View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1903 – Dorothy Levitt became the first English woman in the world to compete in a ‘motor-race’. She was the most successful female competitor in Great Britain, also a victorious speedboat driver, holder of the Water Speed record and holder of the Ladies World Land speed record. She even instructed Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses on how to drive.
1947 – The ‘Indian Independence Bill’ was presented before the House of Commons, proposing the partition of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries – India and Pakistan.
1968 – Round-the-world yachtsman Alec Rose received a hero’s welcome as he sailed into Portsmouth in his boat Lively Lady, after his 354-day trip.
1969 – British tennis player Ann Jones won the Wimbledon women’s singles title, beating American Billie Jean King in the final.
1977 – Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty was sacked by the club’s directors.
1985 – Ruth Lawrence achieved the best first-class mathematics degree at the University of Oxford, at the age of 13.
1990 – Footballer Paul Gascoigne’s booking, (that would have excluded him from the World Cup Final, had England got there), resulted in the famous on pitch crying scenes from Gascoigne.
1995 – John Major emerged as the winner in an unprecedented parliamentary election for leadership of the ruling Conservative Party.
1996 – Prince Charles, Prince of Wales delivered his terms for a divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales – an offer of £15m reportedly backed by the Queen.
2007 – BBC correspondent, 45 year old Alan Johnston, was released by kidnappers in the Gaza Strip after 114 days in captivity. An online petition had been signed by some 200,000 people demanding his release.
2012 – ‘The Lock’ a work by the English romantic painter John Constable was sold for £22,441,250 – a world record price at auction for the artist.
2014 – The 84 year old TV entertainer Rolf Harris was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison after being found guilty of indecently assaulting four girls (including one who was aged 7 or 8) in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
2014 – Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson (who went on to become director of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron) was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones.
Did you know that on this day in 1966, The Beatles were banned from the Philippines? They had turned down a breakfast invitation from the country’s First Lady who was infuriated.
George Lucas came up with R2-D2’s name while making American Graffiti. When asking for Real 2 Dialog Track 2, a sound editor abbreviated it to “R2-D2.”
When I was a kid, I thought getting a yearly bonus to buy a pool was going to be a major life event.
Toto is the real hero in The Wizard of Oz. If he hadn’t have run and pulled the curtain to expose the Wizard as a man Dorothy could still be stuck in Oz.
The Capital of Syria is Damascus
“I don’t have a photograph, but you can have my footprints. They’re upstairs in my socks.” – Otis B. Driftwood #moviequotes
Roulette Odds: Odd: Payoff: 1:1 True Odds: 47.37
Spike Lee – Real Name: Shelton Lee
‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands’ could be considered a very philosophical song. Heavy stuff for preschoolers. #preschoolersrock
You know you’re desperate when you look past the first page of the google search
The popular “Keep Calm and Carry On” slogan was originally created by the British government as a form of propaganda to motivate citizens to stay strong during World War II.
“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” – Arnold Drummond (Diff’rent Strokes ) #TVQuotes
TV Quotes… “That’s hot!” (Paris Hilton) on “The Simple Life”
Adding an exclamation point to the end of every sentence can make even the most boring text sound more exciting!
“My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” – Thomas Jefferson
“We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution.” – John F. Kennedy
“Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule, they don’t know what happened on either occasion.” – Mark Twain
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
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.