August 17th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 229 of the year! Known as Tell A Joke Day and Rollercoaster Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of November 24th 2022 and have the star sign “Leo”. People born in August all have the Peridot birthstone.
1979 – “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, & John Cleese, premieres in the US (8th November 1979 in the UK). “Wait till Biggus Dickus hears of this!”
Todays birthdays
1943 – Robert De Niro (80), American actor (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull), known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, born in Greenwich Village, New York, United States.
1957 – Robin Cousins MBE (66), British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980, born in Bristol, England.
1960 – Sean Penn (63), American actor and film director (Mystic River, Carlito’s Way), born in Santa Monica, California, United States.
1977 – Thierry Henry (46), French professional football coach, pundit, former player (Arsenal) and a sports broadcaster, born in Les Ulis, France.
1977 – Claire Richards (46), English singer who is best known for being in the pop group Steps, born in Hillingdon, Uxbridge, England.
The day today
1939 – The film The Wizard Of Oz, starring Judy Garland, opened in New York.
1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany’s V-weapon program.
1990 – The National Trust for Scotland admitted that the Glenfinnan monument, marking the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in 1745 was almost certainly in the wrong place and was probably chosen for its scenic value.
2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games.
2017 – Terror attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, as a van rams into crowds killing 16 and injuring 120.
Today in music
1965 – The Byrds were forced to cancel a concert during their UK tour at The Guildhall, Portsmouth when only 250 of the 4,000 tickets had been sold.
1974 – Eric Clapton started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 461 Ocean Boulevard, a No.3 hit in the UK.
1991 – Nirvana shot the video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, costing less than $50,000 to make, the shoot features real Nirvana fans as the audience. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Group awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2000 the Guinness World Records named ‘Teen Spirit’ the Most Played Video on MTV Europe.
1999 – Led Zeppelin topped a chart of Britain’s most bootlegged musicians, compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), after identifying 384 bootleg titles featuring Led Zeppelin performances. The Beatles came in second with 320 entries, other acts listed included The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd.
2002 – Darius was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Colourblind’. The third “Pop Idol” finalist to get a number one. He’d originally lost out on “Popstars”, failing to get a place in the group Hear’Say, and then came third in “Pop Idol”.
Historical events
1786 – Birth of frontiersman Davy Crockett in Tennessee. On the same day, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria, is born.
1877 – Asaph Hall, an American astronomer discovered Mars’ second moon, called Phobos. The discovery came just six days after he discovered the first of the two moons named Deimos.
1896 – Mrs. Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car.
1961 – The Communist East German government completed the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine in the United States.
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