November 6th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 311 of the “leap” year! Known as National Saxaphone Day, National Nachos Day, Stress Awareness Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Topaz.
2011 – Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United, making him the longest serving manager in their history and the longest serving manager in English League football.
Todays birthdays
1947 – Jim Rosenthal (77), English sports presenter and commentator. As well as his covergage for Athletics, he has also covered eight FIFA World Cups, three Rugby World Cups, two Olympic Games and 150 Formula One races, born in Oxford.
1951 – Nigel Havers (73), English actor (Chariots of Fire, The Whistle Blower, A Passage to India) and presenter (The Bidding Room), born in Edmonton, London.
1972 – Thandie Newton (52), British actress (Mission Impossible 2, The Chronicles of Riddick, Interview with the Vampire), born in Westminster, London.
1973 – Nell McAndrew (51), English glamour model, TV presenter and fitness trainer, born inBelle Isle, Leeds, West Yorkshire.
1988 – Emma Stone (36), American actress (La La Land, Cruella, Zombieland, The Help), born in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States.
Famous deaths
2004 – Fred Dibnah (b. 1938), English steeplejack and television personality.
2012 – Clive Dunn (b. 1920), English actor best known for his role as Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad’s Army.
The day today
1935 – The RAF’s first monoplane fighter, the ‘Hawker Hurricane’ made its maiden flight. Although largely overshadowed by the Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, and accounted for 60% of the RAF’s air victories.
1970 – Three times Grand National hero Red Rum, the greatest ever steeplechaser, won his first ever race, a novice event at Doncaster with the odds of 100/7.
1986 – Forty five people died after a Chinook helicopter carrying oil rig workers plunged into the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record.
2011 – Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United, making him the longest serving manager in their history and the longest serving manager in English League football. He was knighted in 1999 for his services to the game and also holds the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.
2014 – The Government announced that new road signs showing height and width restrictions using both imperial and metric measurements were to be introduced. “Imperial only signs can remain in place only until such time that they become life-expired, or replaced during routine maintenance.”
Today in music
1977 – ABBA started a four week run at No.1 on the UK single chart with ‘The Name Of The Game’, the group’s 6th No.1. The song was first called ‘A Bit Of Myself.’
1982 – Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ achieved the longest unbroken run on the UK charts when it logged its 43rd week in the Top 100.
1990 – Madonna released ‘Justify My Love’, the first VHS video single in the US. (Queen released ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ as a Video Single in the UK four years earlier). Co written by Lenny Kravitz, the song became Madonna’s ninth No.1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No.2 in the United Kingdom.
2005 – The Official UK Charts announced that Robbie Williams had sold the most albums in the UK so far this century with sales of 6.3m. Coldplay were at number two, with sales of 6.2m albums and Dido was in third place 5.7m albums sold. The figures were based on albums sold in the UK from 1st January 2000 to 11th October 2005 excluding greatest hits, live albums and downloads.
2007 – Meat Loaf cancelled his European tour after being diagnosed with a cyst on his vocal cords. The 60-year-old had already scrapped two gigs on doctor’s orders. Speculation had surrounded the tour after he cut short a gig in Newcastle, telling the audience it is “the last show I may ever do in my life”.
Today in history
1282 – Battle of Menai Straits (Moel-y-don): forces of Edward I defeated as they try to cross a pontoon bridge during their reconquor of Wales.
1429 – Henry VI was crowned King of England, seven years after acceding to the throne at the age of eight months. Two years later, in Paris, he was also crowned King of France.
1638 – Birth of James Gregory, Scottish mathematician and astronomer who described the first practical reflecting telescope and contributed towards the discovery of calculus.
1856 – The first work of fiction by the author Mary Anne Evans (later known as George Eliot) was submitted for publication. The title was ‘Scenes of Clerical Life’. Her 1872 book, Middlemarch, has been described as the greatest novel in the English language.
1892 – Birth of Sir John Alcock, English aviator who flew the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1919 with Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown.