View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, was introduced in London. 999 was chosen was because it could be dialled on the old rotary dial telephones by placing a finger against the dial stop and rotating the dial to the full extent three times, even in the dark or in dense smoke. This enabled all users, including the visually impaired, to easily dial the emergency number.
1954 – A total eclipse of the sun spread from America, through Europe and on to Asia.
1957 – The British Egg Marketing Board stamped a crowned lion on British eggs as a sign of freshness. In the first week 80% of all eggs sold carried the stamp.
1960 – The London production of the stage musical Oliver opened in the West End.
1969 – In prepartaion for his investiture as Prince of Wales the following day in Caernarfon, Prince Charles spent the night at Ruthin Castle.
1973 – Observers aboard the Concorde jet observed a 72 minute solar eclipse.
1992 – Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.
1997 – Britain handed Hong Kong back to China at midnight, when the 99 year lease expired.
1998 – Violence erupted at the inquiry into the 1993 murder of the 18 year old, black teenager Stephen Lawrence when the five suspects left the courtroom. It was suggested that the murder was racially motivated and that the handling of the case by the police and Crown Prosecution Service was affected by issues of race.
2007 – A blazing vehicle, packed with gas canisters, was driven into the front of the Glasgow airport’s Terminal One building in a suspected terror attack. The failed terror attacks were to prove a serious first test for new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had taken over at Number 10 and unveiled his first Cabinet revamp only the day before.
2012 – Rufus, the hawk that patrolled Wimbledon’s tennis courts to frighten away pigeons, was stolen from a car parked outside his owner’s home. Three days later he was returned, to a national animal charity in London.
2018 – Two members of the public are confirmed poisoned by Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.
2019 – Donald trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea in a Korean Demilitarized Zone meeting with Kim Jong Un.
The act of hitting something until it works is called “Percussive maintenance.”
Five Card Poker Odds, nothing wild: Straight Flush – Five cards of the same suit in order, 1 in 65,000
You’d think if a sophisticated race of ancient aliens came to earth to build pyramids and stuff, they’d have someone who’d be able to draw more than stick figures in a cave.
The largest and heaviest human internal organ is the liver.
The word Crusade comes from the Latin word crociata, which means “to mark with a cross.”
The Capital of San Marino is San Marino
There’s no official word for a group of Koalas because they are solitary animals.
Americans spend more money on slot machines than on movies, baseball, and theme parks combined.
I walked into a bookshop…
Me: “Do you have any books on turtles?”
Sales Guy: “Hardback?”
Me: “Yeah, with little heads”
November and December both end in Ember because they’re the dying embers of the year.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne
“Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.” – Mike Tyson
“Practice until it becomes boring, then practice until it becomes beautiful.” – Harry Blackstone, Jr.
“A lot of first-time filmmakers are almost apologizing for their movie by saying, ‘well, we only had 18 days to shoot, you know’.” – Mark Waters
“It’s like why people read scary books or go see scary movies. Because it creates a distance. They’re scared, but they’re not going to get hurt.” – Vincent D’Onofrio
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.