September 30th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 274 of the year! Known as International Podcast Day, National Chewing Gum Day, Thunderbirds Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1840 – The foundation stone for Nelson’s Column (laid by Charles Davidson Scott) was laid in Trafalgar Square and completed in 1843. The column’s base is decorated with four bronze relief panels that depict some of Nelson’s battles. The metal for these panels came from French guns that were captured and melted down.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Michael Van Wijk (72), Indian-born English bodybuilder and sportsperson best known for his role as Wolf on the endurance sports game show Gladiators, born in Mumbai, India.
1965 – Omid Djalili (59), British stand-up comedian, actor and TV presenter (Winning Combination) of Iranian heritage, born in Chelsea, London.
1976 – Georgie Bingham (49), British radio and television presenter, formerly a host of the Weekend Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT, born in London.
1980 – Martina Hingis (43), Swiss former professional tennis player and the first Swiss player to win a major title and to attain a world No. 1 ranking, born in Košice, Slovakia.
1984 – Keisha Buchanan (40), English singer and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes (“Push the Button”, “About You Now”), born in Kingsbury, Northwest London.
1986 – Ben Lovett (38), British musician with Mumford & Sons (“I Will Wait”, “Little Lion Man”), born in Cardiff, Wales.
1997 – Max Verstappen (27), Belgian-Dutch racing driver and the 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Champion, born in Hasselt, Belgium.
Famous deaths
2022 – Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (b. 1963), American rapper (“C U When U Get There”, “Gangsta’s Paradise”).
The day today
1936 – Pinewood Film Studios opened near Iver, in Buckinghamshire, to provide Britain with a film studio to compete with America’s Hollywood Studios in California.
1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlawed ‘the intentional bombings of civilian populations’.
1967 – The BBC Light Programme, Third Programme and Home Service were replaced with BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 Respectively. BBC Radio 1 was also launched, with Tony Blackburn, a former Radio Caroline DJ, presenting the first show.
1971 – The British Government named Oleg Lyalin as the Soviet defector who, the previous week had exposed dozens of Russians alleged to be spying in the UK.
2014 – In the first official study of money spent on ‘illegal’ activities it was found that Britons spend more on drugs and prostitutes than on beer and wine. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that spending on illegal drugs and prostitution was worth an estimated £12.3bn to the UK economy in 2013.
Today in music
1972 – David Cassidy was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘How Can I Be Sure.’ It was the star from the US TV series the Partridge Family’s first UK No.1. The song was originally recorded by The Young Rascals in 1967.
1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John had their second UK No.1 from the film ‘Grease’ with “Summer Nights.” Seven weeks at No.1 it became the second best selling single of 1978, beaten by ‘Saturday Night Fever’.
1995 – Simply Red scored their first UK No.1 single when ‘Fairground’ started a four-week run at the top of the charts. It was their 15th UK Top 40 hit.
1999 – Chris de Burgh’s web site was closed down after countless obscene messages were posted on the guestbook. One message consisted entirely of two four-letter words repeated 3500 times.
2007 – Foo Fighters went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Echoes Silence Patience & Grace the bands sixth studio album and second UK No.1. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Album, and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
Today in history
1544 – King of England Henry VIII draws his armies out of France after capturing the town of Boulogne, and expanding English territory. However, the English were unable to maintain their hold on the area for long, and neither England nor France was able to engage in a full-scale war with each other for several years.
1630 – John Billington, one of the original pilgrims who sailed to the New World on the Mayflower, became the first man executed in the English colonies. He was hanged for having shot another man during a quarrel.
1772 – The death of James Brindley, British canal builder and one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. The Trent and Mersey Canal was the first part of Brindley’s ambitious project to use canals to link the four great rivers of England: the Mersey, Trent, Severn and Thames (the “Grand Cross” scheme).
1840 – The foundation stone for Nelson’s Column was laid in Trafalgar Square.
1888 – Jack the Ripper murdered two more women – Liz Stride, found behind 40 Berner Street, and Catherine Eddowes in Mitre Square, both in London’s East End. Unlike murderers of lesser fame, there is no waxwork figure of Jack the Ripper at Madame Tussauds’ Chamber of Horrors, in accordance with their policy of not modelling persons whose likeness is unknown. He is instead depicted as a shadow.