 20 year sentence for shooting John Lennon, the former member of the British group, The Beatles – in New York. Chapman has applied for parole every two years since 2000. All the applications have been rejected.
1998 – Britain, the United States and the Netherlands agreed to put two Libyans on trial for planting the bomb which blew up a Pan Am airliner over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all those on board and several on the ground.
2014 – The death, aged 90, of Richard Attenborough, who championed the British film business for more than 60 years as an actor, director and prolific movie-maker. He won two Academy Awards for directing and producing Gandhi in 1983.
2019 – Prince Andrew denies knowing his friend Jeffrey Epstein was involved in sexual trafficking of underage girls after public accusations made against him.
Today in music
1975 – Queen started recording ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales, (the song was recorded over three weeks). Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.
1985 – Huey Lewis and the News started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’, as featured in the movie Back To The Future.
1991 – Lenny Kravitz was at No.2 in the singles chart with ‘It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over’, held off the No.1 position by Bryan Adams ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You’.
1996 – ‘Missing’ by UK duo Everything But The Girl broke the all-time US chart stay record previously held by The Four Seasons’ ‘December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)’, when it appeared on the Billboard chart for the 55th week.
2019 – Billie Eilish ended the record-breaking 19-week run of ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus when ‘Bad Guy’ claimed the top spot on the US Hot 100 chart. The song which peaked at No.2 on the UK chart was also a No.1 hit in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Russia.
Today in history
1482 – The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.
1759 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist, was born. He campaigned for many important causes, most notably the abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies.
1814 – British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze.
1847 – Charlotte Brontë, alias Currer Bell sent her manuscript for Jane Eyre to her London publishers, Smith, Elder & Company.
1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).
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