February 2nd "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 33, known as National Ukulele Day, Hedgehog Day, Yorkshire Pudding Day. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1901 – Queen Victoria State Funeral in St. George’s Chapel. After the funeral her coffin lay-in-state in The Albert Memorial Chapel for two days and was then taken to The Mausoleum by The Royal Horse Artillery.
Todays birthdays
1940 – David Jason (85), English actor (Only Fools and Horses, Open All Hours, A Touch of Frost, The Darling Buds of May), born in Edmonton, London.
1949 – Duncan Bannatyne (76), Scottish entrepreneur (Bannatyne Health Club & Spa), born in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
1977 – Shakira (48), Colombian singer and songwriter (“Hips Don’t Lie”, “Whenever, Wherever”), born in Barranquilla, Colombia.
1981 – Gemma Collins (44), English media personality (The Only Way Is Essex) and businesswoman, born in Romford, East London.
1986 – Gemma Arterton (39), English actress (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Quantum of Solace, St. Trinian’s), born in Gravesend, Kent.
Famous deaths
2017 – Gorden Kaye (b. 1941), English actor best known for his role as René Artois in the British sitcom television series, ‘Allo ‘Allo!
The day today
1935 – A polygraph test was conducted by its inventor, Leonarde Keeler, for the first time. While Keeler had already tested his invention out, this was the first time he used it to aid a criminal investigation. The two suspects who were tested later declared themselves guilty based on the evidence from the lie detector test.
1969 – Yoko Ono divorces Tony Cox and is granted custody of their daughter Kyoko, although Cox disappears abroad with the child. On the same day, horror legend Boris Karloff (William Pratt) dies aged 81.
1976 – The Queen opened the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham. It is the largest and busiest exhibition centre in the UK and the seventh largest in Europe.
1999 – Glenn Hoddle was sacked as England’s football coach after his comments that disabled people were reaping the punishment for something done in a previous life.
2015 – Bristol became the first city in the UK to ban smoking in some outdoor public places and Millennium Square and Anchor Square became no smoking zones. The project, by Smokefree South West, was inspired by 33-year-old mother Kirsty Vass, who was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease a year previously.
Today in music
1976 – Genesis released ‘A Trick Of The Tail’, their seventh studio album and the first to feature drummer Phil Collins as full-time lead vocalist following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. After auditioning over 400 vocalists, which saw Collins teaching the potential lead singers the songs, the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.
1980 – The Specials were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Special A.K.A. Live E.P’. The lead track ‘Too Much Too Young’ was the shortest song to reach No.1 on the UK singles chart in the 1980s at 2m 04s.
2003 – Russian girl duo t.A.T.u. started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘All The Things She Said’. The song had been a hit on the Russian charts three years earlier. t.A.T.u. were the first Russian act to score a UK No 1.
2008 – The Spice Girls cut short their reunion world tour, blaming “family and personal commitments”. The band said they would end their tour in Toronto on 26 February, with planned shows in Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires being axed. A spokesman for the group said: “Sadly, the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments.”
2021 – Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label following claims by actress Evan Rachel Wood that she was “horrifically abused” by the musician. Loma Vista Recordings said it would no longer be working with Manson and would cease promoting his latest album “effective immediately”. Manson denied the allegations, saying they are “horrible distortions of reality”.
Today in history
1141 – The First Battle of Lincoln, during a 19 year period of conflict for the throne, between King Stephen and his cousin Empress Matilda. Prior to the battle, Stephen attended mass at the cathedral carrying a lighted candle, but the flame went out and the candle broke, which was considered a bad omen. After fierce fighting in the city’s streets, the King was defeated, captured and imprisoned. After his release (1st November) he was restored to the throne and the fighting continued as before.
1461 – The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, near Wigmore in Herefordshire. It was part of the Wars of the Roses, with the Yorkists being the victors. The victory paved the way for Edward’s crowning later in the year.
1650 – The birth of Nell (Eleanor) Gwynne, former orange seller at Drury Lane Theatre, who became a comedy actress and later mistress of Charles II, by whom she had two sons.
1665 – British forces captured New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in North America. The trading settlement on the island of Manhattan was renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new governor.
1901 – The state funeral of Queen Victoria. At the time of her death, her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history. (On 9th September 2015 Queen Elizabeth II overtook Queen Victoria as the longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.)