April 19th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 110, known as National Garlic Day, National Amaretto Day, Cat Lady Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of July 27th in the previous year. Your star sign is Aries and your birthstone is Diamond.
1775 – The Battle of Lexington and Concord began, which kicked off the American Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783.
Todays birthdays
1933 – Harold “Dickie” Bird (91), English former cricketer and retired international cricket umpire, born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
1946 – Tim Curry (78), British actor (IT, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Home Alone, Annie), born in Warrington, Cheshire.
1956 – Sue Barker (68), British former television presenter (Grandstand, A Question of Sport) and professional tennis player (15 WTA Tour singles titles), born in Paignton, Devon.
1970 – Kelly Holmes (54), retired British middle distance athlete (won gold medals for 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens), born in Pembury, Kent.
1987 – Joe Hart (37), English goalkeeper (Celtic, Manchester City, England), born in Shrewsbury.
Famous deaths
1882 – Charles Darwin (b. 1809), English biologist and theorist widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology.
1992 – Frankie Howerd (b. 1917), English actor and screenwriter (The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery, Carry On Up the Jungle, Up Pompeii).
The day today
1927 – American actress Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail, convicted of obscenity and “corrupting the morals of youth” with her portrayal of a prostitute in the Broadway play Sex, which she also wrote; the publicity made her nationally known.
1943 – Jews refuse to surrender the Warsaw Ghetto to SS officer Jürgen Stroop, who then orders its destruction. On the same day, Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time.
1972 – The British army is largely cleared of blame for Bloody Sunday which ended in the deaths of 14 civilians in Northern Ireland.
1995 – Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh sets a truck bomb at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168. including 19 children, and injuring 500.
2020 – UK COVID-19 death toll reaches 16,060 (hospitals only), as “The Sunday Times” criticizes Boris Johnson’s government’s response, saying they “sleepwalked into disaster”
Today in music
1980 – 32 year old English singer Brian Johnson joined Australian group AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott who had died after a drinks binge in February 1980. On the same day, Blondie went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Call Me’, featured in the Richard Gere movie ‘American Gigolo’, the track was also a No.1 in the UK.
1985 – Bryan Adams was on the UK album chart with Reckelss. His fourth studio album was the first Canadian album to sell more than one million units within Canada. Six singles were released from the album: ‘Run to You,’ ‘Somebody,’ ‘Heaven,’ ‘Summer of ’69,’ ‘One Night Love Affair,’ and ‘It’s Only Love.’
1986 – George Michael was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘A Different Corner’, the singers second solo No.1. Michael became the first solo act in the history of the UK chart to reach No.1 with his first two releases. The song was also credited with being the second No.1 (after ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ by Stevie Wonder), which was written, sung, played, arranged and produced by the same person.
1998 – Robbie Williams started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo album Life Thru A Lens. The album spent a total of 218 weeks on the UK chart, with sales of 2.4 million copies.
2020 – Michael Ball and Captain Tom Moore went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The charity single made Moore (six days short of his one hundredth birthday) the oldest person to achieve a No.1 (he was at the top of the charts on his 100th birthday), beating the previous record-holder Tom Jones.
Today in history
1770 – Captain James Cook, still holding the rank of lieutenant, sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.
1775 – The Battle of Lexington and Concord began, which kicked off the American Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783.
1764 – The English Parliament bans the American colonies from printing paper money.
1882 – Charles Darwin publishes his final book, “The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms.”
1883 – British banker Thomas Agnew and others found the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC), based on Agnew’s observation of a similar group in NYC; its success leads to a national organisation.