View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
What : day is it
1913 – A large Hippodrome was opened at Golders Green as a variety hall to take advantage of the newly arrived London underground.
1932 – The BBC presented the first televised pantomime, Dick Whittington.
1943 – A Royal Navy convoy, including the battleship Duke of York and cruiser Jamaica, attacked and sank the mighty German battlecruiser Scharnhorst, of North Cape, Norway. She was the last major German battleship.
1948 – The first annual Reith Lecture on the BBC. They were inaugurated to mark the historic contribution made to public service broadcasting by Sir John Reith, the corporation’s first director-general.
1959 – The first charity walk took place, along the Icknield Way (Buckinghamshire & Norfolk), in aid of the World Refugee Fund.
1970 – British Olympic medallist Lillian Board, MBE, died after losing her battle against a virulent form of cancer. The twice European Gold medallist and Olympic silver medallist who helped set four world records on the track, died late in the afternoon after she slipped into a coma on Christmas Eve.
1988 – Crash investigators uncovered wreckage which they hoped would hold the key to the Lockerbie air disaster of 21st December. Two men, said to be Libyan intelligence agents were later put on trial for planting the bomb.
2001 – A man captured as he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his trainers aboard an American Airlines jet was identified as Richard Reid, a 28-year old unemployed British citizen.
2004 – A devastating tsunami and earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean. The earthquake was a 9.3 magnitude which caused a tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives. The destruction killed 230,000 people.
2011 – The 11 year old racehorse Kauto Star created history with a fifth ‘King George VI Chase’ victory at Kempton Park. The previous record of four wins had been held by the legendary Desert Orchid since 1990.
2012 – The death of Con Shiels, aged 96, the last survivor of the Jarrow March of 1936, a protest against unemployment and poverty during the Great Depression.
2013 – Nottingham’s official Robin Hood (Tim Pollard) and Maid Marian (Sally Chappell) announced the birth of their baby girl, Scarlett Louise. As Robin and Marian, Mr. Pollard and Ms. Chappell promote tourism and take part in civic events including the annual Robin Hood Pageant.
2013 – More people accessed the BBC iPlayer on tablets than on computers for the first time, after thousands had unwrapped new devices for Christmas. Over the festive period, there were 1.96 million requests for Doctor Who’s Christmas special The Time of the Doctor, in which Peter Capaldi arrived to succeed Matt Smith.
2015 – Weeks of heavy rain led to the worst floods Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire) had ever seen. 1600 businesses were affected. 45% of flooded premises suffered structural damage, 75% lost stock and 46% lost office equipment – almost double the losses faced after the floods in summer 2012. By early spring 2016 almost 40% of businesses in the town were still closed.
Did you know, the word ‘uncopyrightable’ is the is the only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating any letter.
TV Quotes… “Live long and prosper” (Spock) on Star Trek.
“How do you like them apples?” – Will Hunting (Matt Damon) #moviequotes
President pro tempore of the Senate David Rice Atchison was President of the United States for one day (March 4, 1849) because Zachary Taylor did not want to be sworn in on a Sunday.
Minnie Mouse’s full name is Minerva Mouse.
On my Porsche I have a bumper sticker on it that says “See, I told you my other car was a Porsche.”
“I joined the army ’cause my father and my brother were in the army. I figured I better join before I got drafted.” – Cruiser, in Stripes #moviequotes
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx
After he finished school, Benedict Cumberbatch took a year off to volunteer as an English teacher in a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India.
Walter Matthau – Real Name: Walter Matuschanskavasky
The word “dude” first appeared in the 19th century to describe young men who were way too engrossed in the task of being fashionable.
According to the creator, a bikini can only be considered genuine if “it can be pulled through a wedding ring.”
Birthday : quotes
“Banks have a new image. Now you have ‘a friend,’ your friendly banker. If the banks are so friendly, how come they chain down the pens?” – Alan King
“I felt obligated to change music to art, the same way that Galileo proved the Earth was round to the world and that the Sun did not stand still.” – Phil Spector
“I used to like to break into other people’s houses and sit in their rooms. I found it very comforting to be in someone’s empty house.” – Jared Leto
“I’ve always said I have an amazing team and network of friends and people that I work with that, you know, inspire me and enable me to do what I do.” – Alexander Wang
“I dreamt I slept on a sidewalk, but you still laid with me. I dreamt I fell into a lion’s den, and you still came for me. I dreamt I lost all of my faith, and you still prayed for me.” – Jon Bellion, in Conversations With My Wife
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.