Wednesday, April 23rd "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 113, known as International English Language Day, Shakespeare Day, Saint George’s Day. Your star sign is Taurus and your birthstone is Diamond.
1982 – The launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer. The Spectrum’s colour capabilities were a major selling point, as it was one of the first home computers to offer color graphics and is credited with helping to launch the UK games industry, as it opened up new opportunities for developers and creatives.
Todays birthdays
1939 – Lee Majors (86), American actor famous his roles as Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy, born in Wyandotte, Michigan, United States.
1962 – John Hannah (63), Scottish film and television actor (The Mummy, Sliding Doors, Four Weddings and a Funeral), born in East Kilbride.
1977 – John Cena (48), American professional wrestler (WWE) and actor (Fast X, The Suicide Squad), born in West Newbury, Massachusetts, United States.
1979 – Barry Hawkins (46), English professional snooker player nicknamed “The Hawk”, born in Ditton, Kent.
1985 – Taio Cruz (45), English singer-songwriter (“Dynamite”, “Break Your Heart”), born in the London Borough of Brent.
1988 – Alistair Brownlee (37), English triathlete (gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics), born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
1995 – Gigi Hadid (30), American fashion model and television personality, born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
2018 – Prince Louis of Wales (7), member of the British royal family and currently fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, born in St Mary’s Hospital, London.
Famous deaths
1616 – William Shakespeare (b. 1564), English playwright and poet (MacBeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet).
2005 – John Mills (b. 1908), English actor with more than 120 films (Ryan’s Daughter, The Family Way, Tunes of Glory) in a career spanning seven decades.
2011 – John Sullivan (b. 1946), English screenwriter and producer responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.
The Feast Day of St. George
Think of St George and you’re probably picturing a heroic knight slaying a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon. As the country’s patron saint, today St George’s story is as iconic as his white and red flag.
A feast day of St George has been celebrated in England for hundreds of years on 23 April, which was possibly the date of his martyrdom. Following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, St George’s Day became one of the most important feast days in the English calendar.
The day today
1967 – The Soviet Union launched the first crewed Soyuz mission, Soyuz 1.
The mission was to rendezvous with the Soyuz 2 in orbit to exchange cosmonauts. Vladimir Komarov was the sole cosmonaut aboard Soyuz 1, with Yuri Gagarin as a backup. The Soyuz 1 couldn’t rendezvous with the Soyuz 2 as the latter couldn’t be launched due to thunderstorms. The Soyuz 1’s descent module failed to operate correctly upon its return to Earth, and the parachute didn’t open fully. Komarov perished, becoming the first in-flight fatality in spaceflight history.
1968 – The first decimal coins appeared in Britain – the 5p and 10p pieces which replaced the 1 shilling and 2 shilling coins.
1980 – The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia was expelled from the country following the broadcast on British TV of the documentary ‘Death of a Princess’. It depicted the life and execution of a Saudi Arabian Princess found guilty of committing adultery.
1982 – The launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer. The Spectrum’s colour capabilities were a major selling point, as it was one of the first home computers to offer color graphics and is credited with helping to launch the UK games industry, as it opened up new opportunities for developers and creatives.
1983 – Canadian snooker player Cliff Thorburn completed the first televised maximum break of 147 during the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield.
2005 – The first video was uploaded to YouTube. The video was uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim and was titled “Me at the zoo.”
2021 – Judges quashed the convictions of 39 former sub-postmasters and mistresses who were convicted of stealing money, after the Post Office installed the Horizon computer system in branches. The clearing of the names of 39 people follows the overturning of six other convictions in December, meaning that more people were affected than in any other miscarriage of justice in the UK. Horizon-based evidence was used by the Post Office to successfully prosecute 736 people between 2000 and 2014. As well as some people going to prison, others were left bankrupt after the Post Office pursued claims which sometimes totalled tens of thousands of pounds.
2023 – The first test of the government’s new phone alert system at 3pm. The system has been 10 years in the making and will send an emergency alert to mobile phones when there is an imminent threat to people’s lives.
Today in music
1969 – The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Get Back’ the group’s 16th UK No.1. Credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston”, it was the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist, ‘Get Back’ was also the Beatles’ first single release in true stereo in the US.
1971 – The Rolling Stones released their classic album Sticky Fingers in the UK. The band’s first release on their own label via Atlantic Records, the cover was designed by Andy Warhol, who was paid $15,000 for his efforts.
1971 – Thelma Houston went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, a No.13 hit in the UK.
1983 – David Bowie started a three week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with the Nile Rodgers produced ‘Let’s Dance’, featuring the title track which made No. 1 on the US and UK singles chart and ‘China Girl.’
1988 – Iron Maiden went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’, their second No.1 LP.
1994 – Pink Floyd were at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth UK No.1 album.
2008 – Amy Winehouse went out on a drink and drug-fuelled spree and hit and head-butted two men. After drinking all day, Amy visited the Good Mixer pub in Camden, London with Babyshambles guitarist Mik Whitnall. Inside she allegedly punched Mustapha el Mounmi in the face after he refused to give way to her at the pool table. The singer then left to visit Bar Tok in the early hours and once at the bar shouted “I am a legend get these people out. I want to take drugs.” After leaving the bar a good Samaritan tried to get her a cab, but she reportedly thought he was trying to molest her and allegedly head-butted him in the face.
2019 – Ed Sheeran was forced to knock down an outdoor sauna and ditch a huge pub sign at his £1.5 million Suffolk mansion after he failed to get planning permission. He had named his home pub after his wife Cherry Lancaster Seaborn, calling it The Lancaster Lock – but council officers weren’t happy. They demanded he take down the 16ft sign after finding he’d broken planning rules during a site visit.
Today in history
871 AD – The death of Æthelred I (sometimes rendered as Ethelred) king of Wessex from 865 to 871.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred II (Ethelred the Unready) as king of England. Unready, meaning ‘poorly advised’ was a play on his name, which means ‘well advised’.
1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III. It is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron saint. Membership to the order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four ‘members, or companions.’
1516 – Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria enacted The German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot), strictly regulating beer making. The law meant that only three ingredients were permitted in Bavaria beer; water, barley, and hops.
1564 – The birth of poet & playwright William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He died on his 52nd birthday in 1616.
1661 – Charles II was crowned King of England, completing the restoration of the monarchy. His father, Charles I, had been beheaded by Oliver Cromwell following the Civil War.
1775 – J M W Turner, English painter was born. He was one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. His painting of Raby Castle, commissioned by the third earl of Darlington, was one of Turner’s most successful “house portraits.”