Welcome to day 255 of the year! Known as Chocolate Milkshake Day, National Grandparent’s Day and Video Games Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of December 20th 2022 and your star sign is “Virgo”.
1970 – The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise.
Todays birthdays
1956 – Barry Andrews (67), English songwriter, singer and keyboard player who is a co-founder of Shriekback and formera member of XTC and League of Gentlemen, born in West Norwood, London.
1973 – Darren Campbell MBE (50), British former sprint athlete and the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season, born in Sale, Greater Manchester.
1977 – James McCartney (46), British-American musician and songwriter. He is the son of singer, songwriter, and former Beatle Paul McCartney.
1981 – Jennifer Hudson (42), American singer-songwriter (Spotlight), actress (Dreamgirls), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
1986 – Alfie Allen (37), English actor (Game of Thrones – “Theon Greyjoy” and John Wick – “Iosef Tarasov”), born in London, England.
The day today
1906 – The opening of the Newport Transporter Bridge in south east Wales. Only eight such bridges remain in use worldwide and this is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain.
1908 – The marriage of Winston Churchill to Clementine Hozier.
1970 – The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise. Needless to say, most complaints came from people who had taken advantage of inexpensive housing near the airport – made cheap because of the constant noise.
2000 – Britain was brought to a standstill as fuel tax protesters, backed by tanker drivers, caused petrol shortages.
2012 – After three years reviewing 450,000 documents, including those relating to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Merseyside police, the Hillsborough Independent Panel published its report. The report exposed the police campaign to blame Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster which saw the death of 96 fans. It led to a new criminal inquiry into the disaster and an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Today in music
1954 – The first ‘teen idol’, Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Three Coins In The Fountain,’ the singer’s first UK No.1. The song was The Academy Award winning Best Original Song of 1954.
1963 – The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Loves You’, the group’s second No.1. It became the biggest seller of the year and the biggest selling Beatles single in the UK.
1970 – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Tears Of A Clown’, their first UK No.1. Stevie Wonder (who was discovered by Miracles member Ronnie White), and his producer Hank Cosby wrote the music for the song.
1987 – Michael Jackson kicked of his Bad World Tour by playing the first of three sold-out nights at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. By the end of the 123-date tour, Jackson had played to over 4million fans across fifteen countries.
1999 – The Vengaboys went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘We’re Going To Ibiza!’ The song was originally known as ‘Barbados’ a No.1 for Typically Tropical in 1975. The Vengaboys gave it a new title with revised lyrics.
Today in history
1440 – Eton College was founded by Henry VI. Prefects were warned to look out for “ill-kempt heads and unwashed faces.”
1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship ‘Half Moon’ into New York harbour and 150 miles further inland to Albany, along the waterway now called Hudson River.
1852 – The birth of Herbert Henry Asquith, British Liberal Prime Minister. It was Asquith who introduced old age pensions and Lloyd-George was his Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1878 – Cleopatra’s Needle, the obelisk of Thothmes II, was erected on London’s Embankment.
1885 – The Scottish football team of Arbroath beat Bon Accord (from Aberdeen) by 36 goals to nil in the first round of the Scottish Cup, making it a record breaking score for professional football. Thirteen goals were scored by centre-forward John Petrie.