August 25th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 238 of the year! Known as The Notting Hill Carnival, Kiss and Make Up Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 2nd in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Peridot.
1997 – Nintendo released the first-person shooter, GoldenEye 007, for the Nintendo 64. The game opened the FPS genre to the console market. It’s often credited for paving the way for the popularity of the Halo and Call of Duty franchises.
Todays birthdays
1958 – Tim Burton (66), American filmmaker, animator, and artist (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas), born in Burbank, California, United States.
1962 – Vivian Campbell (62), Northern Irish guitarist and a member of Def Leppard since 1992, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1966 – Tracy-Ann Oberman (58), English actress known for playing Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap EastEnders, born in Brent, London.
1970 – Claudia Schiffer (54), German model and actress born in Rheinberg, Germany.
1988 – Alexandra Burke (36), British singer, songwriter (“Broken Heels”). She won the fifth series of the British television series The X Factor in 2008, born in Islington, London.
Famous deaths
1964 – Ian Fleming (b. 1908), British writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels.
2015 – Stephen Lewis (b. 1926), English actor and screenwriter (Inspector Blake – On The Buses and as Smiler in Last of the Summer Wine).
2021 – Una Stubbs (b. 1937), English actress, TV personality, and dancer (Till Death Us Do Part, In Sickness and in Health).
The day today
1919 – The first daily passenger air service began, going from London to Paris.
The first flights left a mile north of where Heathrow Airport now sits, and the flights were operated by Air transport & Travel Ltd, now known as British Airways.
1928 – The opening of the famous Kop End at Liverpool Football Club’s ground at Anfield. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War, the word ‘Kopje’ meaning ‘small hill’.
1939 – Britain and Poland formed a military alliance in which the UK promised to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.
1942 – The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, was killed in a plane crash during a war mission to Iceland. He was the first member of the Royal family to be killed on active service.
2010 – Gareth Williams, 30, an MI6 worker was found in a holdall in the bath at his central London flat. Police believed that he may have been murdered two weeks previously.
Today in music
1960 – The Shadows were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Apache’. The first of five UK No.1’s for Cliff Richard’s backing group.
1990 – ‘Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ by Bombalurina was the UK No.1 single. Bombalurina was childrens TV presenter Timmy Mallett with a remake of Brian Hyland’s 1960 hit.
1993 – Snoop Doggy Dogg was released on $1 million bail after being accused of being involved with the murder of a member of the By Yerself gang during a shooting in Los Angeles. He was acquitted of the charges in 1996.
2001 – American singer, actress Aaliyah (“Try Again”) was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas aged 22. The small Cessna plane crashed a few minutes after take off killing everyone on board with exception to four passengers who were pulled from the wreckage but later died. Aaliyah had been filming a video for her latest release ‘Rock The Boat’ on the island.
2014 – Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was voted the greatest guitar riff of all time by listeners of BBC Radio 2 in the UK. The rock classic came out top from a list of 100 riffs drawn up by a panel of Radio 2 and 6 Music DJs, critics and record producers. ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns ‘N’ Roses was second in the poll, with Back In Black (AC/DC) and ‘Smoke On The Water’ (Deep Purple) the next most popular.
Today in history
1537 – The Honourable Artillery Company was formed. It is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior.
1768 – Captain James Cook set sail on his first voyage from Plymouth, heading for the Pacific Ocean. The journey was made on their ship Endeavour, which was previously called Earl of Pembroke. Cook and his crew would not return home for another two years and 11 months.
1804 – Alicia Meynell rode Vingarillo over a four-mile racecourse at York to become the first recorded woman jockey. She was in the lead most of the way against only one other contestant, but lost.
1830 – Robert Stephenson’s locomotive ‘Northumbrian’ took a trial run to prepare for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Actress Fanny Kemble rode on the footplate, the first woman to do so.
1867 – The death, aged 75, of the English scientist Michael Faraday. His inventions formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became viable for use in technology.