Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 344 of the year.

Wednesday, December 10th Daily Prep.

Today is Human Rights Day, National Lager Day, Worldwide Candle Lighting Day and Nobel Prize Day. Your star sign is Sagittarius and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
1979 – Twenty year old stuntman Eddie Kidd accomplished a “death-defying” motorcycle leap when he crossed an 80ft gap over a 50ft sheer drop above a viaduct at Maldon, Essex.
Twenty year old stuntman Eddie Kidd accomplished a "death-defying" motorcycle leap when he crossed an 80ft gap over a 50ft sheer drop above a viaduct at Maldon, Essex.
Today’s birthdays
1952 – Clive Anderson (73), English television (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) and radio presenter, comedian, writer, and former barrister, born in Stanmore, Greater London.
1960 – Kenneth Branagh (65), Northern Irish actor and filmmaker (Murder on the Orient Express, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dunkirk), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1970 – Susannah Reid (55), English television presenter and journalist (Good Morning Britain, Death Row: Countdown to Execution), born in Croydon, South London.
1972 – Brian Molko (53), Belgian-born British singer and songwriter with Placebo (“Nancy Boy”, “Special K”), born in Brussels, Belgium.
1985 – Grace Chatto (40), English musician, singer, cellist and backing vocalist for the electronic music band Clean Bandit (“Rockabye”, “Symphony”), born in London.
Famous deaths
2005 – Richard Pryor (b. 1940), American comedian, actor (See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Superman III, Stir Crazy), producer, and screenwriter.

2020 – Barbara Windsor (b. 1937), English actress known for her roles in the Carry On films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.

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The day today
1907 – Author Rudyard Kipling (Jungle Book, The Man Who Would Be King) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was the first time it had been bestowed on an English writer.
1917 – The British Post Office introduced the “Buy British War Bonds Now” slogan under government pressure to raise funds for the war effort.
1936 – Edward VIII signed to abdicate the British throne. Edward VIII signed his Declaration of Abdication so that he could marry Wallis Simpson – an American divorcee, a marriage which was opposed by the United Kingdom government.
1953 – Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his masterful oratory and historical and biographical writing. He could not attend in person due to an international conference in Bermuda, so his wife, Clementine Churchill, accepted the prize on his behalf.
1979 – Twenty year old stuntman Eddie Kidd accomplished a “death-defying” motorcycle leap when he crossed an 80ft gap over a 50ft sheer drop above a viaduct at Maldon, Essex. He jumped the Great Wall of China in 1993, but his career ended after he suffered serious head injuries in 1996 at a Hell’s Angels rally in Warwickshire.
1990 – The first of the hostages held in the Gulf for four and a half months arrived in Britain, after their release by Saddam Hussein. A total of 100 British hostages were freed and landed at Heathrow airport, with the promise of a further 400 to follow.
2001 – The first Lord of the Rings film installment, “The Fellowship of the Ring,” starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen and directed by Peter Jackson, premiered in London.
2001 – Prime Minister Tony Blair backed Home Secretary David Blunkett over his controversial call for ethnic minority groups to make a greater effort to integrate into British society and adopt “British norms of acceptability”. The comments, made ahead of reports into summer race riots in northern English towns, sparked a significant debate about multiculturalism and national identity.
2003 – The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Angela Cannings, jailed for life for the murder of her two baby sons. She had always maintained that the two boys died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death.
Today in music
1965 – An 18-year-old David Bowie recorded ‘Can’t Help Thinking About Me’ at Pye Studios, London, England, which was later released as a single under the name David Bowie with The Lower Third. It became the first David Bowie record to be released in the US as well as the first time the name “Bowie” appeared under the songwriters credit.
1966 – The Beach Boys went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Good Vibrations’, the group’s third US No.1. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad vibrations” Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1975 – ABBA released ‘Fernando’. The song is one of ABBA’s best-selling singles of all time, with six million copies sold in 1976 alone and is one of fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.

1983 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Say Say Say’. It was Jackson’s 10th No.1 (solo & The Jackson’s) and McCartney’s 29th, (solo and The Beatles).
1999 – A war of words broke out between Cliff Richard and George Michael after George branded Cliff Richards hit ‘Millennium Prayer’ as ‘vile’. Cliff hit back by saying that his single was a Christian celebration.
2000 – Eminem went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Stan’ featuring British singer Dido. ‘Stan’ was No.1 in eleven countries. Dido’s lyrics are actually a sample of the opening lines from her song ‘Thank You’.
2005 – Queen overtook The Beatles to become the third most successful act of all time. Sales in 2005 showed that Queen had now overtaken The Beatles to make it into third place, spending 1,755 weeks on the British singles and album charts. The Beatles slipped to fourth place, with 1,749 weeks. Elvis had spent 2,574 weeks on the singles and album charts, making him number one in the Top 100 most successful acts of all time. Sir Cliff Richard remained in second place, clinching 1,982 weeks.
2009 – In an interview with Q magazine, Paul McCartney was asked if his marriage to Heather Mills was the worst mistake of his life. He replied “OK, yeah. I suppose that has to be the prime contender.” The divorce settlement had cost McCartney £24m, plus annual payments for his daughter, Beatrice.
Today in history
1394 – The birth in Edinburgh Castle of King James I of Scotland. He reigned from 1406-1437 and was murdered at Perth in February 1437. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband, Lord Darnley.
1541 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
1684 – Isaac Newton’s calculations and theories based on Kepler’s laws were read to the Royal Society in London. Newton’s manuscript, called “De motu corporum in gyrum,” was read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley (“Halley’s Comet”) after visiting Newton earlier that year. Halley encouraged Newton to continue his calculations and refine his theories, through which Newton developed many theories of physics we still use today.
1884 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published in the UK and Canada.
1845 – The Scottish civil engineer, Robert Thompson, patented pneumatic tyres. He was one of Scotland’s most prolific, but now largely forgotten inventors. Tyre manufacture had to be by hand and they proved too expensive to be economically viable until Dunlop developed the process in 1888.