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 340 of the year.

Saturday, December 6th Daily Prep.

Today is National Pawnbrokers Day, National Microwave Oven Day and Saint Nicholas Day. Your star sign is Sagittarius and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
2017 – Scientists discovered the most distant supermassive black hole. It’s estimated to be 13 billion light-years away and 800 million times the mass of our Sun.
Scientists discovered the most distant supermassive black hole. It’s estimated to be 13 billion light-years away and 800 million times the mass of our Sun.
Today’s birthdays
1955 – Edward Tudor-Pole (70), English musician (Tenpole Tudor), television presenter (The Crystal Maze from 1993-1995) and actor, born in Lambeth, London.
1958 – Nick Park (67), English filmmaker, animator and the creator of Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, born in Preston, Lancashire.
1962 – Ben Watt (63), English musician, singer, songwriter, DJ, and radio presenter, best known as a member of the duo Everything but the Girl (“Missing”), born in Marylebone, London.
1975 – Noel Clarke (50), English actor, producer, screenwriter and director (Kidulthood, Adulthood, Brotherhood), born in London.
1977 – Andrew Flintoff (48), English television and radio presenter, former international cricketer and coach for the England cricket squad, born in Preston, Lancashire.
Famous deaths
1988 – Roy Orbison (b. 1936), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist (“Oh, Pretty Woman”, “You Got It”).
The day today
1916 – David Lloyd George became Prime Minister following the resignation of Herbert Henry Asquith. He was appointed to lead during World War I and his premiership lasted until 1922 and he is the first and only Welshman to have held the office of Prime Minister.
1917 – Finland declared itself independent of Russia, following the Bolshevik Revolution.
1921 – Irish independence was granted for the 26 southern states that became known as the Irish Free State. Six counties which formed Ulster (Northern Ireland) remained as part of the UK which are Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone.

1975 – The Balcombe Street siege in Central London was watched by millions on television. It ended when the four IRA gunmen, who had taken a couple hostage following a gun battle and chase, finally gave themselves up without a shot being fired.

1983 – Surgeons successfully completed the first heart and lung transplant operation to be performed in Britain. Swedish journalist, Lars Ljungberg underwent the transplant, receiving the organs of a woman from the south of England who had died the previous day.
1990 – Saddam Hussein announced the unconditional release of all remaining foreign hostages prior to the start of the 1991 Gulf War.
1994 – Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for a Canadian company, Canuk Explorations, to conduct exploratory oil drilling on Crown Estate land in Home Park, near Windsor Castle. While the company received the Queen’s consent, the final approval from Berkshire County Council was still pending, and there was significant local opposition to the plan. The project was later abandoned when the company’s license was not renewed.
2012 – The SA Agulhas set off from London on the start of the world’s first ever attempt to cross the Antarctic in winter. On 25th February 2013, Sir Ranulph Fiennes had to pull out of the expedition due to frostbite. On 18th June 2013, after encountering a crevasse field extending up to 60 miles, with temperatures close to -90c and operating in near permanent darkness the team officially halted its mission and decided to focus only on scientific experiments.
2017 – Scientists discovered the most distant supermassive black hole. It’s estimated to be 13 billion light-years away and 800 million times the mass of our Sun.
2018 – The discovery of the oldest-known plague sample, found in 4,900-year-old remains of a 20-year-old woman in Gökhem, southern Sweden, was published in the journal “Cell”. This ancient strain of Yersinia pestis, the plague-causing bacterium, provides insights into the early history and spread of the disease.
2022 – Released thirteen years after Avatar, James Cameron’s sci-fi film sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” starring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet and Zoe Saldaña premieres at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London.
Today in music
1964 – The film ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ premiered in London. Featuring Gerry And The Pacemakers, Cilla Black and other Liverpool acts. It was written by Tony Warren, creator of the UK’s longest running TV soap ‘Coronation Street’.
1966 – The Beatles recorded Christmas and New Year’s greetings for pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. Both stations were broadcasting from ships anchored off the British coastline.
1969 – Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart with ‘Whole Lotta Love’, it went on to make No.4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US. During the bands career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the UK.
1986 – Europe were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Final Countdown’. They became only the second Swedish act to score a UK No.1. The song reached No.1 in 25 countries and the song’s lyrics were inspired by David Bowie’s song ‘Space Oddity’
1988 – American singer songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack aged 52. Scored the 1964 UK & US No.1 single ‘Pretty Woman’, plus over 20 US & 30 UK Top 40 singles including ‘Only the Lonely’ and ‘Crying’.
2008 – Beyonce went to No.2 on the UK album chart with ‘I Am’ Sasha Fierce’, the singers third studio album. It debuted at No.1 (US), making Knowles the third female artist that decade after Britney Spears and Alicia Keys to have her first three albums debut in the top spot.
2018 – English singer, songwriter and guitarist Pete Shelley died of a suspected heart attack aged 63. He formed the new wave/punk rock band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976.
2019 – Robbie Williams became the joint most successful solo act in UK album chart history after scoring his 13th No.1, with The Christmas Present – level with Elvis Presley. The Beatles hold the overall record with 15 UK No.1 albums.
2023 – Taylor Swift capped off a stellar 2023 by being named Time Magazine’s Person of the year. The star, whose Eras tour broke box office records and provoked an inquiry into Ticketmaster’s sales practices, follows the likes of Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Today in history
1421 – Henry VI, who was the youngest King of England to accede the throne (at 296 days), was born. He succeeded to the throne on his father’s death in August 1422, when he was only nine months old.
1732 – The birth of Warren Hastings, first Governor General of Bengal who established the foundations of British administration in India. He was impeached for corruption on his return to England in 1785, but was later acquitted.
1735 – Dr. Claudius Amyand performed the world’s first successful appendectomy, at St. George’s Hospital in London. The patient was an 11-year old boy whose appendix had become perforated by a pin he had swallowed.
1745 – Charles Edward Stewart (commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender) and his army began their retreat from Derby during the second Jacobite Rising.
1786 – The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was published, in Edinburgh. It was initially sold in 100 weekly parts, or numbers, which were then bound into three volumes.