View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1888 – A ‘From Hell’ letter was sent to George Lusk, then head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, claiming to be from the serial killer Jack the Ripper. It was delivered with a small box containing half of what doctors later determined was a human kidney, preserved in ethanol. One of his victim’s kidneys had been removed by the killer, which gave the letter some authenticity. The letter ended with the words – ‘Catch me when you can Mister Lusk.’, but the Ripper was never caught.
1927 – Britain’s Public Morals Committee attacked the use of contraceptives, on the basis that they caused ‘poor hereditary stock’.
1951 – The first Liberal Party political broadcast was televised by the BBC.
1953 – The British nuclear test Totem 1 was detonated at Emu Field in South Australia. The main purpose of the trial was to determine the limit on the amount of plutonium-240 which could be present in a bomb and thus aid the British government’s weapons programme.
1956 – The last RAF Lancaster bomber was retired from service.
1959 – The birth of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and ex wife of Prince Andrew. She no longer holds the title HRH and if she remarries, any use of the title Duchess of York will be lost permanently too.
1961 – The human rights organization Amnesty International was established in London.
1964 – Harold Wilson won the election with a majority of just 4, making him the youngest Prime Minister at the time of the 20th century.
1969 – The print unions finally allowed Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of ‘The Sun’ newspaper.
1973 – Britain and Iceland ended the ‘Cod War’ with agreement on fishing rights.
1987 – The worst hurricane to hit Britain since records began devastated southern England and caused at least 17 deaths.
1994 – Five people were killed and 13 injured in a head-on rail collision at Cowden in Kent after the driver ran a red signal.
1997 – Following a new land speed record by Andy Green in Thrust SSC the previous month, Thrust SSC became the first land vehicle to exceed the speed of sound when it achieved 763 mph (Mach 1.020) at Black Rock Desert, Nevada. The record still stands.
2001 – Home Secretary David Blunkett told MPs he was introducing an emergency anti-terrorism Bill.
2013 – 26 year old British racing driver Sean Edwards died (as the passenger) in a crash at the Queensland Raceway in Australia. He was the son of former F1 driver Guy Edwards, who pulled Niki Lauda out of his burning Ferrari after a crash at the Nurburgring in 1976.
2017 – The round £1 coin, introduced in 1983, went out of circulation at midnight. Its replacement was 12 sided and had additional security features.
Did you know that on this day in 1924, the Statue of Liberty’s fingers, which clasp the handle of her torch, were fully installed? This was one of the finishing touches, and she was unveiled two weeks later.
The Capital of Kazakhstan is Astana
“What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.” – George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life #moviequotes
There is an area in the mid-Pacific ocean called White Shark Café where sharks travel to and loiter for no identified reason despite there being little food there and it being a sharks’ equivalent of a desert.
The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or stirrup bone located in the middle ear.
100 years from now, our great-grandchildren will be watching period dramas set in our era.“Oh no! My cellphone fell into the well!”
The biggest film of 2005: Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith.
In Animaniacs, Dot’s full name is Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca, the Third.
11 million 911 calls are made in New York City each year or approximately 20 per minute.
Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in the world, representing 92% of China’s population and 19% of the entire human population. (1.3 Billion people)
“Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.” – Virgil
“I feel like I put it together better than anybody else. I don’t feel like I’m the best dancer. I don’t feel like I’m the best singer. I don’t feel like I’m the best looking. I feel like I’m the best at putting it all together.” – Ginuwine
“I have a strange combination of fearlessness and massive insecurity.” – Penny Marshall
“Whenever I meet people for the first time, I assume that they have a great story to tell and that it’s my job to find it.” – Sarah Ferguson
“In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honour and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” – Lee Iacocca
“What is past is past. never go back. Not for excuses. Not for justification, not for happiness. You are what you are, the world is what it is.” – Mario Puzo
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.