View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
What : day is it
1924 – The birth, in Todmorden, Yorkshire of Derek Shackleton, Hampshire and England bowler. He holds the record for the most first-class wickets taken by any Hampshire player and for the most first-class wickets taken by any player who began his career after World War II. Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted of Shackleton, ‘his bowling, like his hair, always seemed immaculate.’
1944 – The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) supplying fuel across the English Channel to the Allied forces in France, went into operation from the Isle of Wight. It could transfer up to 700 tons of fuel a day.
1949 – Big Ben ran at its slowest for 90 years as flocks of starlings took roost on the minute hands, slowing it by four and a half minutes.
1964 – A massive manhunt got under way across Britain after Charlie Wilson, one of the gang involved in the Great Train Robbery, broke out of the high-security Winson Green prison in Birmingham. He was on the run for four years, before being finally re-captured in Canada and returned to jail in Britain, where he served out the rest of his sentence. Wilson then moved to the Costa del Sol in Spain, was alleged to have become involved in drugs dealing and was shot dead by a hitman on 23rd April 1990 as he relaxed by his swimming pool.
1964 – The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.
1969 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary used tear gas for the first time in its history after nine hours of rioting in the Bogside area of Londonderry (also known as Derry) erupted after an Apprentice Boys of Derry march. The Apprentice Boys is a Protestant fraternal society that aims to commemorate the 1689 Siege of Derry when Catholic James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland laid siege to the walled city which was at the time a Protestant stronghold.
1991 – England defeated the West Indies in the fifth Test Match at the Oval, to draw the summer series 2 – 2.
1997 – The British Tourist Authority came under fire for dropping the Union Flag from its publicity material.
2000 – The families of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne were joined by friends and hundreds of members of the public for a memorial service.
2003 – BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan answered questions from the Hutton Inquiry over his report that the government ‘sexed up’ a weapons dossier on Iraq.
2017 – Usain Bolt injures himself in his very last race – the men’s 4x100m relay as Jamaica misses out on gold at the world championships.
2019 – Hong Kong International Airport cancels all departures as thousands of anti-government protesters occupy the terminals.
Did you know that on this day in 2015, a mass grave was found at Liverpool Street station in London, England? The 30 victims were found to have died from the 1665 bubonic plague.
In Star Trek, Dr. McCoy never attempts CPR. He just checks for a pulse and says ‘Dead’.
Relax…this won’t hurt! – Hunter S. Thompson (last phrase of his suicide note) #LastWords
The older I get, the more I realize that Squidward actually wasn’t that bad of a guy.
“After all, tomorrow is another day!” – Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh)
Sean Connery wore a toupee in every James Bond film that he starred in.
I might not be the best driver in the world, but at least I’ve never featured in a dashcam video. That’s got to count for something.
“Nobody feels like an adult. It’s the world’s dirty secret.” – Peter Hoberg in Liberal Arts
90% of label makers probably have a label on them that says, “label maker” #people
American Graffiti’s budget was exactly $777,777.77, and it was delivered on time – and on budget.
I still feel rather uncomfortable pronouncing “Worcestershire” around others.
By the time Disney is done with Star Wars films, it will simply be ‘some time ago’
“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.” – Cecil B. DeMille
“Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.” – Katharine Lee Bates
“I am who I am, I am what I am, I do what I do and I ain’t never gonna do it any different. I don’t care who likes it and who don’t.” – Buck Owens
“Every guitar I own gets used and has its purpose.” – Mark Knopfler
“You reach a point in your career when the weeks turn into a month or more of the phone not ringing.” – Sam J. Jones
“Successful people jump at opportunity and take advantage of it.” – Sir Mix-a-Lot
“One very fundamental thing has not changed and I realized that it will never change… is that I really need to go home and practice.” – Pat Metheny
2018 – Xi’an, China, introduced a pedestrian lane for people who walk while looking at their phones.
1993 – The Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, fell into the sea following a landslide, making news around the world.
1805 – The first Trooping of the Colour took place on Horse Guards Parade. It was Edward VII who moved Trooping the Colour to its June date, because of the vagaries of British weather.