On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 35 of the year.

Wednesday, February 4th

Today is Homemade Soup Day, Stuffed Mushroom Day, Facebook’s Birthday, National Wicker Day and World Cancer Day. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1911 – Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead “The Spirit of Ecstasy” using Lord Montague’s mistress, Eleanor Thornton, as his model.
Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead "The Spirit of Ecstasy" using Lord Montague’s mistress, Eleanor Thornton, as his model.
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.
Today’s birthdays
1948 – Alice Cooper (78), American rock singer known as “The Godfather of Shock Rock” (“Poison”, “School’s Out”), born in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
1960 – Tim Booth (66), English singer-songwriter and co-founder of the indie rock band, James (“Sit Down”), born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
1972 – Dara Ó Briain (54), Irish comedian and television presenter (Mock the Week, Go 8 Bit), born in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.
1975 – Natalie Imbruglia (51), Australian singer (“Torn”, “Wrong Impression”) and actress (Neighbours, Johnny English), born in Sydney, Australia.
1982 – Kimberly Wyatt (44), American singer and former dancer with The Pussycat Dolls (“Don’t Cha”, “Buttons”), born in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States.
Famous deaths
1983 – Karen Carpenter (b. 1950), American musician who was the lead vocalist and drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters (“Top of the World”).
The day today
1911 – Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead “The Spirit of Ecstasy” (originally called the “Spirit of Speed”) by Charles Sykes. He used Lord Montague’s mistress, Eleanor Thornton, as his model. 60 years later to the day, Rolls-Royce was declared bankrupt due to a disastrous contract to supply aero engines to Lockheed. The British government came to its rescue.
1915 – Norman Wisdom, actor & star of many comedy films, was born. In 1995 he was given the Freedom of the City of London and also Tirana in Albania where the population were devoted to him and referred to him as ‘Pitkin’. He received an OBE in the same year and was knighted in 2000. He retired from acting at the age of 90 after his health deteriorated and died in October 2010.
1927 – Malcolm Campbell reached 174.88 mph in Bluebird on Pendine Sands, a 7 mile stretch of beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales in south Wales, to set a new land speed record. A year later in 1928 at Daytona Beach, Florida, he reached 206.35 mph. Four years and one day later, in 1931, he reached a record-breaking 245 mph, again at Daytona Beach.
1932 – The III Olympic Winter Games opened in Lake Placid, New York. Officially opened by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, these were the first Winter Games held outside Europe and featured 17 nations and 252 athletes competing in 14 events.
1938 – Adolf Hitler appointed himself as the head of the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW). Hitler announced: “From henceforth I exercise personally the immediate command over the whole armed forces”.
1962 – The Sunday Times launched the first colour newspaper supplement in Britain, known as The Sunday Times Colour Section. This innovation broke the mold of weekend publishing, featuring high-quality photography, in-depth journalism, and, initially, content on fashion, travel, and lifestyle.

1968 – The world’s largest hovercraft, weighing 165 tonnes, was launched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The Hovertravel service from the mainland to the Isle of Wight is the world’s longest running commercial hovercraft service and is now the only scheduled passenger hovercraft service in Europe.

