September 3rd "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 247 of the year! Known as National Welsh Rarebit Day, Merchant Navy Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 11th in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1935 – Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches a speed of 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile at over 300 mph.
Todays birthdays
1947 – Eric Bell (77), Northern Irish rock and blues musician and founding member of the rock group Thin Lizzy (“Whiskey In The Jar”), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1955 – Steve Jones (69), English guitarist, best known as a member of the punk band Sex Pistols (“Anarchy In The U.K”), born in Shepherd’s Bush, London.
1965 – Charlie Sheen (58), American actor (Platoon, Hot Shots, The Rookie, Two and a Half Men), born in New York, New York, United States
1970 – Gareth Southgate (54), English professional football manager (Middlesbrough, England) and former player (Aston Villa, Middlesbrough), born in Watford, London.
1981 – Fearne Cotton (43), English television and radio presenter (Celebrity Juice, CITV and CBBC, Top of the Pops 2002 – 2021), born in Northwood, Hillingdon, North West London.
Famous deaths
2012 – Michael Clarke Duncan (b. 1957), American actor (The Green Mile, Armageddon).
The day today
1939 – British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in a radio broadcast, announced that Britain and France had declared war on Germany. He formed an all-party War Cabinet with Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty.
1966 – British soldiers Captain John Ridgway and Sergeant Chay Blyth row across the Atlantic. They completed a 92 day row across the Atlantic in the English Rose III, when they rowed into Inishmore on the Isle of Aran (west coast of Scotland) from Orleans near Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
1988 – The first fines for not filling and returning poll tax registration forms were issued in Scotland.
1995 – Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Hill Norton, backed claims that the British Government was covering up evidence of a UFO sighting in the south of England in 1990.
1999 – Charges were dropped against nine photographers and a motorcyclist in connection with the 1997 crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Al Fayed and their driver.
Today in music
1977 – The month after his death, Elvis Presley had 27 albums and 9 singles in the Top 100 charts in the UK. ‘Moody Blue’ was the No.1 album while ‘Way Down’ was No.1 on the singles chart, (putting him equal with The Beatles each amassing 17 No.1 hits).
1983 – UB40 had their first UK No.1 single with ‘Red Red Wine’. Taken from their album Labour of Love the song was a cover of the 1968 Neil Diamond hit song. The re-released single was a US No.1 in 1988.
2004 – Sir Cliff Richard stunned the music industry by ending his contract with EMI records and signing with Universal Music. Cliff had sold over 250 million records with EMI during his 46 year career.
2006 – Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘SexyBack’ his first UK No.1 hit. The track won Timberlake and Timbaland the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. It was the longest-running No.1 single of 2006 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying seven weeks at the top.
2019 – Sir Elton John was featured on a new set of Royal Mail stamps in the UK to celebrate his contribution to music. The singer-songwriter became only the second individual music artist to be given such an honour, after David Bowie was featured on a set in 2017.
Today in history
1189 – Following the death of his father Henry II, Richard the Lionheart was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. He was generally known as Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. He was born in Oxford but spent part of his childhood and most of his adult life in Aquitaine, south west France.
1650 – English Parliamentarian forces led by Oliver Cromwell defeated an army loyal to King Charles II of England at the Battle of Dunbar. Cromwell described the victory as ‘one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people.’ As a result of the destruction of the Scottish army, he was able to march unopposed to Edinburgh and quickly occupied the Scottish capital.
1658 – The death, aged 59, of Oliver Cromwell, due to complications relating to a form of malaria and kidney stone disease. It is thought that his death was also quickened by the death of his daughter a month previously. Richard Cromwell (the third son of Oliver Cromwell) became Lord Protector of England on the death of his father, but served just under 9 months, leading to his nickname of ‘Tumbledown Dick’ by Royalists.
1783 – Britain finally recognised the United States of America by signing the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the American War of Independence.
1878 – Over 640 died when the crowded paddle steamer Princess Alice collided with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames. It was the greatest loss of life in any Thames shipping disaster.