View todays celebrity birthdays and find out what happened in history today.
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1935 – The birth of the actor Johnny Briggs. He is best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006. He received a lifetime achievement award at the 2006 British Soap Awards for his thirty years of contribution to the show.
1939 – At the start of World War II in Europe, American President Roosevelt declared the United States to be neutral.
1946 – The birth (in Stone Town, Zanzibar) of the British musician, singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury. As a songwriter, Mercury composed many hits for Queen, including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘We Are the Champions’. He died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS on 24th November 1991, only one day after publicly acknowledging that he had the disease.
1959 – The first trunk dialling system from a public call-box was launched during a ceremonial phone call from Bristol to London.
1960 – Cassius Clay wins the light heavyweight boxing gold medal at the Rome Olympics.
1963 – Christine Keeler, one of the women involved in the Profumo scandal in Britain, was arrested and charged with perjury.
1979 – The BBC began broadcasting the hit American series ‘Dallas’ which soon became one of the most popular programmes on British TV.
1982 – Douglas Bader, British fighter pilot died.
1988 – No Sex Please We’re British, the longest running comedy, closed in London (after 6,671 performances over 16 years).
2008 – £20,000 of petrol was given away in north London to promote a computer game. Traffic was gridlocked outside the Last Stop garage in Finsbury Park as drivers queued for £40 worth of free fuel each.
2013 – More than 130 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes in thick fog on the Sheppey crossing in Kent. The A249 bridge was closed for more than nine hours. Police found enough evidence to prosecute 32 motorists, but offered to send them on a driver alertness course instead. Eight people suffered serious injuries and 200 others were treated at the scene following the crash, which started at around 7.15am.
2014 – Channel 4’s game show Countdown achieved a Guinness World Record for the ‘most series broadcast for a TV game show’ when it reached its 6,000th episode On This Day. The programme was launched in 1982, with the late Richard Whiteley at the helm.
2017 – Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region with winds of 185mph. On the same day, Baroness Hale of Richmond, becomes the first woman President of the UK Supreme Court.
Did you know that on this day in 1793, the Reign of Terror took place throughout France? This was a series of massacres and public executions that followed the French Revolution.
Nothing is on fire. Fire is on things.
Slash (born in 1965) was almost a member of the “27 club.” His heart stopped for 8 minutes after an overdose at a San Francisco hotel in 1992.
Our second thought, after meeting aliens, will be to wonder what they taste like, and how best to cook them.
Before his ‘Goosebumps’ books made him a household name, R.L. Stine was the creator and head writer for Nick Jr.’s Eureeka’s Castle (1989-1995)
“Live long and prosper” – Spock ( Star Trek)
The Jonestown Flavor Aid poison consisted of Cyanide, Valium, Choral Hydrate, and Phenergan.
Fred the Baker said “Time to make the donuts” for Dunkin Donuts, and was played by Michael Vale.
Nikola Tesla is now best known for not being well known.
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education” – Mark Twain
Helping kids is the equivalent of going back in time and changing events in a person’s past to eliminate problems they have as adults.
A group of Vipers is called a Generation or Nest.
“Work hard, don’t quit, be appreciative, be thankful, be grateful, be respectful, also to never whine ever, never complain, and, always, for crying out loud, keep a sense of humor.” – Michael Keaton
“You ever hear Buddy Miles play the drums? You know, he doesn’t vary the tempo at all.” – Miles Davis
“Once you get rid of the idea that you must please other people before you please yourself, and you begin to follow your own instincts – only then can you be successful. You become more satisfied, and when you are, other people will tend to be satisfied by what you do.” – Raquel Welch
“Why should I downplay myself to make someone else more comfortable?” – Rose McGowan
“There isn’t anything in the world that can’t be made better.” – Jack Valenti
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.