View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1960 – English yachtsman Francis Chichester docked in New York in his boat Gypsy Moth II – setting a new record of 40 days for a solo crossing of the Atlantic.
1969 – Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. He and Aldrin walked around for three hours. The two astronauts returned to orbit, joining Collins. On July 24, 1969, all three astronauts came back to Earth safely.
1972 – ‘Bloody Friday’ bombings by the Provisional IRA around Belfast in Northern Ireland killed 9 and seriously injuring 130. In all, 22 bombs were detonated.
1974 – The Police national computer (PNC) began operating.
1976 – The British Ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was killed by a terrorist car bomb in Dublin.
1982 – The flagship of the British task force to the Falklands, HMS Hermes, arrived back in Portsmouth.
1994 – Tony Blair, was confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party following the unexpected death of John Smith.
2000 – Downing Street insisted they would not intervene after Home Secretary Jack Straw’s car was stopped by the police for speeding.
2001 – Police met community leaders in Brixton after a demonstration against the fatal shooting by police of a man waving a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun.
2005 – London’s underground network was plunged into chaos after explosions on two trains and a bus – exactly a fortnight after four suicide bomb blasted the capital. All four bombs failed to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers were captured and convicted.
2007 – J.K. Rowling’s final book in the series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” book was published worldwide. A record 12 million copies were sold within just 24 hours of its release.
2008 – Amy Winehouse’s husband, Blake Fielder-Civil is jailed for 27 months for attacking a pub landlord in Hoxton and perverting the course of justice.
2013 – Britain’s Chris Froome won the 100th Tour de France, making it Britain’s second successive victory. Froome’s Team Sky colleague Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the prestigious cycle race in 2012.
2014 – Former Liverpool midfielder and England captain Steven Gerrard retired from international football, after a 14-year career representing his country and winning 114 caps.
2021 – Liverpool was stripped of its World Heritage status after a UN committee found that developments threatened the value of the city’s waterfront.
The Capital of Montenegro is Podgorica.
Swedish wasn’t made the official language of Sweden until 2009.
“Acronym” is not an acronym, there is no homonym for “Homonym”, “Phonetically” is not pronounced phonetically, there is a silent letter “Onomatopoeia”, and there can’t even be a synonym for “Synonym”.
A group of Hawks (at rest) is called a Cast.
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” – Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) in Jaws, 1975
All champagne is produced in the Champagne region in France. Otherwise, it is called sparkling wine.
Call me old-fashioned, but if I had dated someone who turned out to be a reptilian lizard shape-shifter, my first question would be wondering if she was actually still a girl.
“Life is a series of commas, not periods.” – Matthew McConaughey
Bugs Bunny’s accent is an equal blend of the Bronx and Brooklyn dialects.
In 100 years, will the laptops of writers be in museums as what they wrote their masterpieces on, like Conan Doyle’s notebook is on display now?
“When you work with words, words are your work.” – Don Knotts
“Where there’s smoke, there’s bound to be mirrors.” – Garry Trudeau
“Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure, and separates the victim from reality.” – John Gardner
“Rock and roll is a nuclear blast of reality in a mundane world where no one is allowed to be magnificent.” – Kim Fowley
Take your time, think a lot,
Why think of everything you’ve got. For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not. From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen. Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go. – Cat Stevens
“Nobody with a victim mentality will get anywhere. Ever. They will never succeed.” – Jon Lovitz
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.