December 9th "2023" daily prep
Welcome to day 343 of the year! Known as Christmas Card Day, International Anti-Corruption Day, International day of Veterinary Medicine, National Pastry Day and World Techno Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of March 18th. Your star sign is “Sagittarius” and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
2012 – The death of the British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore, aged 89. He was the presenter of the BBC’s Sky At Night for over 50 years, from its first airing on 24th April 1957.
Todays birthdays
1935 – Judi Dench (89), English actress (The Chronicles of Riddick, Skyfall, Casino Royale). Widely considered one of Britain’s greatest actresses, born in Heworth, York.
1950 – Joan Armatrading (73), Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (“Love and Affection”), born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
1953 – John Malkovich (70), American actor (Con Air, Ripley’s Game, RED), born in Christopher, Illinois, United States.
1957 – Donny Osmond (66), American singer (“Puppy Love”), dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol, born in Ogden, Utah, United States.
1977 – Imogen Heap (46), British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer (“Speeding Cars”, “The Happy Song”), born in Romford, East London.
The day today
1960 – The first episode of Coronation Street was screened on ITV. It is the world’s longest-running television soap opera. A closing date for conducted tours of 31st December 2015 has been confirmed as the site has been sold for redevelopment.
1987 – England’s cricket tour in Pakistan hung in the balance as a row erupted between captain Mike Gatting and the umpire Shakoor Rana who accused Gatting of cheating.
1996 – Horrett Campbell, 33, a paranoid schizophrenic who attacked three children and four women with a machete at an infant school teddy bears’ picnic in July was found guilty of seven counts of attempted murder. The court was told that Campbell had imagined he heard the children at St Luke’s infants school, in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, taunting him when he walked past the playground.
2012 – The death of the British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore, aged 89. He was the presenter of the BBC’s Sky At Night for over 50 years, from its first airing on 24th April 1957, making him the longest-running host ever of the same television show.
2019 – The World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from all major sporting events including the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar for manipulating laboratory data.
Today in music
1978 – Boney M had their second UK No.1 single with their version of the Harry Belafonte 1957 hit ‘Mary’s Boy Child’. On the list of the all-time best selling singles in the UK, Boney M. appear in fifth place (with ‘Rivers of Babylon’) and tenth place (with ‘Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord’). The single sold almost 1.8 million copies.
1995 – Michael Jackson scored his 6th solo UK No.1 single when ‘Earth Song’ started a 6-week run at the top of the charts. It gave Jackson the UK Christmas No.1 of 1995 and his best-selling UK single ever. The song kept the first single released by The Beatles in 25 years, ‘Free as a Bird’, off the No.1 position.
2001 – Channel 4 TV apologised to viewers after Madonna said ‘motherfucker’ during live UK TV coverage at The Tate Gallery, London. Madonna was presenting a prize to artist Martin Creed. A TV spokesman said that they did have a bleeper system but they missed the offending word. On the same day…. Winners at The Smash Hits awards included Atomic Kitten, Best single for ‘Whole Again’, Westlife won Best band and Best album for ‘World Of Our Own’, and Blue won Best newcomer, Steps won Best live act, Shaggy won Best male act, Britney Spears won Best Female Act, Destiny’s Child won Best R&B act, S Club 7’s Rachel Stevens won Most Fanciable Female and Best Video went to Gorillaz, ‘Clint Eastwood.’
2005 – Joss Stone, Lemar and Ms. Dynamite backed by the African Children’s Choir and 1,200 school children set a new world record for the most children singing simultaneously. The ‘Big Sing’ was held at The Royal Albert Hall, London. The singers led a performance of ‘Lean On Me’ which was broadcast to more than half a million people.
2016 – The Rolling Stones topped the UK chart with their latest album Blue & Lonesome, the bands first original studio album to reach No.1 for 22 years and the 12th album by The Rolling Stones to reach the top of the charts.
Today in history
1608 – The birthday of John Milton, English poet, in Cheapside, London. His works included Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.
1783 – The first executions took place at Newgate Prison. Prior to this, public executions were carried out at Tyburn gallows, which involved carting the prisoners from Newgate Prison through the crowded streets.
1854 – Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem, Charge of the Light Brigade was published. The Charge of the Light Brigade had been led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25th October 1854 in the Crimean War. The poem emphasized the valour of the cavalry in carrying out their orders, even though they knew that blunders had been made by those in command. Quote from the poem – ‘Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.’
1868 – The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
1917 – Jerusalem surrenders to British troops. Turkish troops move out of the region after only a single days fighting, officials of the Holy City of Jerusalem offer the keys to the city to encroaching British troops. The British, led by General Edmund Allenby, who had arrived from the Western Front the previous June to take over the command in Egypt, entered the Holy City two days later under strict instructions from London on how not to appear disrespectful to the city, its people, or its traditions.
Fact of the day
The tradition of Christmas trees goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, who decorated with evergreens during the winter solstice to signify that spring would return. Evergreens reminded them of all the green plants that were to grow once the sun returned.