Sunday, August 24th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 236, known as Notting Hill Carnival, Pluto Demoted Day, Burning Man Festival. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Peridot.
2016 – Astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet named Proxima b. The planet orbits the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, 4.22 lightyears away.
Todays birthdays
1948 – Jean-Michel Jarre (77), French music composer, performer and record producer in the electronic genre (Oxygène), born in Lyon, France.
1957 – Stephen Fry (68), English actor (Blackadder), TV presenter (QI), comedian (A Bit of Fry and Laurie), director, audiobook narrator and writer born in Hampstead, London.
1958 – Steve Guttenberg (67), American actor (Police Academy, Three Men and a Baby, Cocoon), producer and director born in New York, United States.
1961 – Mark “Bedders” Bedford (64), English rock-ska musician, songwriter and member of Madness (“House Of Fun”), born in Islington, London.
1963 – Hideo Kojima (62), Japanese director, screenwriter and video game designer (Metal Gear Solid, Death Stranding), born in Tokyo, Japan.
1988 – Rupert Grint (37), English actor (Knock at the Cabin), best known for his role as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, born in Harlow, Essex.
Famous deaths
1980 – Yootha Joyce (b. 1927), English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off George and Mildred.
2014 – Richard Attenborough (b. 1923), English actor (Jurassic Park, The Great Escape, The Flight of the Phoenix) film director and producer.
2021 – Charlie Watts (b. 1941), English musician and the drummer for the Rolling Stones since 1963.
The day today
1921 – The British airship R-38, also known as ZR-2, broke apart and crashed into the River Humber, near Hull, during a test flight. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 44 out of the 49 British and American crew members. The airship was on a test flight before being handed over to the US Navy.
1947 – The first Edinburgh International Festival was held. It was conceived as a way to bring people together through the arts in the aftermath of World War II. The festival, which initially focused on music and drama, has since grown into a major international cultural event.
1967 – Two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during sweltering London temperatures.
1981 – Mark Chapman was given a 20 year sentence for shooting John Lennon, the former member of the British group, The Beatles in New York. Chapman has applied for parole every two years since 2000. All the applications have been rejected.
1985 – Five year old John Shorthouse was shot dead in Birmingham after armed officers stormed into his house looking for his father.
1995 – Microsoft launched Windows 95, with a massive marketing campaign that included the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” and appearances by Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry. The launch was a global event, with midnight releases and long queues at computer stores. The launch was heavily promoted, with a reported $300 million marketing budget.
1998 – Britain, the United States and the Netherlands agreed to put two Libyans on trial for planting the bomb which blew up a Pan Am airliner over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all those on board and several on the ground.
2014 – The death, aged 90, of Richard Attenborough, who championed the British film business for more than 60 years as an actor, director and prolific movie-maker. He won two Academy Awards for directing and producing Gandhi in 1983.
2016 – Astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet named Proxima b. The planet orbits the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, 4.22 lightyears away.
2019 – American explorer Victor Vescovo became the first person to journey to the deepest points of every ocean. This wasn’t his first challenge, either. He’s also scaled the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven continents and skied to both the North and South poles.
Today in music
1975 – Queen started recording ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales, (the song was recorded over three weeks). Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.
1985 – Huey Lewis and the News started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘The Power Of Love’, as featured in the movie Back To The Future.
1991 – Lenny Kravitz was at No.2 in the singles chart with ‘It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over’, held off the No.1 position by Bryan Adams ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You’.
1996 – ‘Missing’ by UK duo Everything But The Girl broke the all-time US chart stay record previously held by The Four Seasons’ ‘December, 1963 (Oh What A Night)’, when it appeared on the Billboard chart for the 55th week.
2010 – George Michael pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in London to driving under the influence of drugs. The singer had been arrested in July when he was returning home from the London Gay Pride parade and crashed his car into the front of a Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead, North London.
2019 – Billie Eilish ended the record-breaking 19-week run of ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus when ‘Bad Guy’ claimed the top spot on the US Hot 100 chart. The song which peaked at No.2 on the UK chart was also a No.1 hit in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Russia.
2021 – English musician Charlie Watts died at a London hospital at the age of 80. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an interest in jazz at a young age and joined the band Blues Incorporated. He also started playing drums in London’s rhythm and blues clubs, where he met future band mates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones. In January 1963, he left Blues Incorporated and joined the Rolling Stones as drummer and remained with the group for 58 years.
Today in history
1456 – The first printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed. Johannes Gutenberg invented one of the first printing presses in Germany and spent four years creating the printing plates for the Gutenberg Bible. This Bible was one of the first books ever printed.
1482 – The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.
1662 – The second statute of the Act of Uniformity required England to accept the Book of Common Prayer in religious service. Upwards of 2000 clergy refused to comply with the act, and were forced to resign.
1759 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist, was born. He campaigned for many important causes, most notably the abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies.
1814 – British forces led by Major-General Robert Ross captured Washington, D.C. After defeating American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, the British set fire to many federal buildings, including the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the Washington Navy Yard.