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.
On This Day 2026
Hello, … Welcome to day 2 of the New Year

Friday, January 2nd Daily Prep.

Today is National Science Fiction Day, Swiss Cheese Day and World Introvert Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Garnet.
1982 – Erica Rowe became the first sports ‘streaker’ when she ran across the Twickenham ground at the England v Australia rugby match waving her bra in the air. She was arrested, with policemen covering her 40″ breasts with their woefully undersized helmets.
Erica Rowe became the first sports ‘streaker’ when she ran across the Twickenham ground at the England v Australia rugby match waving her bra in the air. She was arrested, with policemen covering her 40″ breasts with their woefully undersized helmets.
Today’s birthdays
1938 – David Bailey (88), English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, born in Leytonstone, London.
1968 – Cuba Gooding Jr (58), American actor (Men of Honor, A Few Good Men, Boyz n the Hood) born in The Bronx, New York, United States.
1969 – William Fox-Pitt (57), English equestrian and three time Olympic medalist (2004, 2008 and 2012), born in Hampstead, London.
1991 – Ben Hardy (35), English actor (X-Men: Apocalypse, Bohemian Rhapsody) and known for his role as Peter Beale in Eastenders, born in Bournemouth.
1998 – Ollie Pope (28), English professional cricketer and occasional wicket-keeper (England and Surrey CCC), born in Chelsea, London.
Famous deaths
2011 – Pete Postlethwaite (b. 1946), English actor (Brassed Off, Romeo + Juliet, When Saturday Comes, The Usual Suspects).
The day today
1905 – Sir Michael Tippett, English composer, was born. His most famous work ‘A Child of Our Time’ was inspired by events in 1938 when a Jewish refugee teenager in Paris murdered a German diplomat. The attack was a catalyst for the Nazis’ attacks against Jews in Germany. During the war Tippett tried, and failed, to get exemption as a conscientious objector, and was imprisoned.

1971 – Sixty six spectators were crushed to death and more than 200 others injured at the Ibrox football ground in Glasgow at the end of a Rangers v Celtic derby. The official inquiry into the disaster concluded that someone, possibly a child being carried on his father’s shoulders, fell whilst exiting the ground, causing a massive chain reaction pile up of people. It was the second major loss of life at the Ibrox, the previous one being in 1902 when 25 people died and 517 were injured when a Stand collapsed after heavy rain. A statue of John Greig, who spent his career with Rangers, as a player, manager and director commemorates those killed in the 1971 tragedy.

1971 – Mariner 9 began mapping Mars becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, overcoming a massive dust storm to map 85% of the surface, revealing giant volcanoes (like Olympus Mons), vast canyons (Valles Marineris), polar ice, and clues to ancient water, fundamentally changing our understanding of the Red Planet.
1974 – Museums and Galleries began charging admission for the first time.
1980 – British Steel workers experienced a major national strike triggered by a low pay offer (2%) against high inflation, but fundamentally driven by massive plant closures and job losses planned by the nationalised British Steel Corporation (BSC) under the Thatcher government.
1981 – Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper,” was arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, after a massive manhunt ending his reign of terror against women in the 1970s.
1982 – Erica Rowe became the first sports ‘streaker’ when she ran across the Twickenham ground at the England v Australia rugby match waving her bra in the air. She was arrested, with policemen covering her 40″ breasts with their woefully undersized helmets.
1987 – The publishers of Enid Blyton’s Noddy books bowed to pressure groups and agreed to expunge racism by changing the golliwog characters to gnomes.
2013 – Thieves in Manchester dug a 100ft (30m) long 4ft high tunnel directly under a cash machine, using machinery to cut through concrete. They escaped with only £6,000 because the machine had not been re-filled after the New Year bank holiday. A similar plot was foiled in the same area in 2007, and police believe it may have been carried out by the same gang.
2017 – Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands wins his 2nd PDC World Darts Championship beating defending champion Gary Anderson, 7-3 at the Alexandra Palace, London.
2018 – The World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized “gaming disorder” as a mental health condition in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), defining it as a pattern of severe, persistent gaming behavior where gaming takes priority over other interests and daily activities, leading to significant impairment, with diagnosis usually requiring symptoms for at least 12 months.
2018 – Storm Eleanor forms near Ireland then sweeps across the UK and Western Europe in next few days bringing 100mph winds, widespread power cuts, flooding, major travel disruption, and structural damage.
Today in music
1954 – Eddie Calvert started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK singles with ‘Oh, Mein Papa.’ This was the first No.1 to be recorded at Abbey Road studios in London and stayed at the top of the charts for 9 weeks.
1979 – Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious went on trial in New York accused of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen three months earlier, when he claimed to have awoken from a drugged stupor to find Spungen dead on the bathroom floor of their room in the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan, New York. Vicious died of a drug overdose in February 1979, before the trial could proceed, leaving the case unresolved.
1994 – Meat Loaf started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with his sixth studio album Bat Out Of Hell II – Back Into Hell. The LP, which featured the single ‘I’d Do Anything for Love’, also topped the charts in the US and Australia and has sold more than 14 million copies world-wide.

1999 – Chef went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You). Chef appeared in the cult TV series South Park, the voice was that of Isaac Hayes (who had a hit with Shaft in 1971).

2005 – Green Day were at No.1 on the UK album chart with their seventh album ‘American Idiot.’ The album went on to be nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning the Best Rock Album of 2005.
2007 – Gnarls Barkley’s song ‘Crazy’ was confirmed as the biggest selling UK single of 2006 selling over 700,000 copies. The track, which was the first to reach number one on downloads alone, held off the challenge of X-factor winner Leone. Snow Patrol’s album ‘Eyes Open’ topped the album chart with estimated sales of 1.5m while Take That’s comeback release ‘Beautiful World’ came in just behind. Singles sales had doubled to over 65m since the download chart was launched in September 2004.
2007 – Kylie Minogue played the first of two nights at Wembley Arena in London during her re-scheduled Showgirl world tour. The tour was postponed last year after Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which the singer had since received treatment.
2016 – Adele was at No.1 on the US album chart with her third studio album 25. The album was a massive commercial success, debuting at No.1 in more than 25 markets and broke first-week sales records in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom and United States; in the US, the album sold 3.38 million copies in its first week of release, marking the largest single-week sales for an album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991.
Today in history
1727 – The birth of British general James Wolfe, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada. His service in Flanders and in Scotland, where he took part in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion, brought him to the attention of his superiors. Wolfe’s part in the taking of Quebec in 1759 led to his death in battle but earned him posthumous fame and he became an icon of Britain’s victory in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion.
1757 – Robert Clive (also known as Clive of India) captured Calcutta. It had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal, who imprisoned 146 British in the infamous ‘black hole’. Only 23 survived. Clive established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal and also the wealth that followed, for the British crown. Together with Warren Hastings (the first Governor-General of India) he was one of the key figures in the creation of British India.
1788 – Named after King George II (King of Great Britain and Ireland), Georgia becomes the fourth state of the U.S.A.
1839 – The Moon was photographed for the first time. French photographer, Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of Earth’s Moon. Sadly, a fire broke out at his laboratory just two months later, which destroyed the entire building, including all his work.
1868 – The birth of Arthur Gore, English tennis player. He competed at Wimbledon on every occasion from 1888 to 1927, winning the men’s singles championship in 1901 and 1908, and becoming the oldest winner in 1909. He also won two gold medals at the London Olympics in 1908, winning the men’s indoor singles and the men’s indoor doubles, with Herbert Barrett.