July 21st "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 203 of the year! Known as National Ice Cream Day, National Junk Food Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of October 28th in the previous year. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1982 – The flagship of the British task force to the Falklands, HMS Hermes, arrived back in Portsmouth. Thousands crowded the dockside to see the 1,700 on board disembark 108 days after she had left for her historic mission.
Todays birthdays
1948 – Cat Stevens (76), British singer-songwriter (“Peace Train”; “Morning Has Broken”), born in Marleybone, London.
1964 – Ross Kemp (60), English actor (Eastenders; Ultimate Force), author, and television presenter (Ross Kemp: Extreme Gangs), born in London.
1977 – Paul Casey (47), English golfer (Ryder Cup wins 2004, 06, 18; 3 PGA Tour titles, 13 European Tour titles; PGA C’ship 2020 runner-up), born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
1981 – Paloma Faith (43), English singer, songwriter (“Only Love Can Hurt Like This”) and actress, born in Hackney, London.
2000 – Erling Haaland (24), Norwegian professional footballer (Manchester City, Norway), born in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Famous deaths
1973 – Bruce Lee (b. 1940), American actor and martial artist (Enter the Dragon, Fist of Fury).
2017 – Chester Bennington (b. 1976), American singer and lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park (“Numb”, “New Divide”).
The day today
1960 – English yachtsman Francis Chichester docked in New York in his boat Gypsy Moth II – setting a new record of 40 days for a solo crossing of the Atlantic.
1972 – ‘Bloody Friday’ bombings by the Provisional IRA around Belfast in Northern Ireland killed 9 and seriously injuring 130. In all, 22 bombs were detonated.
1994 – Tony Blair, was confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party following the unexpected death of John Smith.
2007 – J.K. Rowling’s final book in the series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” book was published. A record 12 million copies were sold within just 24 hours of its release.
2013 – Britain’s Chris Froome won the 100th Tour de France, making it Britain’s second successive victory. Froome’s Team Sky colleague Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the prestigious cycle race in 2012.
Today in music
1987 – Guns N’ Roses released their debut album on Geffen Records: Appetite For Destruction featured the singles ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’, and ‘Paradise City’. The album now has worldwide sales in excess of 28 million, 18 million of which are in the US, making it the best-selling debut album of all time there.
1996 – Alanis Morissette started a second run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill which stayed at the top for eight weeks. Overall, the album has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the most successful albums in music history.
2001 – Madonna kicked off the North American leg of her 47-date Drowned World Tour at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the singers first world tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show in 1993.
2003 – Coldplay singer Chris Martin was charged with malicious damage in Australia after he allegedly attacked a photographer’s car after he had taken pictures of him surfing at Seven Mile Beach.
2017 – Justin Bieber was banned from performing in China, according to Beijing’s Culture Bureau. In a statement, the ministry said it was not appropriate to allow in entertainers who have engaged in “bad behaviour.”
Today in history
356 BC – The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was set on fire by Herostratus. Herostratus was sentenced to death for his crime, and nobody was allowed to speak his name after that.
1403 – Battle of Shrewsbury: Army led by the Lancastrian King of England, Henry IV defeats a rebel army led by Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy of Northumberland thus ending the Percy challenge to the throne. Also the first battle English archers fought each other on English soil.
1545 – The first landing of French troops onto the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion.
1588 – First engagement between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada off the Eddystone Rocks.
1897 – The Tate Gallery opened its doors to the public in London. Henry Tate, an industrialist who had made his fortune as a sugar refiner, offered his collection of British nineteenth-century art to the nation and provided funding for the first Tate Gallery.