View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
Neal Doughty, keyboards (REO Speedwagon) 76; Diane Keen, actress, 76; Geddy Lee (Gary Weinrib), bassist/singer/keyboards (Rush), 69; Patti Scialfa (Springsteen), singer, 69; Viv Anderson, footballer, 66; Nellie Kim, gymnast, 65; Alvin Martin, footballer, 64; Sally Gunnell, former athlete, 56; Miles Hunt, singer (The Wonder Stuff) 56; Giles Coren, food critic, 53; David Walliams (Williams), comedian/author, 51; Simon Jones, bassist (The Verve) 50; Wil Wheaton, actor, 50; Stephen Dorff, actor, 49; Fernando Alonso, Formula 1 driver, 41; Jay Rodriguez, footballer, 33; Joey Essex, TV personality, 32.
What : day is it
July 29th is known as International Tiger Day, National Chicken Wing Day as well as Rain Day.
1588 – The Spanish Armada was sighted off the coast of Cornwall. The English fleet under the command of Charles Howard and Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, to establish the birth of British naval supremacy.
1833 – The death of William Wilberforce, English campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He died a month before the Slavery Abolition Act was passed. The Wilberforce Monument is in Kingston upon Hull and His birthplace is now a museum.
1848 – The Tipperary Revolt took place in the village of Ballingarry, County Tipperary, in protest at British rule. After being chased by a force of Young Irelanders and their supporters, an Irish Constabulary unit raided a house and took those inside as hostages. A gunfight lasting for several hours followed, but the rebels fled after a large group of police reinforcements arrived.
1913 – The birth of Jo Grimond, British politician and Liberal party leader.
1930 – The airship R100 began its first passenger-carrying flight from England to Canada.
1948 – King George VI opened the 14th Olympic Games in London – the first time the Games had been held in 12 years, due to World War II.
1964 – The Brook Advisory Clinic opened to give family planning advice to unmarried couples.
1970 – John Barbirolli, English conductor died.
1976 – Fire destroyed the famous pierhead at the end of the world’s longest pier, in Southend, on England’s south-east coast.
1981 – The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. The televised ceremony was watched by over 700 million viewers around the world.
1990 – Elton John checked into a Chicago clinic to cure bulimia and an addiction problem.
2000 – Brad Pitt marries “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston in Malibu.
2001 – A victim support group condemned a reported £11,000 compensation offer to the parents of murdered seven-year-old Sarah Payne as ‘derisory’.
2010 – A luxury car valued at £1.2m was clamped outside Harrods in central London after being illegally parked. The Koenigsegg CCXR (one of only six ever made) was released for £70 as the parking fine was paid within 14 days.
2014 – Clifford Hartland, aged 101, a Second World War prisoner camp survivor and his wife Marjorie, aged 97, died within hours of each other on their 76th wedding anniversary.
Did you know that on this day in 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien published his novel “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring”? This was the much-requested sequel to “The Hobbit”.
40% of bottles that say ‘Italian olive oil’ are not actually Italian olive oil.
“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” – Margo Channing (Bette Davis) in All About Eve, 1950
“It’s alive! It’s alive!” – Victor Frankenstein (Colin Clive) #moviequotes
When a crow dies, the other crows investigate if there’s a threat where the death occurred, so they can avoid it in the future.
Snow White is the youngest Disney Princess, at only 14 years old.
Bananas are radioactive enough that a truckload of them can cause false alarms when checking for nuclear materials at US ports, but they are perfectly healthy for the human body.
The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter of the alphabet.
If s’mores were named after the fact that when you have one you want “some more”, that means the very first s’more ever eaten didn’t have a name.
“I know nothing!” – Sgt. Schultz (Hogan’s Heroes)
“You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world.” – Tim Gunn
“They yell at me to be dignified. But what are the dignified people like? The people who are held up as examples of me? They are snobs. Frightful snobs, I’m a curiosity in Hollywood. I’m a big freak because I’m myself!” – Clara Bow
“‘Why do I wear tennis shoes?’ That’s two questions. Do I wear tennis shoes? The answer to that question is, ‘Yes.’ ‘Why?’” That’s a question philosophers have been pondering for centuries.” – Irwin Corey
“Have you noticed that the people who actually make the laws, the people in power, never make laws for themselves?” – William Powell
“Often imitated, but never duplicated!” – Lou Albano
“Be honest. Be kind. Be honorable. Work hard. And always be awesome.” – Wil Wheaton
“To be good is to be forgotten. I’m going to be so bad I’ll always be remembered.” – Theda Bara
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.