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 3 of the New Year

Saturday, January 3rd Daily Prep.

Today is Festival of Sleep Day, JRR Tolkien Day, International Mind-Body Wellness Day and Humiliation Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Garnet.

2014 – Along the whole of Wales’ coastline dozens of roads were closed and the rail network was also badly affected as storm surges brought flooding chaos around Wales’ coast. In Aberystwyth the promenade and its historic shelter were destroyed as huge waves crashed onto it.

Along the whole of Wales’ coastline dozens of roads were closed and the rail network was also badly affected as storm surges brought flooding chaos around Wales’ coast.
Today’s birthdays
1946 – John Paul Jones (80), English musician who played bass and keyboards for the rock band Led Zeppelin, born in Sidcup, Greater London.

1956 – Mel Gibson (70), American actor (Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Mad Max) and filmmaker (Apocalypto), born in Peekskill, New York, United States.

1962 – Gavin Hastings (64), Scottish rugby union fullback and captain (61 caps Scotland, 6 caps British Lions; Watsonians, London Scottish), born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1969 – Michael Schumacher (57), German former racing driver and winner of 7 Formula One world championships, born in Hürth, Germany.
1996 – Florence Pugh (30), English actress (Black Widow, Oppenheimer, Lady Macbeth), born in Oxford.
2003 – Greta Thunberg (23), Swedish environmental and pro-Palestinian activist, born in Stockholm, Sweden.
Famous deaths
2011 – Pete Postlethwaite (b. 1946), English actor (Brassed Off, Romeo + Juliet, When Saturday Comes, The Usual Suspects).
The day today
1911 – Police, with the army in attendance, stormed a house in London’s East End where it was thought a gang of wanted anarchists were hiding. Newspapers dubbed the incident ‘The Siege of Sidney Street’. When the fugitives shot at police, the Scots Guards were summoned from the Tower of London, and Winston Churchill, who was then Home Secretary, arrived on the scene to find the house in flames. No firefighters were sent in to put out the blaze, and the house eventually collapsed, burning the anarchists to death.

1940 – Unity Mitford, a member of the aristocratic Mitford family, returned to England after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in Munich. She had been greatly attracted to Fascism and idolized Hitler. When Britain declared war she was so distraught that she shot herself in the head with a pearl-handled pistol, given to her for protection by Hitler himself. She eventually died in Oban, in 1948, of meningitis caused by the cerebral swelling around the bullet.

1942 – The birth, in Gorton, Manchester of actor John Thaw, who starred in the TV dramas The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC. A heavy drinker (he went teetotal in 1995), and a smoker from the age of 12, Thaw was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in June 2001. In early January 2002 he was told that the cancer had spread and he died on 21st February 2002, seven weeks after his 60th birthday.
1946 – William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was hanged for treason, in London. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he had broadcast propaganda from Nazi Germany during the Second World War to both Britain and the United States. The broadcasts started on 18th September 1939 and continued until 30th April 1945, when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army.
1959 – Alaska became the 49th State to join the United States of America.
1961 – The production of the millionth Morris Minor, designed by the Greek born Sir Alec Issigonis. He considered the Morris Minor to be a vehicle that combined many of the luxuries and conveniences of a good motor car, but at a price suitable for the working classes.
1988 – Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century. She held office for 11 years and 208 days, from May 4, 1979, to November 28, 1990.
2014 – Along the whole of Wales’ coastline dozens of roads were closed and the rail network was also badly affected as storm surges brought flooding chaos around Wales’ coast. In Aberystwyth the promenade and its historic shelter were destroyed as huge waves crashed onto it. The winter storms continued across many parts of Britain and parts of Somerset, including the village of Muchelney were cut off for weeks.
2015 – A 51,000 tonne car carrier ship (Hoegh Osaka) became stranded on Bramble Bank in the Solent between Southampton and the Isle of Wight. The ship was carrying 1,200 Jaguar sports cars, Land Rover 4x4s, 65 BMW Minis, 105 JCB diggers and a single Rolls-Royce Wraith all destined for the Middle East. The vessel was eventually righted and towed to Southampton on 22nd January.
2015 – Boko Haram militants destroy the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, starting the Baga massacre and killing as many as 2,000 people.
2025 – In an all-English final, Luke Humphries claims his first PDC World Darts Championship with a 7-4 win over 16-year-old prodigy Luke Littler at the Alexandra Palace, London.

