December 25th "2023" daily prep
Welcome to day 359 of the year! Known as Christmas Day and National Pumpkin Pie Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of April 3rd. Your star sign is “Capricorn” and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
2021 – The James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the Guiana Space Center. Jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the telescope is the most advanced infrared telescope ever built.
Todays birthdays
1954 – Annie Lennox (69), Scottish singer-songwriter (Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams”, “Walking on Broken Glass”), born in Aberdeen.
1957 – Chris Kamara (66), English former professional football player (Leeds United, Sheffield United) and football analyst at Sky Sports (1992 to 2022), born in Middlesbrough.
1971 – Dido [Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong] (52), English singer and songwriter (“Thank You”, “White Flag”, “Here With Me”), born in Kensington, London.
1975 – Marcus Trescothick (48), English former cricketer (England – 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals, Somerset), born in Keynsham, Somerset.
1987 – Jorgie Porter (36), English actress and model known for her role as Theresa McQueen in Hollyoaks from 2008 until 2016 and again in 2020, born in Trafford, Greater Manchester.
The day today
1914 – The Christmas truce between British and German troops continued. At 2 a.m. a German band went along the trenches playing Home Sweet Home and God Save the King.
1932 – King George V made the first Royal Christmas broadcast to the Empire. Queen Elizabeth II made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952, and her first television Christmas message was broadcast in 1957.
1950 – The Stone of Scone, the Scottish coronation stone which had been in Westminster Abbey for 650 years was stolen by Scottish nationalists. The Stone, weighing 458lb (208kg) was said to have been taken from Scotland by Edward I.
2003 – Scientists failed to make contact with the British built Mars probe Beagle 2, which should have landed on the Red Planet ‘on this day’. Beagle 2 was named after HMS Beagle, which twice carried Charles Darwin during expeditions which would later lead to the theory of natural selection. Beagle 2 was officially declared lost on 6th February 2004.
2013 – Earlier storms across southern England, stretching through Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, led to extensive power cuts, with around 50,000 homes remaining without power through the Christmas period. Southern Electric said that it would guarantee a £75 payment for any customer who was without electricity for any time on Christmas Day.
Today in music
1954 – Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ entered the Billboard Pop chart for the eleventh time. Bing’s rendition has sold over 100 million copies around the world, with at least 50 million sales as singles. It was the largest selling single in music history until it was surpassed by Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’.
1981 – Michael Jackson phoned Paul McCartney and suggested they write and record together, the first result being ‘The Girl Is Mine’. The song was a US No.2 & UK No.8 in 1982.
1982 – David Bowie had a No.3 UK hit with a duet with Bing Crosby, ‘Peace On Earth – Little Drummer Boy.’ The single became one of Bowie’s best selling in his career, with total estimated sales over 400,000 in the UK alone. The Christmas song was written in 1941, while the ‘Peace on Earth’ tune and lyrics, written by Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, were added to the song specially for Bowie and Crosby’s recording.
2014 – Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK album chart with x, (pronounced “multiply”). In 2015, x won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year, and at the 57th Grammy Awards it was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. Spotify named x the most-streamed album in the world for 2014, racking up more than 430 million streams for the year.
2016 – George Michael died at his home aged 53. Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT. The singer who launched his career with Wham in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, was said to have “passed away peacefully at home”. Up to the time of his death, Michael sold more than 115 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Today in history
440 AD – Church leaders agreed to fix the date of the birth of Christ. Previously some people had celebrated it in May, others in January.
1066 – William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England, was crowned at Westminster Abbey. To press his claim to the English crown, William had invaded England in October 1066, leading his army to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.
1800 – The first Christmas tree in Britain was erected at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor by the German-born Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. She brought the idea over from Germany where the first reports of Christmas trees go back to 1521.
1864 – The traditional swim in the ice-cold Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park was initiated. The Serpentine, in Hyde Park, was formed in 1730-1733. Queen Caroline wife of George 2nd had the idea of providing an ornamental lake to further enhance the park’s beauty.
1865 – Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army was born, in South Hackney, London, She was the seventh of eight children born to William Booth and Catherine Mumford, who had earlier in the year founded The Christian Mission, which became the Salvation Army in 1878.
Fact of the day
According to tradition, you should eat one mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas to bring good luck but it’s technically illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day in England. In the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas pudding, mince pies and anything to do with gluttony. The law has never been rescinded.