Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2026
Hello, … Welcome to day 10

Saturday, January 10th Daily Prep.

Today is Houseplant Appreciation Day, Peculiar People Day and National Bittersweet Chocolate Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Garnet.
1863 – The first section of the London Underground railway was opened, by Prime Minister Gladstone. It ran from Paddington to Farringdon Street, stopping at seven stations. The trains ran every fifteen minutes.
Today’s birthdays
1945 – Rod Stewart (81), English rock and pop singer and songwriter (“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, “Maggie May”), born in Highgate, London.
1949 – George Foreman (77), American former professional boxer (world heavyweight champion 1973-74), born in Marshall, Texas, United States.
1976 – Ian Poulter (50), English professional golfer (3 PGA wins, 12 European Tour wins) who currently plays in the LIV Golf League, born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
1999 – Mason Mount (27), English professional footballer (Manchester United, England National Team), born in Portsmouth.
1986 – Abbey Clancy (40), English lingerie and catwalk model (runner-up of Britain’s Next Top Model in 2006), born in Liverpool.
Famous deaths
1971 – Coco Chanel (b. 1883), French fashion designer, businesswoman and the founder of the Chanel brand.

2016 – David Bowie (b. 1947), English singer-songwriter (“Starman”, “Rebel Rebel”), producer and actor (Labyrinth).

2023 – Jeff Beck (b. 1944), English guitarist and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock band the Yardbirds.
The day today
1918 – The House of Lords gave its approval to the Representation of the People Bill, which gave woman over the age of 30 the right to vote, as recognition of the contribution made by women defence workers during the First World War. However, women were still not politically equal to men, who could vote from the age of 21. Full electoral equality wouldn’t occur until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act of 1928.
1928 – Lieutenant John Moncrieff (born at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands) and Captain George Hood (New Zealander) were pioneers of aviation who disappeared whilst attempting the first Trans-Tasman flight from Australia to New Zealand. Despite a number of alleged sightings in New Zealand and many land searches in the intervening years, no trace of the aviators or their aircraft was ever found.
1957 – Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom succeeding Sir Anthony Eden, who resigned due to ill health following the Suez Crisis. Macmillan, a Conservative, was asked by the Queen to form a new government and took office after serving in several senior cabinet roles, leading the country through a period of economic prosperity and decolonization.
1979 – ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ Prime Minister James Callaghan flew back into strike-torn Britain denying allegations that the country was in chaos. Callaghan was the only Prime Minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions – Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, prior to becoming Prime Minister.
1985 – The C5 electric car, with a top speed of 15 mph (the fastest allowed in the UK without a driving licence) was demonstrated by its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair. It retailed for £399 but only 17,000 were ever sold and Sinclair Vehicles was put into receivership on 12th October 1985. At the time Sinclair, said ‘it currently remains the best selling electric vehicle of all time,’ but, by November 2011 it had been surpassed by the electric Nissan Leaf that had sold over 20,000 units.
1990 – China lifted martial law in Beijing after imposing it in May 1989 to suppress pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, a crackdown that involved military force and resulted in mass casualties, though the exact death toll remains unknown and discussions of the event are heavily censored in China. The lifting of martial law signaled a return to stability but was followed by severe repression, mass arrests, and ongoing government control over information about the massacre, which remains a taboo subject.
2001 – A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head, East Sussex, recently collapsed into the sea, following heavy rain and storms, creating a significant rockfall near the Belle Tout Lighthouse and cutting off a path, prompting renewed warnings from HM Coastguard for visitors to stay far from the unstable cliff edges due to ongoing natural erosion.
2011 – Ian McKellen officially reprised his role as Gandalf in The Hobbit film adaptations, which were released as a trilogy from 2012 to 2014. He has also been confirmed to return as Gandalf in the upcoming new film The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, scheduled for release in December 2027.
2015 – The Falklands commemorated Margaret Thatcher by unveiling a statue of the late Prime Minister who led the 1982 war that kept the island British. (Note – 10th January is Margaret Thatcher Day on the Falklands).
2023 – The publication of Prince Harry’s book “Spare” (his tell-all memoir on his upbringing with the Royal Family). It sold almost half a million copies in the UK in its first week on sale, making it the fastest-selling non-fiction book since Nielsen BookData records began in 1998.
2025 – Climate scientists report that 2024 is Earth’s hottest year on record and the first year to pass the symbolic 1.5 °C temperature limit agreed upon at the Paris Climate Accord in 2015
Today in music
1953 – Jo Stafford was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You Belong To Me’. Originally a singer with Tommy Dorsey until 1942, Stafford was the first female to have a No.1 on the UK singles Chart.

1957 – Tommy Steele and the Steelmen were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Singing The Blues’. Guy Mitchell had been at No.1 the previous week with his version and then returned to No.1 the following week.

1958 – Jerry Lee Lewis was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Great Balls Of Fire’. Lewis was the only major white rock ‘n’ roll star to play piano rather than guitar.
1981 – John Lennon’s Imagine started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart, 10 years after it was recorded. Lennon had two other songs in the Top 5 this week, ‘Happy Christmas, (War Is Over’) and ‘(Just Like) Starting Over.’ ‘Imagine’ was voted by the viewers of BBC TV as the best lyrics of all time in a poll broadcast in Oct 1999. Also on this day John and Yoko’s ‘Double Fantasy’ album started an eight-week run at No.1 on the US chart. ‘Just Like Starting Over’ was at No.1 on the US singles chart.
1984 – Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to be nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
2003 – Bee Gee Maurice Gibb was fighting for his life after a heart attack following major stomach surgery. The 53 year-old singer had been rushed to hospital after collapsing at his Florida home. He died two days later on the 12th January 2003 at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida.
2016 – English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, painter, and actor David Bowie died from liver cancer at his New York home two days after releasing the album Blackstar on his 69th birthday. His first UK Top 40 single was the 1969 ‘Space Oddity’ which became a UK No.1 in 1975, plus over 50 other UK Top 40 hits including five No.1’s. Bowie has also scored two US No.1 singles, the 1975 ‘Fame’ and 1983 ‘Let’s Dance’. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million albums worldwide, made him one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
2023 – English guitarist Jeff Beck died age 78 from a bacterial meningitis infection at a hospital near Riverhall, England. He rose to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.
Today in history
1645 – The execution of William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was beheaded on Tower Hill after being found ‘guilty of endeavouring to subvert the laws, to overthrow the Protestant religion, and to act as an enemy to Parliament’. The next archbishop was not appointed until fifteen years later, with the Restoration of Charles II.
1806 – Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrendered to the British following the battle of Bloubergstrand. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to Britain.
1839 – Indian tea was auctioned in Britain for the first time. Previously, only China tea had been available, at great expense. After the introduction of Indian tea, prices fell and tea became so affordable that it was soon the national drink.
1840 – Sir Rowland Hill introduced the Penny Post to Britain. Mail was delivered at a standard charge rather than being paid by the recipient. On its first day, 112,000 letters were posted in London alone.
1863 – The first section of the London Underground railway was opened, by Prime Minister Gladstone. It ran from Paddington to Farringdon Street, stopping at seven stations. The trains ran every fifteen minutes.