View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1968 – An estimated 6,000 marchers demonstrating against the Vietnam War face up to police outside the US Embassy in London.
1971 – Congo-Kinshasa becomes the Republic of Zaire. On the same day, Gerard Newe becomes the first Catholic to serve in any Northern Ireland government since 1920.
1977 – Former leader of the Liberal Party, Jeremy Thorpe, tells journalists he was not involved in a plot to kill former male model Norman Scott. On the same day, bassist Roy Estrada, a founding member of Little Feat and who also worked with Frank Zappa was convicted of sexual assault on a child. Estrada served six years in prison. In January 2012, he pleaded guilty to a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child which happened in March 2008. In a plea bargain agreement, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.
1978 – Four people are killed and four others seriously wounded after a gunman goes on a shooting spree in Wednesbury. West Midlands, then later in Nuneaton, Warks.
1979 – Elton John collapsed on stage at Hollywood’s Universal Amphitheatre suffering from exhaustion. On the same day, St Vincent & Grenadines becomes independent from Britain.
1980 – Mark Chapman buys a five-shot .38 special for $169. On the same day, former Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist Steve Peregrin Took chokes to death on a cherry stone after some magic mushrooms he had eaten, numbed all sensation in his throat.
1982 – Three RUC officers investigating reports of a robbery in Lurgan die after a bomb explodes beneath their armoured police car. On the same day, China announces its population has reached 1 billion plus.
1986 – The government deregulates financial markets in a “Big Bang”, enhancing London’s status as a financial capital while increasing income inequality.
1988 – “Carry On..” actor Charles Hawtrey dies aged 72.
1990 – Bandleader Xavier Cugat dies aged 90.
1992 – Bo Diddley takes his ex-manager to court claiming he had taken $75,000 through unauthorised personal expenses.
1998 – Helmut Kohl resigns as Chancellor of Germany after 16 years, following a landslide defeat in elections.
1999 – Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchyan, and 6 other members.
2000 – Skiffle pioneer Lonnie Donegan received the MBE at Buckingham Palace for services to pop music.
2005 – Riots begin in Paris after the deaths of two Muslim teenagers.
2013 – Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit to clinch his fourth straight Formula 1 World Drivers Championship. On the same day, singer-songwriter Lou Reed died at the age of 71.
2016 – A letter John Lennon wrote to the Queen explaining why he was returning his MBE was found tucked in a record sleeve from a £10 car boot haul. It was later valued at £60,000. Lennon had returned the MBE in protest at Britain’s involvement in the Biafra civil war and his single Cold Turkey going down the charts.
2017 – The Catalan parliament meets and unilaterally declares independence from Spain.
2018 – Leicester City’s billionaire Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies in a helicopter crash in the carpark outside the club’s King Power Stadium following the game against West Ham United.
2019 – California Governor Gavin Newson declares a state of emergency with multiple fires across the state.
Did you know that a lobsters blood is colourless but when exposed to oxygen it turns blue?
Perrier water is naturally carbonated. The CO2 is taken out during purification, and then added back in artificially for bottling.
Is it even possible that a cab company would offer a ride from Philadelphia to Bel-Air? #freshprince
England, Wales, and Scotland are part of Great Britain; Great Britain and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom; the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, and the eight Channel Islands make up the British Islands; and the British Islands plus the Republic of Ireland make up the British Isles.
The Capital of Honduras is Tegucigalpa.
“I’m the King of the World!” – Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Titanic, 1997
“A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I’m afraid of widths.” – Steven Wright
The theme for Star Wars: Episode IV was composed in the same key as the Fox theme. John Williams did this to create continuity between the two fanfares.
A day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than on earth. Maybe my sleep schedule is from Mars.
Wilt Chamberlain reportedly had sex with as many as 20,000 women but had no documented children.
Mary Catherine Collins is better known as Bo Derek.
Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Bill Gates had all, at least once during their lives, been the richest man in the world. They shared one thing in common – a father named William.
“Life always offers you a second chance. is called tomorrow.” – Dylan Thomas
“Political correctness is a bit like a granny, a maiden aunt arriving at a party when everyone’s having a good time. And she comes in, they all start sort of buttoning up and becoming self-conscious and behaving properly and then when she leaves, you can have fun again.” – John Cleese
“There must be something about art… almost all cultures have done art. It’s a refining of the senses, which are there to keep us alive. As far as we know, no other animals do that. – Roy Lichtenstein
“I took more hell for being fat than I did for being an absolute raging drug addict. I will never understand that.”
– Kelly Osbourne
“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” – Fran Lebowitz
“Music, as many people have said, is the universal language. Of course, points are made which make you think about things, but ultimately it makes you feel. And that’s why people remember more songs that have meant something during their life than films. They start to define periods in your life, and that’s kind of the beauty of it.” – Scott Weiland
“At their core, when things really matter, people see a need to turn to God for strength and protection.” – Lee Greenwood
2018 – Xi’an, China, introduced a pedestrian lane for people who walk while looking at their phones.
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.