View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
What : day is it
1916 – The birth, in Cardiff, (to Norwegian parents) of the author Roald Dahl. Some of Roald Dahl’s notable works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, George’s Marvellous Medicine and The BFG (Big Friendly Giant).
1938 – John Smith, former leader of the Labour Party was born.
1940 – Buckingham Palace was hit by a bomb during ‘The Blitz’.
1944 – The birth of Carol Barnes, British television newsreader and broadcaster who worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004. In 1994 she was voted Newscaster of the Year at the TV and Radio Industries Club Awards
1957 – The Mousetrap became Britain’s longest running play, reaching its 1,998th performance.
1958 – Cliff Richard made his British TV debut on Jack Good’s Oh Boy, performing Move It.
1970 – In Colombia, enroute to the World Cup finals in Mexico, the captain of the England football team, Bobby Moore was accused of stealing a diamond bracelet from a shop. After being kept under house arrest, he was released and all charges were dropped.
1980 – Hercules, the bear who went missing on Benbecula (in the Outer Hebrides) while being filmed for a Kleenex television commercial, was recaptured after 24 days ‘on the run’.
1988 – Medina Perez, a Cuban diplomat opened fire in a crowded London street because of an American plot to make him defect, (his government said).
1989 – Britain’s biggest ever banking computer error gave customers an extra £2 billion in a period of 30 minutes; 99.3 per cent of the money was reportedly returned.
2001 – Iain Duncan Smith became the new leader of the Tory party.
2001 – British defence experts said that forces could be involved in retaliatory strikes against those responsible for the US terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre two days previously.
2012 – Jo Shuter, head teacher since 2001 of Quintin Kynaston School in St John’s Wood, north-west London was suspended after an investigation into its finances. (Shuter resigned on August 28th when it was announced that she had spent £30,000 of public money on luxury hotels, flowers and her 50th birthday party.) She had earlier had been credited with turning around a school’s fortunes, was named head teacher of the year at the 2007 Teaching Awards and was awarded a CBE in June 2010.
Did you know that on this day in 1955, Velcro was patented by Swiss Engineer George de Mestral? He named his invention after the French words “velour” and “crochet,” which means “velvet hook.”
You can name your identical twin girls “Erika” and “Erica” and make their lives easier but harder for everyone else.
“And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don’t know.” #songlyrics
“No plane” and “know plain” sound exactly the same but mean two entirely different things.
Ham will be poultry when pigs fly. #deepthoughts
Every year that sites ask me for my age I keep having to scroll down longer, I feel so old…
Carlos the Jackal – Real Name: Illich Ramirez Sanchez
The bacteria carried to Mars by our rovers may one day evolve into life, and after a billion years, that life may question its origins.
What did Johnny ever do with that fiddle, that the Devil laid at his feet?
People wouldn’t be so impressed with Superman if he flapped his arms while he was flying around.
What kind of high school history course were Bill and Ted in that would cover everything from Socrates to Billy the Kid?
Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon agree that if they’re ever confused for one another, they will just go along with it.
“I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I’ll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.” – Roald Dahl
“I don’t think I’d live anything over, even though I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I have learned how to see failure as a friend. So, I’m not one to live a life of regrets. I try to learn from my mistakes, but I’ll take my life the way it is.” – Tavis Smiley
“It’s not how big your pencil is; it’s how you write your name.” – Dave Mustaine
“I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.” – Ray Charles
“When business executives are making artistic decisions and don’t understand animation, things can go awry.” – Don Bluth
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.