May 12th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 133, known as National Limerick Day, International Nurses Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of August 19th in the previous year. Your star sign is Taurus and your birthstone is Emerald.
1945 – The publication of the first of the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled ‘The Three Railway Engines’ and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry.
Todays birthdays
1950 – Gabriel Byrne (74), Irish actor (Stigmata, The Usual Suspects, Ghost Ship, Little Women), born in Walkinstown, Dublin, Ireland.
1969 – Catherine Tate (55), English actress, comedian and writer (The Catherine Tate Show, Doctor Who), born in Bloomsbury, London.
1978 – Jason Biggs (46), American actor (American Pie franchise), born in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, United States.
1980 – Rishi Sunak (44), British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2022, born in Southampton.
1981 – Rami Malek (43), American actor (Bohemian Rhapsody, No Time to Die, Papillon, Need for Speed), born in Torrance, California, United States.
Famous deaths
2019 – Freddie Starr (b. 1943), English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor ( Opportunity Knocks and the Royal Variety Performance).
2020 – Little Richard (b. 1932), American singer, songwriter, and pianist (“Tutti Frutti”, “The Girl Can’t Help It”).
The day today
1937 – The Coronation of George VI. The BBC televised the procession in its first ever outside broadcast. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became queen consort and was later known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
1945 – The publication of the first of the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled ‘The Three Railway Engines’ and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry. The book quickly sold the initial print run of 22,500 copies and there were a further two print runs by the end of the year.
2000 – Ford workers at its Dagenham plant reacted with shock and anger at the news that car production was to be transferred to Germany and Spain, with the loss of 3,000 jobs.
2001 – For the first time ever the FA Cup Final was held outside England when it took place at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
2014 – Gary Barlow from the pop group ‘Take That’ was facing calls to give back his OBE. It was claimed that, along with members Howard Donald, Mark Owen and their manager Jonathan Wild, Barlow had invested £66m in two partnerships that were styled as tax avoidance schemes. HM Revenue and Customs was expected to demand repayment of tens of millions of pounds.
Today in music
1972 – The Rolling Stones released Exile on Main Street, the second album on their own label. The double set featured two hit singles, ‘Tumbling Dice’ and ‘Happy’. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 7 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the highest of any Stones album on the list.
1981 – Meat Loaf filed for bankruptcy with debts of over $1 million (around £794,000 in todays money). The singer stated; “I made almost nothing. That’s how it was back then. The record company said Bat Out Of Hell never made a profit.”
1990 – Adamski started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Killer’. The single featured Seal who remade the song under his own name, reaching the Top 10, the following year.
2000 – Thieves stole the gates to Strawberry Fields the Merseyside landmark immortalised by The Beatles song. The 10′ high iron gates were later found at local scrap metal dealers in Liverpool.
2004 – Barry and Robin Gibb from The Bee Gees were both presented with honorary degrees from Manchester University. They also picked up a posthumous award for their brother Barry.
Today in history
1264 – The start of the Battle of Lewes (Sussex), between King Henry III and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort and made him the ‘uncrowned King of England’.
1536 – Sir Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton and several other alleged lovers of Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII, were tried for treason and executed ‘On This Day’.
1812 – The birth of Edward Lear, English artist, illustrator, author, and poet. In 1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks that went through three editions and in 1867 he published his most famous piece of nonsense, The Owl and the Pussycat.
1820 – The birth of Florence Nightingale, English hospital reformer who attended to the wounded during the Crimean War. She was born in Florence, but Embley Park in Hampshire was her family home from 1825 until her death in 1910. ‘The Lady of the Lamp’ had over 10,000 under her care in appalling and unsanitary conditions. Determined to remedy the suffering she had experienced, she raised £50,000 to establish nurses’ training in Britain.
1890 – The first official County Championship cricket match. Yorkshire beat Gloucestershire by eight wickets.