February 21st "2024" daily prep

Welcome to day 52, known as Sticky Bun Day, Launguage day and National Grain Free Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of May 31st in the previous year. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Amethyst.
The Peace symbol, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. The logo was not copyrighted and later became known in the wider world as a general-purpose peace symbol.
1958 – The Peace symbol, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. The logo was not copyrighted and later became known in the wider world as a general-purpose peace symbol.
Todays birthdays
1955 – Kelsey Grammer (69), American actor (Cheers, Frasier, X-Men: The Last Stand, voice of Sideshow Bob – The Simpsons), born in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands.
1962 – Vanessa Feltz (62), English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist (The Wright Stuff, This Morning, and Strictly Come Dancing), born in Islington, London.
1976 – Michael McIntyre (48), British comedian, writer, and television presenter (Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, The Wheel), born in London.
1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt (45), American actress (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Garfield: The Movie, 9-1-1), born in Waco, Texas, United States.
1986 – Charlotte Church (38), Welsh singer-songwriter (“Crazy Chick” and various classical songs), born in Llandaff, Cardiff.
Famous deaths
1965 – Malcolm X (b. 1925), American minister and activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement.
2002 – John Thaw (b. 1942), English actor and producer (Inspecter Morse, Goodnight Mister Tom).
The day today
1910 – The birth of Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader who lost both his legs while attempting aerobatics in 1931. As an RAF fighter ace during the Second World War he was credited with 20 aerial victories, many shared victories and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. As a POW he was a thorn in the side of the Germans and he made so many attempts at escape that the Germans threatened to take away his legs.
1917 – The loss of SS Mendi, a British passenger steamship that was chartered as a troopship in the First World War. She was hit, (south of the Isle of Wight), in thick fog, by the cargo steamship Darro. The damaged Darro did not stay to assist. SS Mendi sank, killing 646 people, most of whom were black South African troops who were going to fight in France. The sinking was a major loss of life for the South African military, and one of the 20th century’s worst maritime disasters in UK waters.
1958 – The Peace symbol, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. The logo was not copyrighted and later became known in the wider world as a general-purpose peace symbol. The design incorporated the semaphore signals for ‘N’ and ‘D’ standing for ‘nuclear disarmament’.
1988 – The grave of Boadicea, the warrior queen who fought the Romans in Britain nearly 2,000 years ago, was located by archaeologists under Platform 8 at King’s Cross railway station, London. British Rail said they had just refurbished the platform and anyone wanting to dig it up would have to come up with a strong case. And they did!
2001 – The European Commission banned all British milk, meat and livestock exports following the UK’s first outbreak of foot and mouth disease for two decades.
Today in music
1970 – Simon and Garfunkel went to No.1 on the UK chart with Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album went on to stay on the chart for over 300 weeks, returning to the top of the charts on eight separate occasions and spending a total of 41 weeks at No.1.
1976 – The Four Seasons were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘December ’63 (Oh What A Night). Written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker who first met when both were working as producers for Motown Records. The song’s lyrics were originally set in 1933 with the title “December 5th, 1933,” and celebrated the repeal of Prohibition.
1987 – Ben E King was at No.1 in the UK singles chart with ‘Stand By Me.’ The track was first released in 1961 and became a hit in 1987 after being featured in the film ‘Stand By Me.’
1998 – Celine Dion went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘My Heart Will Go On’. The song was the theme from the movie Titanic. The world’s best selling single of 1998.
2002 – Elton John accused the music industry of exploiting young singers and dumping talented artists for manufactured group’s. He said ‘There are too many average and mediocre acts; it damages real talent getting airplay. It’s just fodder.’
Today in history
1431 – In a trial demanded by the English, French heroine Joan of Arc was accused of heresy before the judges in Rouen.
1437 – James I, King of Scotland, was assassinated by a group of dissident nobles led by the earl of Atholl. The crown went to his son, James II.
1741 – The death of Jethro Tull, English agricultural innovator. Born on 30th March 1674, he perfected a horse-drawn seed drill that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, an invention that helped form the basis of modern British agriculture.
1804 – Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick demonstrated the world’s first steam railway locomotive at Samuel Homfray’s Penydaren Ironworks in South Wales. The engine won a wager for Homfray by hauling a load of 10 tons of iron and 70 men along 10 miles of tramway.
1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.