View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1911 – Britain’s first underground escalators were introduced. They connected the District Line and Piccadilly Line platforms at Earl’s Court underground station in London.
1948 – The birth of Ann Widdecombe, former MP and a novelist since 2000. She retired from politics at the 2010 general election.
1958 – Aviation history was made when 2 British designed and built De Havilland Comet 4 airliners operated by BOAC (now British Airways) made the first scheduled jet passenger service flights across the North Atlantic.
1963 – The Beatles made their first appearance on the ITV show Ready Steady Go!
1965 – The BBC announced it would begin broadcasting a new programme for immigrants.
1973 – The BBC broadcast the 500th edition of Top Of The Pops. On the show were Slade, Gary Glitter and The Osmond’s.
1976 – British Rail began its new 125mph Intercity ‘High Speed Train’ service. At the time of its introduction it was the fastest diesel-powered train in regular service in the world and remained so for many years afterwards. Engineers have calculated that, with a certain amount of rewiring, the Mark 3 carriages can be made to last until at least 2035.
1983 – The Scottish entrepreneur Richard Noble reached a world land speed record of 663.5mph at Nevada in his jet-powered car, Thrust II, now housed in the Coventry Transport Museum. Noble was also the project director of Thrust SSC, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at Black Rock Desert, Nevada by RAF pilot Andy Green on 15th October 1997.
1996 – Following a series of ‘memoir books’ regarding events in the Gulf War, members of the SAS and other British forces were to sign a ‘contract of silence’ or face dismissal.
2000 – It was reported that Harry Potter author JK Rowling had donated a six figure sum to the National Council for One Parent Families.
2001 – Michael Stone was found guilty, for the second time, of the murders of Dr Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, killed on 9th July 1996 in an attempted robbery. 9 year old Josie survived, with severe head injuries, but went on to make an excellent recovery.
2010 – The death of Sir Norman Wisdom, English comedian, singer, songwriter and actor.
2103 – London won the coveted title of number one ‘Crap Town’ in the UK, held for the previous decade by Hull, . Not only was Hull stripped of its title, it completely dropped out of the top 50. Less than 2 months later, Hull was named the UK’s next City of Culture, beating Leicester, Dundee and Swansea Bay to the right to hold the title in 2017.
2013 – Amanda Hutton (44), from Bradford, whose four-year-old son Hamzah Khan starved to death and whose mummified remains were left in his cot for nearly two years was found guilty of killing him by gross negligence. Hutton claimed she had struggled to get her son to eat and that he had died suddenly. She was jailed for 15 years.
2017 – UK Prime Minister Theresa May was “pink-slipped” during her speech at the Conservative National Conference. Officially it was a P45 Termination of Employment paper.
Did you know that on this day in 1957, Sputnik 1 became Earth’s first artificial satellite to go into orbit? It orbited for three weeks before its batteries died and then crashed down two weeks later.
The “Molotov cocktail” was named by Finnish soldiers fighting the Soviet invasion of 1939/1940. It was named after the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov.
The first person offered the role of John McClane in Die Hard was Frank Sinatra.
It must have been awkward for Jessie after his friend wrote that song about his girl.
Crayola means “oily chalk.”
Shakespeare used the word honorificabilitudinitatibus in Love’s Labour’s Lost. It basically means ‘honorable, and the word was invented in the 9th century.
If The Count from Sesame Street bit someone would they become a muppet?
Facebook has a ‘poke’ button, but what they should have is a ‘slap the crap out of this person’ button
‘Odontophobia’ is the fear of teeth.
A group of Eels is called a Swarm or Bed or Fry.
No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
Sean Connery wore a toupee in every James Bond film that he starred in.
If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough.
“In my experience, there’s only one thing that will always steer you toward success: That’s to have a vision and to stick with it… Once I have a vision for a new venture, I’m going to ride that vision until the wheels come off.” – Russell Simmons
“A comedian does funny things. A good comedian does things funny.” – Buster Keaton
“Every expert was once a beginner.” – Rutherford B. Hayes
“I think writer’s block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if you sit down at the keys long enough, sooner or later something will come out.” – Roy Blount, Jr.
“I don’t have any problem doing anything. The secret is I have no shame.” – Dakota Johnson
“No matter how rudely someone treats you, remain kind. Walking away at peace with yourself is worth it.” – Anne Rice
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.