July 18th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 200 of the year! Known as Nelson Mandela Day, Caviar Day, World Listening Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of October 25th in the previous year. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1970 – UK BBC Radio 1 DJ Kenny Everett was sacked after he joked on air that the wife of the conservative transport minister Mary Peyton had ‘crammed a fiver into the examiner’s hand’, when taking her driving test’.
Todays birthdays
1950 – Richard Branson (74), English business magnate and co-founder of the Virgin Group, born in Blackheath, London.
1957 – Nick Faldo (67), English golfer (US Masters 1989, 90, 96; British Open 1987, 90, 92), born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
1967 – Vin Diesel (57), American actor (The Fast and the Furious franchise, Riddick, Pitch Black ), born in Alameda County, California, United States.
1977 – Kelly Reilly (47), English actress (Eden Lake, Flight), best known for her roll as Beth Dutton in the Paramount series, Yellowstone, born in Chessington, Greater London.
1985 – James Norton (39), English film, television, and stage actor (Happy Valley, Grantchester, War & Peace, McMafia), born in Lambeth, London.
Famous deaths
2013 – Journalist and broadcaster Alan Whicker (b. 1921), died at the age of 87 after suffering from bronchial pneumonia. His TV career stretched nearly six decades and he was best known for his documentary series, Whicker’s World, which ran from 1959 to 1988 on both the BBC and ITV. He was made a CBE for services to broadcasting in 2005.
The day today
1920 – The unveiling of the Cenotaph War memorial in Whitehall, London to commemorate the war dead. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and takes its name from the Greek words kenos and taphos meaning empty tomb.
1923 – Under the Matrimonial Causes Bill, British women were given equal divorce rights with men.
1970 – Radio 1 DJ Kenny Everett was sacked after he joked on air that the wife of the conservative transport minister Mary Peyton had ‘crammed a fiver into the examiner’s hand’, when taking her driving test.
1975 – Former British MP John Stonehouse was flown back from Australia to face charges relating to his attempt to falsify his own death.
2000 – Police confirmed that the body they had found in a West Sussex field the previous day was that of missing eight-year old Sarah Payne. Her murderer, Roy Whiting, was convicted in December 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Today in music
1960 – Brenda Lee went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I’m Sorry’ it made No.12 in the UK. Seeking publicity the 4′ 11 tall singer was once billed as a 32-year- old midget and had the nickname Little Miss Dynamite.
1970 – UK BBC Radio 1 DJ Kenny Everett was sacked after he joked on air that the wife of the conservative transport minister Mary Peyton had ‘crammed a fiver into the examiner’s hand’, when taking her driving test’.
1978 – Def Leppard made their live debut at Westfield School, Sheffield, England in front of 150 students.
1998 – The Beastie Boys went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Hello Nasty’, only the second rap album to make No.1 in the UK, the first being Wu-Tang Clan.
2019 – Ed Sheeran broke yet another streaming record. His collaborative album ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’, racked up 69 million streams in a month on Spotify, which was the highest by any artist. This new record wasn’t the first that Sheeran had broken. His previous album ‘Divide’ set a new record of 56 million streams on the day of release, while ‘Shape Of You’ picked up over 10 million streams on its first day.
Today in history
64 AD – A fire started in the enormous Circus Maximus stadium in Rome, now the capital of Italy. When the fire was finally extinguished six days later, 10 of Rome’s 14 districts had burned. Ancient historians blamed Rome’s infamous emperor, Nero, for the fire.
1290 – King Edward I signs a royal decree expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. Edward told the sheriffs of all counties he wanted all Jews expelled before All Saints’ Day (1 November) that year.
1389 – France and Britain agreed to the Truce of Leulinghem. It inaugurated a 13-year peace; the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years’ War.
1801 – HMS Investigator sets off on a voyage to determine if New Holland (Australia) is one island or two, under command of Matthew Flinders, with botanist Robert Brown and artists Ferdinand Bauer and William Westall aboard.
1872 – Britain introduced the concept of voting by secret ballot.