2025 – 17 year old English darts prodigy Luke Littler becomes the youngest ever world champion when he beats 3-time title winner Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the PDC World C’ship final at Alexandra Palace, a historic win that broke Van Gerwen’s previous record and propelled Littler to global stardom and world number one status.

Today in music
1957 – Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Singing The Blues.’ (Tommy Steele and Marty Robbins had also released versions and Steele would replace this version at No.1).
1963 – Cliff Richard was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his sixth UK No.1 ‘The Next Time / Bachelor Boy.’ Both songs were taken from the film Summer Holiday.
1970 – B J Thomas started a four-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’, (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David). The song which was featured in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid won an Oscar for Best Original Song.
1972 – Two weeks of rehearsals for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon tour began at the Bermondsey in London, England, (the venue was owned by The Rolling Stones).
1987 – Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Despite the enormity of the milestone, Franklin wasn’t actually able to attend the ceremony herself, so instead, Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards, Clive Davis and her brother Cecil inducted Franklin with her poignant speech, “To be the first woman inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a historical moment and indeed a milestone in my career…”
2002 – Liam and Noel Gallagher topped a poll of celebrities you would least like to live next to, getting 40% of the vote. Readers of Your Home magazine voted the brothers from Oasis as ‘Neighbours From Hell’.
2002 – Zak Foley bassist with British group EMF died aged 31 of a drug overdose. EMF had the 1990 world wide hit single ‘Unbelievable’ which reached No.3 on the UK singles chart, and was a No.1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The name EMF is believed to be an abbreviation of Epsom Mad Funkers.
2014 – Phil Everly, one half of the Everly Brothers, died of complications from lung disease aged 74, in California. In their heyday between 1957 and 1962, the Everly Brothers had 19 Top 40 hits, including ‘Bye Bye Love’, ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ and ‘All I Have to Do Is Dream’ and influenced acts such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
2017 – Vinyl sales topped three million, the highest UK total in 25 years. More than 3.2 million records were sold in 2016, a rise of 53% on the previous year, according to the BPI, which represents the music industry. David Bowie’s Blackstar was the most popular album on vinyl, selling more than double the number of copies of 2015’s biggest-seller, Adele’s 25.
2021 – English musician Gerry Marsden died age 78 after being diagnosed with a blood infection in his heart. With Gerry And The Pacemakers he had the 1963 UK No.1 single ‘How Do You Do It’ and the 1965 US No.6 single, ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’.
Today in history
1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tried to fly his famous Flying Machine invention for the first time. Leonardo da Vinci is known for many things, from his incredible art to his master inventions, and one of the most well-known was his Flying Machine. Unfortunately, his attempt to fly was unsuccessful, but he learned that no man could ever jump high enough to propel his craft.
1777 – During the Battle of Princeton, British forces (led by Cornwallis) were defeated in New Jersey by George Washington’s revolutionary army.
1795 – The death of Josiah Wedgwood, English potter and grandfather of the naturalist Charles Darwin.The pottery that Wedgewood founded became one of the most famous in the world. In 2009, Wedgewood was placed into administration and eventually became part of a group of companies known as WWRD, an initialism for ‘Wedgwood Waterford Royal Doulton’.
1842 – British novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine (with her maid) sailed from Liverpool, for America aboard the Cunard steamship RMS Britannia, beginning his first famous North American tour.
1870 – Workers began construction on the iconic Brooklyn Bridge in New York connecting the growing city of Brooklyn to Manhattan. The bridge’s construction was completed on May 24, 1883, making it the world’s largest suspension bridge (at that time).
1883 – The birth of Clement (Richard) Attlee, Labour politician who served as Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first person to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister under Winston Churchill, in the wartime coalition government.