August 30th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 243 of the year! Known as National Beach Day, Cabernet Sauvignon Day, Whale Shark Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 7th in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Peridot.
1939 – The great evacuation of children from British cities began. With the Second World War four days away, thousands of youngsters were moved to the country to avoid anticipated German bombing.
Todays birthdays
1950 – Mickey Moody (74), English guitarist and former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake (“Here I Go Again”), Born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire.
1955 – Martin Jackson (69), British drummer (Swing Out Sister – “Breakout”), born in Manchester.
1963 – Paul Oakenfold (61), English record producer, remixer and trance DJ formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, born in Mile End, London.
1966 – Peter Cunnah (58), Northern Irish singer and lead singer and songwriter of 1990s dance-pop duo D:Ream (“Things Can Only Get Better”), born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
1972 – Cameron Diaz (52), American actress (Shrek, The Mask, Charlies Angels, Knight and Day), born in San Diego, California, United States.
Famous deaths
1964 – Ian Fleming (b. 1908), British writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels.
2015 – Stephen Lewis (b. 1926), English actor and screenwriter (Inspector Blake – On The Buses and as Smiler in Last of the Summer Wine).
2021 – Una Stubbs (b. 1937), English actress, TV personality, and dancer (Till Death Us Do Part, In Sickness and in Health).
The day today
1901 – Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner.
1976 – More than 100 police officers were taken to hospital after clashes at the Notting Hill Carnival in west London.
1996 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno announced his retirement.
2008 – Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan’s Slumdog Millionaire premiered at Colorado’s Telluride Film Festival. It won eight of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven BAFTA awards.
2017 – The late author Terry Pratchett’s unfinished novels were destroyed by a steamroller, as it was his last dying wish. Pratchett passed away aged 66 in 2015 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Today in music
1969 – Two weeks after the Woodstock festival, the second Isle of Wight festival took place. Over 150,000 turned up over the two days to see Bob Dylan, The Band, Blodwyn Pig, Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band, Edgar Broughton Band, Joe Cocker, Aynsley Dunbar, Family, Fat Mattress, Julie Felix, Free, Gypsy, Richie Havens, The Moody Blues, The Nice, Tom Paxton, Pentangle, The Pretty Things, Third Ear Band and The Who. Tickets 25 shillings.
1986 – Steve Winwood went to No.1 on the US singles chart with, ‘Higher Love’, a No. 13 hit in the UK.
2004 – Winners at the 2004 MTV Video Music awards included, Usher for Best Male Video for ‘Yeah’, Best Video went to Outkast for ‘Hay Ya’, Best Group Video No Doubt for ‘It’s My Life’ and Best Rock Video went to Jet for ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl.’
2013 – Cinema’s across the UK were handing out earplugs to parents taking their children to see One Direction’s new film. Accompanying chaperones could enjoy One Direction: “This Is Us 3D” without being worried by the high-levels of expected screaming and shouting in the auditoriums during the screenings.
2014 – Kate Bush followed her stage comeback by becoming the first woman to have eight albums in the UK charts at the same time. Two of the singer’s albums were in the top 10, and eight overall in the top 40.
Today in history
1146 – A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that by banning the weapon, wars would eventually end. Despite the prohibition, crossbows continued to be used until the 16th century, when they were replaced by firearms.
1682 – William Penn sailed from England. He later established the colony of Pennsylvania. A statue of him now stands on top of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1791 – The British Ordnance Survey (mapping agency) was founded.
1791 – HMS Pandora sank at The Great Barrier Reef after a voyage to hunt down the Bounty mutineers in 1790.
The sinking of the HMS Pandora is considered one of the most significant shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere.
1797 – The birth, in London, of the novelist Mary Shelley who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.