February 5th "2024" daily prep
Welcome to day 36, known as Nutella Day, Shower With A Friend Day, Weatherperson’s Day, World Read Aloud Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of May 15th. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Amethyst.
2004 – The Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. Twenty-three Chinese cockle pickers died after becoming trapped by incoming tides off the Lancashire coast. A further 15 cockle pickers survived and the disaster left an indelible mark on all those it affected.
Todays birthdays
1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson (76), Swedish football manager (Lazio, England, Manchester City) and former player, born in Sunne, Sweden.
1951 – Russell Grant (73), British astrologer and media personality, born in Hillingdon, Middlesex.
1975 – Alison Hammond (49), English television personality (The Great British Bake Off, This Morning), born in Birmingham.
1977 – Ben Ainslie (47), British competitive sailor (winning five Olympic medals, including four golds), born in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo (39), Portuguese professional footballer (Al Nassr and the Portugal national team), born in Funchal, Portugal.
The day today
1918 – The SS Tuscania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by the German U-boat UB-77. She sank with the loss of 210 lives and was the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the “BBC pips”.
1958 – Parking meters first appeared on the streets, in London’s exclusive Mayfair district. The meters were first used in America in 1935.
1968 – Another trawler from Hull sank off the coast of Iceland. Over a period of three weeks 60 fishermen lost their lives in Iceland’s worst storms since 1925.
2014 – Overnight storms caused the loss of the sea wall and railway line at Dawlish, between Exeter and Cornwall. Around 30 residents had to be evacuated from their homes in the seaside town, while beach huts that once stood on the sea wall were destroyed. The line reopened on 4th April 2014, in time for the Easter holidays.
Today in music
1966 – Petula Clark had her second No.1 in the US singles chart with ‘My Love’, making her the first British female to have two US No.1 hits. ‘My Love’ became a No. 4 in the UK.
1969 – The Move were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Blackberry Way’, the group’s only UK No.1 and the band’s most successful single.
1972 – T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Telegram Sam’, the group’s third UK No.1 which was taken from their album The Slider. The song is also known for bringing the term “main man” into popular culture.
1983 – Def Leppard’s album ‘Pyromania’, started a 92 week run on the US charts (No. 18 in the UK), it never reached No.1 but sold over 6 million copies in the US alone.
2004 – Janet Jackson’s right breast became the most searched-for image in net history, Jackson’s breast was seen by millions on TV after Justin Timberlake pulled at her bodice during a duet. Search engines reported a big jump in searches for Janet Jackson and Super Bowl, as people turned to the web for images of the event. Wardrobe Malfunction
Today in history
1782 – The Spanish defeated British forces and captured the island of Minorca.
1788 – The birth, in Bury, Lancashire, of Sir Robert Peel, the first commoner to become British Prime Minister, although he was hardly from humble beginnings, as his father was a cotton millionaire. Peel was the founder of the Metropolitan Police, first nicknamed ‘Peelers’, then ‘Bobbies’, after his name.
1811 – The Regency Act was passed in Britain, allowing Prince George of Wales to rule because his father, King George III, was considered insane. He later became George IV.
1852 – The embankment of the Bilberry reservoir in West Yorkshire collapsed, releasing 86 million gallons of water down the River Holme and into Holmfirth. It caused 81 deaths and is recorded as the 23rd most serious, worldwide, in terms of loss of life from floods and landslides.
1869 – The world’s largest golden nugget was discovered. It was discovered in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, by Job Deason and Richard Oates and weighs 214 lb (97.14 kg).
DAILY FACTS NOW HAS A BRAND NEW PAGE UNDER PREP ESSENTIALS: FREE. All daily facts can now be found on that page which will be updated weekly.