December 21st "2023" daily prep
Welcome to day 355 of the year! Known as Winter Solstice, Short Fiction Day and Don’t Make Your Bed Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of March 29th. Your star sign is “Sagittarius” and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
2020 – The death (aged 103) of RAF ‘Spitfire woman’ Eleanor Wadsworth. She was the last surviving of about 165 women to have taken on the task of transporting aircraft to the frontlines during World War II. The women operated out of White Waltham in Berkshire and flew without instruments, flying instructions or radios.
Todays birthdays
1937 – Jane Fonda (86), American actress and film icon (Monster-in-Law, 9 to 5, On Golden Pond), born in New York, New York, United States.
1948 – Samuel L Jackson (75), American actor (Pulp Fiction, Shaft, The Negotiator), born in Washington, D.C., United States.
1957 – Ray Romano (66), American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter (Everybody Loves Raymond, Ice Age – voice of Manny), born in Queens, New York, United States.
1966 – Kiefer Sutherland (57), British-Canadian actor (The Lost Boys, Phone Booth, Stand by Me), born in St Mary’s Hospital, London.
1982 – Tom Payne (41), English actor (The Walking Dead, Waterloo Road), born in Chelmsford, Essex.
The day today
1937 – The first full-length animated feature film, Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premieres.
1962 – President Kennedy and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan agreed that the UK would buy nuclear missiles from the US to form a multilateral NATO nuclear force.
1988 – A Pan American jumbo jet bound for New York was blown out of the sky by a terrorist bomb and crashed onto the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground. It remains the deadliest aviation incident ever to take place in the United Kingdom.
2012 – The youngest female drivers faced ‘significant increases in their insurance costs’ after a ban on different car insurance prices for men and women. A European court ruling the previous year found that gender discrimination in insurance was against the law.
2014 – A former senior military intelligence officer disclosed that a British soldier was investigated for touching a Taliban fighter on the nose with a sheet of paper during a routine interrogation as he had broken rules concerning the touching of detainees during questioning. The £31 million inquiry, chaired by Sir Thayne Forbes, a former High Court judge, listed several instances of what was judged to be ‘ill-treatment during questioning’.
Today in music
1991 – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody – ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ by Queen started a five week run at No.1 in the UK, the 1975 word-wide hit had been re-released following the death of Freddie Mercury.
2003 – Michael Andrews feat Gary Jules went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Tears For Fears song ‘Mad World.’ The song took just 90 minutes to record in 2001 and was featured in the film Donnie Darko.
2008 – The 2008 X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Hallelujah’. The song was written by Leonard Cohen, and his version charted at the same time, and Jeff Buckley’s cover reached No 2, just being held off by Alexandra. Three versions of the same song were in the chart at once, something not seen since the 1950s.
2012 – ‘Gangnam Style’ by South Korean musician Psy became the first YouTube video to reach a billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped the music charts of more than 30 countries.
2014 – Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish formally converted their civil partnership to a marriage hosting a ceremony at their Windsor estate in Berkshire. David and Victoria Beckham, Ed Sheeran, Lulu and actor David Walliams were among the guests.
Today in history
1118 – The birth, in London’s Cheapside, of Thomas à Becket, Lord Chancellor of England, Archbishop of Canterbury and martyr.
1620 – The Pilgrim Fathers arrived at Plymouth Rock , Massachusetts aboard The Mayflower. Passengers & crew increased to 103 after 2 births on the voyage from Plymouth, England. They had originally set sail from Southampton on 5th August but were beset with problems.
1804 – The birth of Benjamin Disraeli, first Earl of Beaconsfield and British Prime Minister. He became the first Conservative Prime Minister in 1868, but was defeated at the next election. He was Prime Minister again in 1874 with a substantial majority.
1842 – Pentonville Prison, Islington, was opened. Pentonville became the model for British prisons. A further 54 were built to the same design over six years, and hundreds more were built throughout the British Empire.
1898 – French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium. In the course of their research, they also coined the word “radioactivity”. To prove their discoveries beyond any doubt, the Curies sought to isolate polonium and radium in pure form.
Fact of the day
The idea of a white Christmas comes from Dickens’ works. Dickens lived during a mini-ice age which meant every Christmas it snowed for 8 years straight.