View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
1891 – The birth, in Richmond, Surrey of actor Ronald Colman. He was nominated for four Academy awards and won the Award once and also won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in 1947. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.
1942 – World War Two: Soap rationing began in Britain.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic – HMS Venturer sank U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
1964 – Seventy three million Americans tuned in to the Ed Sullivan Show to watch four youths from Liverpool (the Beatles) appear in America for the first time.
1966 – The government announced that a £30M Prototype Fast Nuclear Reactor would be built at the Dounreay power station in a remote part of Scotland. Minister for Technology Frank Cousins said the new reactors were ‘the future’. Nuclear power generation at the site ended in 1994.
1972 – The British Government declared a ‘state of emergency’ three months into a National Miners’ Strike.
1979 – Football club Nottingham Forest clinched Britain’s first £1m transfer deal when England forward Trevor Francis signed for Brian Clough’s League and Cup winning side after eight seasons with Birmingham City.
1995 – Dr Michael Foale, originally from Lincolnshire, become the first British born American to walk in space. In April 1998 he was awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian President Boris Yeltsin for his subsequent four month mission (1997) to the Russian space station Mir.
1996 – The IRA detonated an enormous bomb in London’s Docklands, effectively bringing an end to the cease-fire and signalling the start of a new bombing campaign on mainland Britain.
2001 – Lance Corporal Roberta Winterton became the first serving soldier to pose topless on Page Three of The Sun newspaper.
2002 – The Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, aged 71, died in her sleep after suffering a stroke and a heart attack. Her body was laid to rest at Kensington Palace in order for the Royal Family to pay their respects.
2006 – The death of Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur. Laker was one of the first airline owners to adopt the ‘no-frills’ airline business model that is now used worldwide with companies such as Ryanair and EasyJet.
2015 – A tipper truck crash in Bath killed four people including Mitzi Rosanna Steady (aged 4). Her grandmother suffered life-changing injuries and three people in a car that was hit by the vehicle were killed. The truck driver, Philip Potter (19) had only qualified for his HGV licence five days before the tragedy. Mitzi’s funeral was held at Bath Abbey on 23rd February.
2015 – Seven straw houses went on sale at Shirehampton – Bristol, clad in brick to fit in with the surroundings. Declared to be safe from ‘huffing and puffing’ the prefabricated timber walls, filled with straw bales were said to be 90% cheaper in terms of heating costs than traditional brick houses.
In the scene in “Alien” when the alien pops out of John Hurt’s stomach, the actors were not told it was going to happen.
John Williams, the person who composed the scores of Star Wars and Harry Potter, also composed and conducted the music of Home Alone.
Biggest film of 1982: ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.
Marvel’s Deadpool Wade Wilson was originally created as a spoof of DC’s Deathstroke Slade Wilson.
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
There’s no money in scientific data gathering, there’s lots of money in data interpretation, and there’s ungodly money in data distortion.
“The time to change was yesterday; the time to wake up is now.” – Judge Judy
A group of Eagles is called a Convocation or Aerie.
This generation won’t have old school cool… they’ll have an old school selfie. Or worse, old school duckface.
The pound/hashtag sign # is called an Octothorp.
The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. – Thomas Paine
As human beings, why does it take somebody to feel like they’re close to us for us to see their humanity? Why can’t we see the humanity in people that are distant from us? – Michael B. Jordan
He knew he was good but did he know he was the best ever? Did he know he taught millions of artists how to dream? He never repeated a drawing. He always created anew, discovering again and again what it meant to create, to be a true artist that copied no one, not even himself. A world without Frank Frazetta makes no sense. No one like him will ever appear again. Remember him well. – Ralph Bakshi’ on Frank Frazetta.
It’s not what you do. It’s the way you do it-stripping or writing or talking… or just breathing. Do it with air, and never admit you’re scared. – Gypsy Rose Lee
The real danger of writing a great song when you’re on something is that it might get you thinking that the only way to repeat that is by only writing when you’re high. – Barry Mann
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. – Thomas Paine
In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it. – Shakira
Too many managers manage by what the postgame press conference is going to be. – John Kruk
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.