1974 – Shortly after midnight, on the M62 motorway, between Junctions 26 and 27, near Hartshead Moor Services in West Yorkshire, a Provisional IRA bomb exploded in a coach carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel and their family members from Manchester to Catterick Garrison. Twelve people (nine soldiers and three civilians, including children aged 5 and 2) were killed.
1998 – In Brussels, Belgium, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was hit in the face with several cream pies while entering a building to meet with 18 EU officials. The attack was led by Noël Godin, a Belgian author known as “l’entarteur” (the pie-thrower), who targeted Gates to protest the “capitalist status quo”.
2002 – Cancer Research UK was founded. It is the world’s largest independent cancer research charity.
2004 – Mark Zuckerberg, along with co-founders Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, launched the social networking website Facebook whilst attending Harvard University. Originally named “Thefacebook” and aimed at college students, it quickly expanded, becoming the world’s largest social network, eventually rebranding as Meta in 2021.
2008 – The London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) scheme began to operate, with hefty fines for the owners of polluting vehicles.
2012 – Florence Green, the last surviving veteran of the First World War from any country, died at 110 in Norfolk shortly before her 111th birthday. Joining the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) in 1918 at age 17, she served as a mess steward at RAF Marham and Narborough. Her status as the last known WWI veteran was discovered in 2010 by a researcher reviewing National Archives records.
2013 – A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park in August 2012 was confirmed as that of King Richard III. He was the last king of the House of York and died in 1485.
2014 – Same-sex marriage became legal in Scotland following the passing of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act by the Scottish Parliament. The law allows same-sex couples to marry in both civil and religious ceremonies, with the first marriages taking place on December 31, 2014.
2020 – Surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York successfully performed the world’s first successful face and double hand transplant on 22-year-old Joe DiMeo, who suffered severe third-degree burns. The 23-hour, high-risk procedure involved over 140 staff and replaced his face, eyebrows, eyelids, ears, and both hands/forearms from a single donor.
2022 – The XXIV Olympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022, officially opened in Beijing, China with the ceremony held at the National Stadium. President Xi Jinping declared the Games open, making Beijing the first city to host both the Summer (2008) and Winter Olympics.
Today in music
1965 – The Righteous Brothers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Phil Spector song ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Also a US No.1 at the same time. In 1999 the PRS announced that it was the most played song of the 20th Century.
1966 – The Rolling Stones released ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ it reached No.2 on both the US and UK charts, while topping the NME charts and was the fifth best-selling single of 1966 in the UK.

1977 – Fleetwood Mac released Rumours. The songs ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Dreams’, and ‘You Make Loving Fun’ were released as singles. Rumours is Fleetwood Mac’s most successful release; along with winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978, the record has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

1978 – ‘Up Town Ranking’ by Althia and Donna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. It was the Jamaican duo’s only hit, making the teenagers One Hit Wonders.
1978 – The Bee Gees started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Staying Alive’. From the film soundtrack Saturday Night Fever, it gave the brothers their fifth US No.1, also No.1 in the UK.
1983 – Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parent’s house in Downey, California; the coroner’s report gave the cause of death of imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa. The Carpenters 1970 album Close to You, featured two hit singles: ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’ and ‘We’ve Only Just Begun.’ They peaked at No.1 and No.2, on the US chart. In 1975 – in Playboy’s annual opinion poll; its readers voted Karen Carpenter the Best Rock Drummer of the year.
1984 – Culture Club started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Karma Chameleon’ the group’s 5th US Top 10 hit, also a No.1 in the UK.
1995 – Celine Dion started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Think Twice’. The song peaked at No.95 on the US chart. ‘Think Twice’ received an Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the Year in 1995.
2013 – Reg Presley lead singer with the Sixties rock and roll band The Troggs, died aged 71. Hit singles, included ‘Wild Thing’, ‘I Can’t Control Myself’ and the UK No.1 ‘With a Girl Like You’. He also wrote the song Love Is All Around, which featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral and was a No.1 hit for Wet Wet Wet in 1994.
2016 – Van Morrison described becoming a Sir as “amazing” and “exhilarating” after receiving a knighthood from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. He received his knighthood for services to the music industry and tourism in Northern Ireland.
2017 – Black Sabbath the band credited with inventing heavy metal music, played their last concert. The two-hour gig at the NEC Arena in their home city of Birmingham saw the rock veterans play 15 songs ending with their first hit, ‘Paranoid’. Ticker tape and balloons fell as singer Ozzy Osbourne, thanked fans for nearly five decades of support. Sabbath’s The End Tour began in the US in January last year and took in 81 dates across the world.
2021 – Sir Elton John said he had “very positive” talks with British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden about EU travel for UK musicians, but said visa-free touring was not currently “on the cards”. John was one of many stars that had signed a letter demanding action to cut red tape and fees for musicians after Brexit saying that the matter was “swept under the carpet” before the UK left the EU.
Today in history
211 AD – The death in York, (formerly know as Eboracum), of the Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus whilst preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. He left the empire in the control of his two quarrelling sons, Caracalla and Geta.
1194 – A ransom of 100,000 pounds of silver is paid for the release of Richard I, King of England, to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, king of Germany and later king of Sicily.
1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
1657 – Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell granted Portuguese merchant Antonio Fernandez Carvajal and other Sephardic Jews denizen status, marking the first formal rights granted to Jews in England since their 1290 expulsion.
1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin were sentenced to ritual suicide (seppuku) as recompense to avenge their master Asano Naganori’s death.
1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest known copies of the bible was discovered in Egypt.