View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1889 – The Moulin Rouge (English: The Red Mill) opened in the Jardin de Paris, at the foot of the Montmartre hill.
1891 – William Henry Smith, (WHSmith) English newsagent, bookseller and statesman died.
1892 – Alfred Tennyson, England’s ‘Poet Laureate’, died.
1895 – Conductor Sir Henry Wood instituted the Promenade Concerts; known worldwide as ‘The Proms’, at the Queen’s Hall in London.
1910 – The birth of Barbara Castle who rose to become one of the most important Labour Party politicians of the twentieth century. She is, to date, the only woman to have held the office of First Secretary of State.
1939 – Adolf Hitler denied any intention to wage war against Britain and France in an address to Reichstag.
1953 – Naval and military forces were sent to British Guiana in response to what the UK Government said was a threat to the administration of the British colony.
1968 – The first three places in the US Grand Prix were taken by British drivers: Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees.
1978 – Ann Dadds became London Underground’s first woman Tube driver.
1985 – Metropolitan police officer, PC Keith Blakelock, was hacked to death by up to 40 rioters on the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham, North London against a backdrop of unrest between the police and local black communities. Blakelock and nine other constables were awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for bravery and Sergeant David Pengelly, who fought to save Blakelock and another officer who came under attack, received the George Medal. The murder remains unresolved but investigations continue.
1997 – British astronaut, Michael Foale, returned safely to earth aboard the space shuttle ‘Atlantis’ after four and a half months on ‘MIR’, the Russian space station. The touchdown was Atlantis’ final mission before she was taken out of service for another ‘Orbiter Modification Down Period’. Atlantis did not fly again until May 2000 when she made her first trip to the International Space Station.
2013 – Expenses documents showed that former cabinet minister Liam Fox successfully claimed 3p of taxpayers’ money for a car journey of about 100 metres. The ex-defence secretary made another 15 claims of under £1 for car travel approved in 2012-13.
Did you know that on this day in 2010, Instagram was officially launched? The social media application gained 25,000 users on its first day.
If you say you are in the top five, you are either fourth or fifth, otherwise, you’d be in the top three.
Alan Alda – Real Name: Alfonso D’Abruzzo
The most verified miles ever put on a car is 1,615,000 miles on a 1966 Volvo P-1800.
Cats don’t know they’re internet superstars.
That moment you wake up to find your pants hanging from a chandelier and think, “How did I end up in a place with a chandelier?”
“Get off my lawn!” – Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino #moviequotes
Sea mammals move their tails up and down. Fish move their tails side to side. So mermaids are mammals. #science
“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” – Lou Gehrig (Gary Cooper) #moviequotes
Natalie Portman – Real Name: Natalie Herschlag
You’ve never seen 100 percent of any movie because you’re always blinking every few seconds. #nowyouknow
If Chuck Norris were a germ he’d be in that .1% that nothing ever seems to kill.
“I can’t imagine a duller fate than being the best-dressed woman in reality. When I want to do something, I don’t pause to contemplate whether I’m exquisitely gowned. I want to live, not pose!” – Carole Lombard
“Every experience makes you grow.” – Elisabeth Shue
“In fighting nature, man can win every battle except the last. If he should win that too, he will perish, like an embryo cutting its own umbilical cord.” – Thor Heyerdahl
I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don’t like dark. They like the story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma.” – Leslie Moonves
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.