December 16th "2023" daily prep
Welcome to day 350 of the year! Known as National Chocolate Covered Anything Day and Stupid Toy Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of March 25th. Your star sign is “Sagittarius” and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
1995 – The name “Euro” was officially adopted for European Currency in Madrid. Belgian Esperantist Germain Pirlot, a former teacher of French and history, is credited with naming the new currency.
Todays birthdays
1945 – Bobby George (78), English former professional darts player known as “King of Darts”, born in Manor Park, London.
1946 – Benny Andersson (77), Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA (“Money, Money, Money”), born in Stockholm, Sweden.
1948 – Christopher Biggins (75), English actor (Porridge, Rentaghost) and television presenter, born in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
1966 – Dennis Wise (57), English former professional football player (Chelsea, Wimbledon and manager (Millwall, Leeds UTD), born in Kensington, London.
1988 – Anna Popplewell (35), English actress known for her role as Susan Pevensie in the The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy, born in London.
The day today
1929 – Barnes Wallis saw his R100 airship carry out its first test flight. After departing from Howden in Yorkshire, she flew slowly to York then set course for the Government Airship Establishment at Cardington, Bedfordshire, cruising at around 50 mph on four engines.
1944 – The Battle of the Bulge began in the Ardennes. By 21st January, the Germans had been pushed back to their original line, having lost some 120,000 men in the offensive.
1988 – Junior Health minister Edwina Currie resigned after her earlier comments (3rd December) when she said that most of Britain’s egg production was infected with the salmonella bacteria.
2001 – Thousands of campaigners took to the streets of Edinburgh to protest against a bill to end hunting with dogs, the uncertain future of rural schools and the handling of the foot and mouth crisis. It was the largest demonstration of its kind ever witnessed in Scotland.
2012 – Tour de France and Olympic time trial champion Bradley Wiggins was voted the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. At the same event Lord Coe, the Olympics 2012 chief, was awarded the BBC Lifetime Achievement Award.
Today in music
1965 – Released as a double A side The Beatles ‘Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out’, became their ninth UK No.1 and their third Christmas chart topper in a row. The single was a US No.1 in January 1966.
1972 – Billy Paul started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Me and Mrs Jones’, a No.12 hit in the UK. The song which describes an extramarital affair between a man and his lover, was later recorded by Michael Buble.
1974 – Guitarist Mick Taylor announced he was leaving The Rolling Stones saying he felt that now was the time to move on and do something new.
1993 – MTV aired Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged’ session for the first time. The album featured an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993. Unlike many artists who appeared on the show, Nirvana filmed its entire performance in a single take.
2001 – Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Frank and Nancy Sinatra 1967 No.1 hit ‘Somethin’ Stupid’. The Christmas No.1 for this year. From William’s album Swing When You’re Winning.
Today in history
1431 – Henry VI was crowned King of France, the only English monarch to wear both crowns. Henry was born in 1421and was only nine months old when he succeeded his father, Henry V, making him the youngest English monarch in history.
1485 – The birth of Catherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s wives. At the age of three, Catherine was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir to the English throne, and they married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine subsequently married Arthur’s younger brother, the recently-succeeded Henry VIII, in 1509.She bore him six children but only one survived (Mary I), and Henry divorced her against the Pope’s wishes, in his pursuit for a male heir.
1653 – Following the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell failed to get the Parliament he wanted and became Lord Protector, turning himself into an uncrowned king for the next four years. He was buried in Westminster Abbey but after the Royalists returned to power, they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded.
1773 – Taxes by Britain on tea and other commodities led Samuel Adams and 150 ‘Sons of Liberty’ disguised as Mohawk Indians to hold what became known as the Boston Tea Party. 342 tea chests worth £18,000 were tossed off Griffin’s Wharf into Boston Harbour. The War of Independence had begun.
1775 – The birth of Jane Austen, English novelist whose works of romantic fiction made her one of the most widely read writers in English literature. She was enthralled by Lyme Regis and collated material for her last novel Persuasion which was published posthumously and is said to be the most autobiographical of all her novels.
Fact of the day
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has become an integral part of Christmas culture, and we all know the story of poor Rudolph trying to fit in with Santa’s other reindeer. But did you know that he was created for a marketing campaign? American department store, Montgomery Ward, wanted to make fun colouring books to give away to children in 1939 and tasked Robert L. May to create a poem for the book.
Our favourite reindeer, Rudolph, was born due to this and became a cultural icon for children worldwide! Even better, the story of Rudolph is all about why we shouldn’t bully others just because they look different but instead embrace them.