February 9th "2024" daily prep
Welcome to day 40, known as National Pizza day, Chocolate Day and Gwyl Mabsant “Feast of the Patron.” (Wales). If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of May 19th. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1997 – Fox cartoon series “The Simpsons” airs the 167th episode. It is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes.
Todays birthdays
1943 – Joe Pesci (81), American actor (Goodfellas, Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny) born in Newark, New Jersey, United States.
1945 – Mia Farrow (79), American actress (Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen (2006), The Great Gatsby (1974)), born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
1957 – Gordon Strachan (67), Scottish former football coach and player (Leeds United, Coventry City, Scotland), born in Edinburgh.
1960 – Holly Johnson (64), English musician best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (“Relax”, “Two Tribes”), born in Liverpool.
1981 – Tom Hiddleston (43), English actor (Loki, War Horse, Kong: Skull Island) born in Westminster, London.
The day today
1966 – The government announced that a £30M Prototype Fast Nuclear Reactor would be built at the Dounreay power station in a remote part of Scotland. Minister for Technology Frank Cousins said the new reactors were ‘the future’. Nuclear power generation at the site ended in 1994.
1972 – The British Government declared a ‘state of emergency’ three months into a National Miners’ Strike.
1979 – Football club Nottingham Forest clinched Britain’s first £1m transfer deal when England forward Trevor Francis signed for Brian Clough’s League and Cup winning side after eight seasons with Birmingham City.
1986 – Halley’s Comet was last seen from Earth. It only orbits the Earth once every 75 to 76 years. Halley’s Comet is expected to pass over Earth again on July 26, 2061.
1989 – Five Pharaoh sculptures were discovered in the temple of Luxor. The excavation lasted until April 20, 1989, when the last piece was found at a depth of 4.5 meters. The sculptures date back to 1470 BC.
Today in music
1961 – The Beatles appeared at The Cavern Club, Liverpool, for the very first time (as The Beatles), they would go on to make a total of 292 other appearances at the Club. They were paid £5 for this luchtime appearance and George Harrison was nearly denied admission to play because he was wearing jeans.
1981 – American singer and musician Bill Haley who became known as the first Rock ‘n’ Roll star, was found dead, fully clothed on his bed at his home in Harlingen, Texas from a heart attack, aged 55. He scored the 1955 UK & US No.1 single ‘Rock Around the Clock’ as well as ‘See You Later, Alligator’, ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’, ‘Rocket 88’, ‘Skinny Minnie’, and ‘Razzle Dazzle’. Haley was blinded in his left eye as a child due to a botched operation and later adopted his distinctive spit-curl hairstyle to distract attention from his blind eye.
1987 – Winners at this years Brit awards held in London included Peter Gabriel who won British Male Solo Artist, Kate Bush won British Female Solo Artist, Best British Group went to Five Star, British Album was Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’, British Breakthrough Act was The Housemartins, International Solo Artist went to Paul Simon. The Bangles won Best International Group, Best British Video went to Peter Gabriel for ‘Sledgehammer’ and Best British Single was The Pet Shop Boys for ‘West End Girls’.
1998 – Winners at this year’s Brit Awards included Finley Quaye who won Best British Male Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist went to Shola Ama, The Verve won British Group and Best British Album for ‘Urban Hymns’, British Dance Act went to The Prodigy, British Breakthrough Act was Stereophonics, Best Selling British Album Act was The Spice Girls International Male, Jon Bon Jovi, International Female, Bjork, International Group, U2 and Outstanding Contribution went to Fleetwood Mac. During the show Chumbawamba singer Danbert Nobacon threw a plastic bucket full of cold water over UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
2009 – Ringo Starr became the 2,401st person to be added to the Hollywood Walk Of Fame during a ceremony that marked the 50th anniversary of the attraction. The Beatles as a group were given a star in 1998.
Today in history
1540 – The first recorded horse racing meeting in Britain; held at the Roodeye Field, Chester. Chester Racecourse is, according to official records the oldest racecourse still in use in England and it is also thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile 1 furlong long.
1555 – The Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake for heresy. Martyrologist John Foxe records Bishop Hooper’s execution, a burning which took a long time to kill the poor man.
1649 – The funeral of the executed King Charles I. His personal dignity during his trial and execution had won him much sympathy and he was laid to rest at Windsor rather than Westminster Abbey to avoid the possibility of public disorder at his funeral.
1742 – Sir Robert Walpole often referred to as the first British Prime Minister was ennobled (given a noble rank or title) as the 1st Earl of Orford. Walpole served as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain and dominated the government from 1721 to 1742.
1846 – The birth, in Stafford, of Whitaker Wright, an exceptionally wealthy, but corrupt, English mining company owner. In1904 he was convicted of fraud and given a seven year prison sentence. He committed suicide immediately afterwards by swallowing cyanide in a court anteroom. The inquest also revealed that he had been carrying a revolver in his pocket, presumably as a backup.
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