November 18th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 323 of the “leap” year! Known as Mickey Mouse Day, National Princess Day, Odd Socks Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Topaz.
2016 – Motoring TV series “The Grand Tour” premieres on Amazon Prime Video, starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Todays birthdays
1960 – Kim Wilde (64), British pop singer best known for her 1981 debut single “Kids in America”, born in Chiswick, London.
1963 – Peter Schmeichel (61), Danish former goalkeeper (Manchester United) who captained the club to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble, born in Gladsaxe Municipality, Denmark.
1964 – Nadia Sawalha (60), English actress (Eastenders) and television personality (Loose Women), born in Wandsworth, London.
1968 – Owen Wilson (59), American actor (Marley and Me, Behind Enemy Lines, Wedding Crashers), born in Dallas, Texas, United States.
1978 – Ant McPartlin (49), British television presenter (I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!), former singer (PJ and Duncan) and actor (Byker Grove), born in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Famous deaths
2015 – Warren Mitchell (b. 1926), English actor and screenwriter best known for playing bigoted cockney Alf Garnett (Till Death Us Do Part, In Sickness and in Health).
2020 – Des O’Connor (b. 1932), English comedian, singer and television presenter (Today with Des and Mel, Take Your Pick!, Countdown).
The day today
1916 – General Douglas Haig called off the Battle of the Somme in Europe after five months of futile battle, a battle which included the first use of tanks. In 141 days the British had advanced just seven miles and failed to break the German defence. The Allied advance claimed 420,000 British and 195,000 French casualties. German losses were over 650,000.
1926 – George Bernard Shaw refused to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, ‘I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.’ The Nobel prize is awarded annually for outstanding contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physiology or Medicine, and Economic Sciences.
1987 – The worst fire in the history of the London Underground killed 30 people. The blaze began in the machinery below a wooden escalator in King’s Cross Underground station and soon filled the tunnels with dense, choking smoke and intense heat.
1991 – Church envoy Terry Waite was freed by the Islamic extremists who kidnapped him in Beirut in 1987.
2002 – United Nations weapons inspectors arrived in Iraq. It had been alleged that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction but no evidence was ever found. Nevertheless, on 20th March 2003, an alliance of primarily U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq with the authority of President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Today in music
1983 – R.E.M. made their first appearance outside the US when they appeared on Channel 4 UK TV show The Tube. The following night they made their live UK debut when the played at Dingwalls, London.
1992 – Black Sabbath were honoured with a star at the Rock Walk in Hollywood, California.
2001 – Britney Spears scored her second US No.1 album with ‘Britney.’ The album’s success made her the first female artist in music history to have her first three studio albums to debut at the No.1 spot. This record however would later be broken by Spears herself with her 4th studio album In the Zone which charted in the same position.
2003 – Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, ‘Number Ones’ was released in the US.
2007 – 22 year old X Factor winner Leona Lewis set a British record for the fastest-selling debut album with Spirit. The singer sold more than 375,000 copies in seven days, 12,000 more than the Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 release Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Oasis still had the overall record for the fastest selling British album, selling 813,000 copies in 1997.
Today in history
1307 – According to legend, it was on this day that the Swiss patriot William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head. After refusing to pay homage to a Hapsburg liege, Tell was forced to submit to the test of marksmanship.
1477 – William Caxton’s book, the “Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers”, was published. It was the first printed book in England bearing a date.
1626 – St. Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican City was consecrated, becoming the world’s largest Christian basilica. The basilica was called St Peter’s after one of Jesus’s twelve disciples known as Saint Peter, who became one of the founders of the Catholic Church and was executed in Rome and buried where the Basilica now stands.
1720 – The English pirate of the Caribbean, John Rackham (born 26th Dec. 1682) was hanged after being captured by the Royal Navy in mid October. He was often called Calico Jack, from the calico clothing that he wore, while Jack is a nickname for John. He is most remembered for two things: the design of his Jolly Roger flag, a skull with crossed swords, which contributed to the popularization of the design, and for having two female crew members, Mary Read and his lover Anne Bonny.
1852 – The state funeral of the Duke of Wellington took place at St Paul’s Cathedral. It was one of the biggest ever held in London. Known as the Iron Duke, he was Tory Prime Minister from 1828-30. His hereditary title was derived from the Somerset town of Wellington and was created for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington.