On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 59 of the year.

Saturday, February 28th

Today is National Tooth Fairy Day, Chocolate Soufflé Day and Global Scouse Day. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
Today’s birthdays
1947 – Stephanie Beacham (79), English actress with a career spanning 60 years (Dynasty, seaQuest DSV, Bad Girls), born in Barnet, North London.
1957 – Cynthia Wilson (69), American musician, singer, songwriter and a founding member of new wave rock band the B-52s (“Love Shack”), born in Athens, Georgia, United States.

1957 – Ian Stanley (69), English musician, songwriter, record producer and member of Tears for Fears (“Everybody Wants to Rule the World”), born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

1957 – Ainsley Harriott (69), English chef and television presenter (Ready Steady Cook, Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook), born in Paddington, London.
1961 – Barry McGuigan (65), Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer (WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 to 1986), born in Clones, Ireland.
1970 – Daniel Handler (56), American author under the pen name Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket), born in San Francisco, California, United States.
1974 – Amanda Abbington (52), English actress (Cuffs, Doc Martin, Sherlock, Mr Selfridge), born in North London.
1994 – Jake Bugg (32), English singer-songwriter (“Lightning Bolt”), born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.
Famous deaths
1998 – Dermot Morgan (b. 1952), Irish comedian and actor, best known for his role as Father Ted Crilly on the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.
2016 – Frank Kelly (b. 1938), Irish actor best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.

2021 – Johnny Briggs (b. 1935), English actor best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006.

The day today
1922 – The United Kingdom unilaterally ended its protectorate over Egypt, issuing a declaration that recognized Egypt as an independent sovereign state. This move abolished martial law but reserved four critical areas for British discretion, maintaining significant control over Egypt’s foreign policy, defense, and imperial communications.

1925 – The birth of the actor Harry H. Corbett. In the early 1950s, he added the initial “H” to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, who was known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty. A chance meeting with writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who had been successful with Hancock’s Half Hour, changed Corbett’s life. He is best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son. Early in his career he was dubbed ‘the English Marlon Brando’ by some sections of the British press.

1931 – Having left the Labour Party, Sir Oswald Mosley formed the “New Party” which he said was dedicated to turning parliament “from a talk-shop into a workshop”. The party later evolved into the British Union of Fascists.
1974 – The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote. It was the first ‘hung parliament’ since 1929. Although Labour won fewer votes than the Conservatives, Labour won more seats, 301 as opposed to 297. The Liberals won 14 seats but secured 19% of the national vote.
1975 – At 8.37 am in the London rush hour, a Northern Line underground train crashed through the buffers at Moorgate station and hit a solid dead-end wall, killing 41 people and seriously injuring 50. The rescue operation took three days to complete.
1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.
1984 – Spitting Image, the iconic British satirical puppet show, premiered on ITV. It featured grotesque puppet caricatures of contemporary politicians, royalty, and celebrities, breaking new ground in British Sunday night television. At its height, the show was watched by 15 million people.
1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.
1988 – The XV Winter Olympic Games close in Calgary, Canada with the Soviet Union topping the overall medal table (29), followed by East Germany (25) and Switzerland (15). Great Britain failed to reach the podium.
1988 – British television programme “That’s Life!” surprises guest Nicholas Winton with an audience full of grown-up children that he saved from German-occupied Czechoslovakia, bringing them to safety in the UK.
1997 – The FDA in the US started requiring that those purchasing cigarettes under the age of 27 must provide ID to prove they are over 18.
2001 – A GNER train from York to London King’s Cross crashed at Great Heck between Goole and Selby, North Yorkshire, on the East Coast main line. Gary Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover and plunged 40ft down the railway embankment from the M62 into the path of an express train. The 4.45am Great North Eastern Intercity service from Newcastle to London King’s Cross ploughed into the Land Rover before colliding with a coal train travelling north. 10 people, including both train drivers, died and more than 70 were injured.
2001 – A clean-up operation got under way after a suspected arson fire at Coventry Cathedral the previous day. Insurance experts started assessing the damage to the Cathedral’s priceless artefacts, including this famous tapestry ‘Christ the King’, by Graham Sutherland.
2010 – The XXI Winter Olympic Games close in Vancouver, Canada. Canada set a record for the most gold medals (14) by a host nation with Germany coming second (10) and USA in third (9). Great Britain’s only medal (Gold) came from Amy Williams in the Women’s Skeleton.
2012 – The largest prehistoric penguin was discovered. The penguin species Kairuku grebneffi was discovered from a 27 million-year-old fossil, which showed the penguin to weigh around 132 lbs (60 kg) and stood at nearly 5ft tall (1.5 meters).
2023 – The FBI publicly confirmed that they believed COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, China. China has consistently and angrily denied the lab leak theory, labeling the claims as politically motivated and without scientific basis.
Today in music
1963 – Patsy Cline made the final television appearance of her career when she appeared on The Glenn Reeves Show singing “San Antonio Rose” and “I Fall To Pieces”. She died tragically in a plane crash just five days later at the age of 30.
1966 – Police were called after over a 100 music fans barricaded themselves inside Liverpool’s Cavern Club to protest at the clubs closure. The Beatles made a total of 292 appearances at The Cavern Club, their final performance at the club was on 3 August 1963.

1970 – Simon and Garfunkel started a six week run at the top of the US singles chart with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, also No.1 in the UK in March the same year. It became one of the most performed songs of the twentieth century, with over 50 artists, among them Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, covering the song.

1970 – In an interview with the New Musical Express, Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green talked about his plans to give all his money away. The following year Green confronted his accountant with a gun after he sent him an unwanted royalty check. The guitarist went to jail briefly before being transferred to an asylum and was committed to a mental hospital in 1973. He re-launched his career in the 90s.
1984 – Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy awards including: Album of the year for Thriller; Record of the year and Best rock vocal performance for ‘Beat It’; Best pop vocal performance, Best R&B performance and Best R&B song for ‘Billie Jean’, and Best Recording For Children for E.T The Extra Terrestrial.
1985 – David Byron, singer with Uriah Heep died from an epileptic fit and liver disease aged 38. Byron was the original singer of the English band between 1969 and 1976 and gained a reputation with his operatic vocals and harmonies as one of the best rock vocalists and frontmen in the world.
1986 – George Michael announced that Wham! would officially split during the summer. Wham became one of the most successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more than 30 million records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. The singles ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, ‘Everything She Wants’ and ‘Careless Whisper’, all topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US.
1994 – Eric Clapton played his 100th performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which was in aid of the ‘Children In Crisis’, charity. A young Clapton first graced the Royal Albert Hall’s famous stage on 7 December 1964 with The Yardbirds as part of a BBC Two Top Beat concert.
1996 – Grammy award winners included Alanis Morissette who won album of the year for Jagged Little Pill, best female rock vocal & best song for ‘You Oughta Know’, Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged won best alternative album and Coolio best rap performance with ‘Gangsta’s Paradise.’
2005 – Chris Curtis, drummer with The Searchers died aged 63 after a long illness. The searchers scored the 1964 UK No.1 single ‘Needles And Pins’, and the 1964 US No.3 single ‘Love Potion Number Nine’.
2008 – Arctic Monkeys won three prizes, including best British band at this year’s NME Awards held at the O2 in London. The band’s single ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ won them best track and they won best video for ‘Teddy Picker’. Best album went to Klaxons for Myths of the Near Future while Kate Nash won best solo artist. Muse were presented with the best live band award and US group The Killers took best international act. The Manic Street Preachers, who performed at the ceremony, were awarded the NME’s Godlike Genius honour and Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty was voted hero of the year. Britney Spears’s Blackout was voted worst album and The Hoosiers were named worst band.
2008 – Boy George pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning a male escort by chaining him to a wall. The singer and DJ was also accused of assaulting Audun Carlsen during the alleged incident on 28 April 2007. He was released on bail until a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in November.
2016 – Adele was at No.1 on the UK and US album chart with her third studio album 25. The album was a massive commercial success, debuting at No.1 in more than 25 markets. 25 received the BRIT Award for British Album of the Year and also won the 2017 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album.
Today in history
1155 – The birth of “Henry the Young King”, the eldest surviving son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was the only English king since the Norman Conquest to be crowned (aged 15) during his father’s reign. Henry was a titular ruler, meaning that he had an official position of leadership but few, if any, actual powers. He died, aged just 28, six years before his father, leaving his brother Richard I to become the next king.
1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh. The Covenant opposed changes to the Church of Scotland, and committed its signatories to stand together in the defence of the nation’s religion.
1667 – English colony Suriname comes under Dutch control. Suriname, which bordered Berbice to the east, was seized by Dutch forces from England during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-67). It remained in Dutch possession until 1975, when it became an independent country.
1784 – John Wesley signed the deed of declaration which established the Wesleyan faith. It has been called the Magna Carta of Methodism.
1874 – Arthur Orton, who claimed to be the long lost heir to the wealthy Tichborne estate in Hampshire, was found guilty of perjury after a trial of 260 days, the longest trial in England. He was sentenced to 14 years’ hard labour, as the real Sir Roger Tichborne had perished at sea in 1853.
1888 – In a Belfast street, a small boy named Johnny Dunlop was riding his tricycle under the supervision of his father. The two rear wheels of the tricycle were the world’s first pneumatic tyres and he was testing them. The test was so successful that his father was granted patent number 10607 on 23rd July.
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