April 18th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 109, known as Autism Awareness Day, National Exercise Day, Amature Radio Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of July 26th in the previous year. Your star sign is Aries and your birthstone is Diamond.
1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brought 705 survivors to New York from the RMS Titanic that had sunk on the 15th April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton.
Todays birthdays
1953 – Rick Moranis (71), Canadian actor (Spaceballs, Little Shop of Horrors, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters), born in Toronto, Canada.
1971 – David Tennant (53), Scottish actor (Doctor Who, Broadchurch, Des, Star Wars Ahsoka), born in West Lothian, Scotland.
1974 – Edgar Wright (50), English filmmaker and actor (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), born in Poole, Dorset.
1976 – Melissa Joan Hart (48), American actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Clarissa Explains It All, Melissa and Joey), born in Smithtown, New York, United States.
1979 – Matthew Upson (45), English former professional footballer (England, Leicester City, West Ham United, Arsenal), born in Eye, Suffolk.
Famous deaths
1955 – Albert Einstein (b. 1879), German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists of all time. Best known for developing the theory of relativity.
The day today
1949 – The first ‘Bob-a-Job week’ began when 440,000 British Scouts started a nationwide campaign to raise the £22,000 needed to cover the deficits of the Scout movement. In the first year £60,000 was raised. The variety of jobs undertaken included a 13 year old who spent four hours cleaning the silver at 10 Downing Street.
1968 – London Bridge was sold for £1m to American oil tycoon Robert McCullough. He decided to knock it down, brick by brick, and have it re-built at Lake Havasu in the United States.
1980 – Rhodesia became Zimbabwe at midnight and independent from Britain. Canaan Banana was the President and Robert Mugabe the Prime Minister.
1988 – In the House of Commons, the 16th-century symbol of the Speaker’s authority, the Mace, was damaged by Ron Brown, Labour MP for Leith, when he flung it to the floor during a debate. It was described by his own supporters as ‘a childish stunt’ and led to his 20 day suspension.
1994 – West Indian batsman Brian Lara broke the record for the highest individual score in Test Cricket when he scored 375 against England in Antigua.
Today in music
1987 – Aretha Franklin and George Michael started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’ also a No.1 in the UK.
1992 – Annie Lennox went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her debut solo release ‘Diva.’ The album won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year at the 1993 Brit Awards and received nominations for Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Long Form Music Video, winning the latter award at the Grammy Awards the same year.
2004 – R&B singer from New York Eamon started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘F**k It, (I Don’t Want You Back)’ his debut single. The song earned a listing on the Guinness World Record for “the most expletives in a No.1 song”, with 33.
2006 – A line from U2’s 1992 hit ‘One’ was voted the UK’s favourite song lyric after in a poll of 13,000 people by music channel VH1. The line “One life, with each other, sisters, brothers” came top. The Smiths lyric “So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die” from the song ‘How Soon is Now’ came second in the poll, followed by “I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us”, from Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which was voted into third place.
2020 – Paul McCartney, Elton John, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and several other stars performed from their homes on the One World: Together At Home concert during the coronavirus pandemic. The event organized by Global Citizen of New York City and curated by singer Lady Gaga was in support of the World Health Organization.
Today in history
1506 – The construction of St Peter’s Basilica began in the Vatican. The building (completed 18 November 1626), is the largest church in the world and is known as one of the world’s most holy Catholic shrines.
1689 – The death of Lord Chief Justice George Jeffreys, known as the Hanging Judge. He led the Taunton Assize trials that came in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, the battle that ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England. The trials took place in the Great Hall of Taunton Castle. Of more than 500 prisoners brought before the court, 144 were hanged and their remains displayed around the county.
1740 – The birth of Sir Francis Baring, English merchant banker. Barings was the oldest merchant bank in London until it collapsed in 1995 after one of the bank’s employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million on speculative investing.
1881 – The Natural History Museum in London first opened its doors providing a permanent home for the ever-growing collection of natural history specimens originally housed in the British Museum.
1899 – The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria. The Association seeks to preserve the lives of people in Scotland by the provision of education and emergency first aid at events throughout Scotland.