January 11th "2024" daily prep
Welcome to day 11, known as National Clean Off Your Desk Day, National Hot Toddy Day, National Milk Day, Secret Pal Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of April 20th. Your star sign is “Capricorn” and your birthstone is Garnet.
1980 – Nigel Short, age 14, from Bolton, Lancashire, became the youngest International Master in the history of chess.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Kim Hartman (72), English actress, best known for her role as Private Helga Geerhart in the BBC television sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo!, born in Hammersmith, London.
1957 – Bryan Robson (67), English football manager (Bradford City, West Bromwich Albion) and former player (Manchester United, Sheffield United), born in Chester-le-Street.
1981 – Jamelia (43), British singer (“Superstar”, “See It in a Boy’s Eyes”), born in Handsworth, Birmingham.
1986 – Rachel Riley (38), British television presenter (Countdown and its comedy spin-off, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown), born in Rochford, Essex.
1987 – Jamie Vardy (37), English professional footballer (Leicester City), born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
The day today
1954 – All Comet airliners were grounded. The day before, 35 people had died in a mysterious crash off the island of Elba. In 1953, another Comet had crashed inexplicably near Calcutta when ‘it fell out of the sky for no apparent reason’. The cause was finally traced to a structural fault, with serious consequences for British aviation.
1980 – Nigel Short, age 14, from Bolton, Lancashire, became the youngest International Master in the history of chess. Participating in four World Junior Championships, from 1980–1983, Short achieved his best result during his first attempt, in which he was placed second to Garry Kasparov. He was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1984, aged nineteen, the world’s youngest grandmaster at that time.
1981 – A British team led by Ranulph Fiennes completes the longest and fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days and 2,500 miles.
1994 – Katherine, The Duchess of Kent and wife of Prince Edward, announced that she was converting to Catholicism, the first member of the Royal Family to become a Roman Catholic since James II in the 17th century.
2014 – Three Britons made the shortlist of just over 1,000 who want to take part in the Dutch project ‘Mars One’. It hopes to send 24 people from around the world on a one way trip to settle on Mars, after going through a seven-year training course, commencing in 2018.
Today in music
1962 – Cliff Richard was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Young Ones’. It stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and made Cliff the first UK artist to enter the chart at No.1.
1964 – Ring Of Fire The Best of Johnny Cash became the first No.1 album when Billboard debuted their Country Album Chart. It was his sixteenth album in total and the first compilations album by Cash.
1986 – The Pet Shop Boys scored their first UK No.1 single with ‘West End Girls.’ The first version of the song was released in April 1984, becoming a club hit in the United States, after the duo signed with EMI, the song was re-recorded with producer Stephen Hague.
1998 – Rolling Stone magazine readers poll picked Be Here Now by Oasis as album of the year. Be Here Now was an instant commercial success, becoming the fastest-selling album in British chart history and topping the album chart in 15 countries. It was the biggest-selling album of 1997 in the UK, with 1.47 million units sold that year. As of 2016, the album has sold eight million copies worldwide.
2016 – David Bowie topped the UK album chart with his latest release Blackstar less than 24 hours after his death. With sales of over 43,000 units the album outsold its nearest competitor, Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream, by 25,000.
Today in history
1569 – The first state lottery took place in England. Lots were sold at the West Door of St Paul’s Cathedral. National lotteries continued until 1826 when it was felt that ” the inducement to gambling held out by lotteries is a great moral evil, helping to impoverish many and diverting attention from the more legitimate industrial modes of moneymaking.”
1787 – Astronomer Sir William Herschel (German-British astronomer and composer) discovered the first two moons of Uranus, Titania & Oberon.
1857 – Jockey Fred Archer was born. He won his first race at the age of 12 and was a Champion Jockey for 13 consecutive years until 1886. He won 2748 races during his career, including five Derby winners. In 1885 he rode 246 winners, a record that wasn’t broken until Gordon Richards’ 1933 season. Archer committed suicide, aged 29, by shooting himself, following depression after the death of his wife.
1864 – Charing Cross Railway Station opened in London. After opening, Charing Cross became the main terminus of all SER services instead of London Bridge, including boat trains to Continental Europe. Along with Victoria, it became the main departure point from London to abroad, and was called “the Gates of the World” by Percy Fitzgerald.
1879 – The start of the Zulu war against British colonial rule in South Africa. War began when a force led by Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand to enforce British demands. Lord Chelmsford split his invasion force into three columns. He planned to surround the Zulus and force them into battle before capturing the royal capital at Ulundi.
Fact of the day
British artist Willard Wigan creates micro sculptures so small, you need a microscope to see them. His work often sits in the eye of a sewing needle or on the head of a pin. He got his start at 5 years old making a house for ants because he thought they needed a place to live.