February 25th "2024" daily prep
Welcome to day 56, known as Chocolate Covered Nut Day and Let’s All Eat Right Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of June 4th in the previous year. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1939 – The first Anderson air raid shelters appeared. Between then and the outbreak of the war in September, around 1.5 million shelters were distributed to people living in areas expected to be bombed by the Luftwaffe. During the war a further 2.1 million were erected.
Todays birthdays
1964 – Lee Evans (60), English stand-up comedian (Big Live At The O2) and actor (The Fifth Element, There’s Something About Mary), born in Avonmouth, Bristol.
1967 – Ed Balls (57), British broadcaster, economist and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to 2015, born in Norwich.
1971 – Daniel Powter (53), Canadian musician (“Bad Day”), born in Vernon, Canada.
1971 – Sean Astin (53), American actor (Mikey in “The Goonies”, Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings trilogy”), born in Santa Monica, California, United States.
1986 – Jameela Jamil (38), British actress (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Love at First Sight), activist, podcaster, and television host and judge, born in Hampstead, London.
Famous deaths
1723 – Christopher Wren (b. 1632), English architect (designer of St Pauls Cathedral), astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England.
1852 – Thomas Moore (b. 1779), Irish poet and lyricist (“The Minstrel Boy” and “The Last Rose of Summer”).
2005 – Peter Benenson (b. 1921), English lawyer, founder of Amnesty International.
The day today
1939 – The first Anderson air raid shelters appeared. Between then and the outbreak of the war in September, around 1.5 million shelters were distributed to people living in areas expected to be bombed by the Luftwaffe. During the war a further 2.1 million were erected.
1953 – An inquest heard that the Princess Victoria, a ferry which sank off Belfast drowning 133 people had met ‘a howling gale and an horrific rolling sea that attacked the ship from all sides.’ When the decision was made to turn back towards Stranraer a huge wave forced open the stern doors on the car deck, buckling them in the process and flooding the car deck which caused the ship to roll over and sink.
1955 – Britain’s largest ever aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal, was completed. She was the fourth ship of that name to have served the Crown.
1978 – Princess Margaret and her friend, Roddy Llewellyn, left for a holiday on the romantic island of Mustique. On 10th May an announcement was made that the Princess intended to divorce Lord Snowdon after two years’ separation. A few days later, Roddy said that he had no plans to marry the Princess.
1982 – The European Court of Human Rights ruled that corporal punishment in schools (if it was against the parents’ wishes) was a violation of the Human Rights Convention.
Today in music
1984 – ‘Jump’, by Van Halen started a five-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart, (a No.7 hit in the UK). Singer David Lee Roth wrote the lyrics after seeing a television news report about a man who was threatening to commit suicide by jumping off a high building. Roth thought that one of the onlookers of such a scene would probably shout “go ahead and jump”.
1989 – Simple Minds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Belfast Child.’ The song uses the music from the Irish folk song ‘She Moved Through the Fair’, but has completely different words. At 6 minutes 39 seconds it became the second-longest running No.1 after The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’.
2009 – Winners at the 2009 NME Awards, held at London’s O2 Academy included Oasis who won best British band, Elbow won the outstanding contribution to British music award. The Killers won best international band and Kings of Leon won best album for “Only by the Night” and The Cure won the godlike genius award.
2015 – On what would have been George Harrison’s 72nd birthday, a new tree was planted in his memory in Griffith Park Los Angeles to replace one that was earlier killed (ironically) by a beetle infestation. This new yew tree had been chosen to replace the original, as it was far less susceptible to insects.
2017 – British singer and songwriter Rag’n’Bone Man was at number one on the UK album chart with his debut studio album Human, which became the fastest-selling debut album by a male artist during the 2010s. The album also reached number one in Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland.
Today in history
1570 – Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by Pope Pius V. He declared her a usurper for her severe persecution of Roman Catholics in England. It was the last such judgment made against a reigning monarch by any pope.
1765 – The birth of Jean Armour, wife of the poet Robert Burns. They had nine children, three of whom survived into adulthood. She was buried beside her famous husband in the mausoleum in Saint Michael’s Cemetery, Dumfries.
1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.
1897 – The birth of Peter Llewelyn Davies, the namesake of Peter Pan. The author, J. M. Barrie publicly identified him as the source of the name for the title character in his famous play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. This identification as ‘the original Peter Pan’ plagued Davies throughout his life.
1913 – English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst went on trial for a bomb attack on the home of David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer.