View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1917 – The Order of the British Empire (OBE), and the Companion of Honour (CH), were awarded for the first time.
1919 – The world’s first international daily air service began between London and Paris.
1928 – The opening of the famous Kop End at Liverpool Football Club’s ground at Anfield. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War, the word ‘Kopje’ meaning ‘small hill’.
1931 – Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government.
1939 – Britain and Poland formed a military alliance in which the UK promised to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.
1939 – Five people died and 70 were injured when an IRA bomb exploded in Coventry city centre.
1940 – The RAF made the first air raid on Berlin.
1942 – The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, was killed in a plane crash during a war mission to Iceland. He was the first member of the Royal family to be killed on active service.
1944 – World War II – The Allies liberated Paris.
1986 – Britain staged its first street motor race along roads around the centre of Birmingham.
1988 – The first GCSE results were published.
1988 – Romanian Chess master Mihai Suba and his son defected to the West during an international tournament in London.
1997 – Nintendo released the first-person shooter, GoldenEye 007, for the Nintendo 64. The game opened the FPS genre to the console market. It’s often credited for paving the way for the popularity of the Halo and Call of Duty franchises.
2009 – The British Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, broke the existing land speed record by a steam powered vehicle with an average speed of 139.843 mph over two consecutive runs over a measured mile at the Edward’s Air Force Base in California, USA.
2009 – A man was stabbed in the chest during “large-scale trouble” involving hundreds of fans at West Ham’s Carling Cup match against Millwall. Fights were still raging five hours later.
2010 – Gareth Williams, 30, an MI6 worker was found in a holdall in the bath at his central London flat. Police believed that he may have been murdered two weeks previously.
2020 – The 38 year old English cricketer James Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets, (during day five of the third Test with Pakistan at Southampton). Three spin bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, are the only other bowlers to have attained the landmark.
Did you know that on this day in 1768, Captain James Cook set sail on his first voyage from Plymouth headed for the Pacific Ocean? Cook and his crew would not return home for another two years and 11 months.
A quarter (American coin) has 199 ridges around the edge.
I wonder if anyone has gone to a Renaissance fair dressed as Doctor Who? #DoctorWho
“If you think about it: your favourite memories, the most important moments in your life…were you alone?” – Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air #moviequotes
At the start of the original trilogy, R2-D2 is about as old as a Commodore 64 in 2015.
“Everybody needs . . .a flashlight.” #misunderstoodlyrics
A group of Flamingo’s is called a Stand or Flamboyance.
People in movies and TV shows never sneeze unless it’s relevant to the plot. #nowyouknow
Only half of an elevator’s job is elevating.
I just realized I haven’t fed my Neopet in 20 years. #Hungry #neopet
Every U.S. state except one shares a letter with the word “ants”.
Hunger is never satisfied, it will always come back.
I can always tell when they use fake dinosaurs in movies.
“There is nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in man.” – Sean Connery
“Wealth for its own sake is an empty shell. Wealth that includes making other people’s lives better will reward you even more than the beautiful mansion you live in.” – Gene Simmons
“All you can do is do the best you can and I did that. I had a great time. I made a product and I was not embarrassed by it at all so you do it and you move on.” – Blair Underwood
“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long. – Leonard Bernstein
“I’m amazed when I see mothers wearing high heels. If your kids run off you can’t run after them.” – Claudia Schiffer
“Don’t sell out who you really are to make others happy.” – Jo Dee Messina
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.
2012 – The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant took place on the Tideway of the River Thames, as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.