August 27th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 240 of the year! Known as Banana Lovers Day, International Lottery Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 4th in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Peridot.
1955 – The first edition of “The Guinness Book of Records” is published (compiled by student twins Norris and Ross McWhirter) in Great Britain; it quickly proves to be a hit. It also holds it’s own record as the world’s most sold copyrighted book.
Todays birthdays
1956 – Glen Matlock (67), English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, born in Paddington, London.
1961 – Mark Curry (63), English actor as well as a television and radio presenter (Blue Peter; Catchphrase), born in Stafford, West Midlands.
1970 – Peter Ebdon (54), English former snooker player (World Champion 2002), born in Islington, London.
1972 – Denise Lewis (52), British sports presenter and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon, born in West Bromwich, West Midlands.
1978 – Suranne Jones (46), English actress (Coronation Street, Scott and Bailey, Doctor Foster), born in Chadderton, Oldham, Greater Manchester.
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
1900 – Britain’s first long distance bus service began between London and Leeds. The journey took 2 days… how’s that for a fast service?
1955 – The first edition of “The Guinness Book of Records” is published (compiled by student twins Norris and Ross McWhirter) in Great Britain; it quickly proves to be a hit. Now known as the “Guinness World Records” book, the annual publication features a wide range of feats related to humans and animals.
1956 – The nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid becoming the world’s first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.
1966 – Sir Francis Chichester began the first solo circumnavigation of the world, when he set out from Plymouth in Gypsy Moth IV, a 53 ft ketch that Chichester commissioned specifically to sail single-handed around the globe.
1979 – The death of Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s and the Queen’s cousin (strictly second cousin once removed). The IRA exploded a 50lb, remote-controlled bomb on his boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Lord Mountbatten was a former Admiral of the Fleet, the last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Governor-General of the independent Union of India.
Today in music
1966 – The Beach Boys ‘God Only Knows’ peaked at No.2 on the UK singles chart. The song broke new ground in many ways. It was one of the first commercial songs to use the word ‘God’ in its title and Brian Wilson used many unorthodox instruments, including the French horns that are heard in the song’s famous introduction.
1986 – Tina Turner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Turner began her career with Ike Turner’s band Kings of Rhythm in 1957, under the name Little Ann. Turner has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.
1994 – Boyz II Men started a 14 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I’ll Make Love To You’, a No.5 hit in the UK. The record- breaking 14 week stay came to an end when they knocked themselves from the top with ‘On Bended Knee’.
2019 – The Charlatans, Blur, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring, Catatonia, Reef, The Chemical Brothers, The Divine Comedy, Pavement, Silverchair, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion all appeared at The Carling Reading three day festival, England, tickets, £78.
2013 – Miley Cyrus’s risque performance at the MTV VMAs drew complaints from a parenting pressure group in the US, which saw her dance suggestively in a nude bikini with singer Robin Thicke. It argued the show should not have been rated as suitable for 14 year olds.
Today in history
1776 – During the American Revolution, British forces under General William Howe defeated George Washington and the American Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island.
1784 – The first balloon ascent was made in Britain, by James Tytler at Edinburgh. The balloon rose above the city’s skyline to a height of just over 100 metres and landed near Restalrig in the east of Edinburgh.
1883 – Four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa (Indonesia) and cause years of climate change. The biggest explosion the world has ever known, it was an estimated 13,000 times greater than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and could be heard as far away as Perth, Australia (a distance of some 2,800 miles).
1896 – The start (and end) of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was the shortest war in world history and lasted for just 38 minutes.
1899 – The birth of C.S. Forester, the English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare; his most notable works being the 12 book Horatio Hornblower series and The African Queen.