View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
What : day is it
1950 – James Dean makes his first appearance on screen in a in a TV commercial for Pepsi Cola.
1958 – The search for a small bushy-tailed monkey fired into space in the nose cone of a Jupiter missile is called off.
1959 – Archbishop Makarios is elected as the first president of Cyprus.
1961 – Painter “Grandma” (Anna Mary) Moses dies aged 101.
1964 – US President Lyndon B Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion in El Paso, Texas, diverting the Rio Grande, to reshape the US-Mexico border.
1966 – The test debut of Clive Lloyd for the West Indies v India in Bombay.
1967 – Unsuccessful coup in Greece against King Constantine II.
1969 – Diana Ross takes the Latino Casino in Philadelphia to court for $27,500 after her two pet dogs died after eating cyanide tablets left by an exterminator in her dressing room.
1972 – Last human landing on the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last mission of the United States’ Apollo lunar landing program. It was also the sixth and the last time humans landed on the Moon.
1972 – More than 300 British victims of the Thalidomide drug are offered a compensation deal said to be worth £11.85m.
1974 – Malta becomes a republic.
1981 – Military rulers in Poland declare a state of emergency after imposing martial law and placing leaders of the Solidarity trade union under arrest.
1991 – North and South Korea sign an accord calling for reconciliation.
1995 – Riots break out in Brixton after the death of a black man, Wayne Douglas, 26, in police custody.
1996 – Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2001 – A group of gunmen breaks through tight security to attack the parliament building in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
2002 – Guitarist and singer Zal Yanovsky of The Lovin Spoonful died of a heart attack.
2003 – Lauryn Hill launched a blistering attack on the Catholic church, urging religious figures to “repent” whilst speaking on a stage regularly used by the Pope. The former Fugees singer was playing at a Christmas show in Vatican City and addressed allegations of sexual abuse in America, before an audience that included top Vatican cardinals, bishops and the cream of Italian society. On the same day, Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
2004 – Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko wins the Ballon d’Or.
2008 – Dizzee Rascal is arrested in south-east London following a road rage incident involving a baseball bat. On the same day, actress Kathy Staff (Minnie Higginbottom) dies from a brain tumour at 80.
2015 – Conor McGregor knocks out Brazilian Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win his first featherweight title in Las Vegas.
2017 – Prime Minister Theresa May loses a key vote in Parliament for an amendment to allow MPs to vote on Brexit.
Did you know, a woodpeckers tongue can wrap around its head twice.
The most points scored in an NBA game is 186 by the Detroit Pistons against the Denver Nuggets. The second most is 184 by the Denver Nuggets, in the same game, on Dec 13, 1983.
The Guinness World Record for “most prolific cannibal” is held by a 19th-century Fijian chief called Ratu Udre Udre, who ate between 872 and 999 people.
“I miss the person that you were, but I don’t miss you.” #songlyrics
“STOP! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he sees.” – The Bridgekeeper #moviequotes
Ghosts act a little like quantum mechanics. They always disappear when they are intentionally being observed. #science
A King Cobra is the biggest of all poisonous snakes and can grow to over 4 metres (13 feet) long.
In most European countries, most of Asia and Oceania, the week starts on Monday. In North America, Japan, Israel, South Africa, and most of Latin America, it starts on Sunday.
The Capital of Austria is Vienna
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Out of all the Disney princesses, Mulan is the only one who has ever killed a man.
In the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, Lichtenstein sent a force of 80 men to fight. This force, which saw no action by war’s end, returned unscathed with 81 men, as an Italian soldier decided to come home with them.
Birthday : quotes
“It’s often said that life is strange, but compared to what?” – Steve Forbert
“Honestly I just wear what I like. You know why? ‘Cause I can, I’m a rock star.” – Amy Lee
“You’ve got the whole thing on the tree upside-down. The electric pluggee thing should be down here at the bottom, not up at the top…” – heard at home
“We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race.” – Kofi Annan, elected Secretary-General of the United Nations on December 13, 1996.
“Tolerance, openness, and understanding towards other peoples’ cultures, social structures, values, and faiths are now essential to the very survival of an interdependent world.” – Aga Khan IV
“I love tiny, plastic realistic food magnets. I don’t know why. They’re hilarious.” – Amy Lee
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.