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 4 of the New Year

Sunday, January 4th Daily Prep.

Today is National Spaghetti Day, National Trivia Day, World Braille Day and World Hypnotism Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Garnet.
1967 – Donald Campbell, 45 year old son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, died in his attempt to break his own world water speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District.
Donald Campbell, 45 year old son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, died in his attempt to break his own world water speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District.
Today’s birthdays
1947 – Rick Stein (79), English celebrity chef, writer, television presenter (Seafood Lover’s Guide, Rick Stein’s Food Heroes) and restaurateur, born in Oxfordshire.
1956 – Bernard Sumner (70), English musician, record producer and founding member of the bands New Order and Joy Division, born in Salford, Greater Manchester.
1960 – Michael Stipe (66), American singer-songwriter and the lead singer the of alternative rock band R.E.M (“Losing My Religion”), born in Georgia, United States.
1965 – Craig Revel Horwood (61), Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer and Strictly Come Dancing judge since 2004, born in Ballarat, Australia.
1965 – Beth Gibbons (61), English singer and songwriter and lyricist for the band Portishead (“Sour Times”, “Glory Box”), born in Exeter.
Famous deaths
2011 – Gerry Rafferty (b. 1947), Scottish singer-songwriter (“Baker Street”) and a founding member of Stealers Wheel (“Stuck in the Middle with You”).

2024 – David Soul (b. 1943), American-British actor (Starsky and Hutch, Salem’s Lot) and singer (“Bird on a Wire”).

The day today
1932 – Gandhi was arrested and his National Congress of India declared illegal by the British administration. The warrant for Gandhi’s arrest merely said that he was being arrested ‘for good and sufficient reasons.’

1938 – Bertram Mills’ Circus became the first circus to be shown on television. This was also the first time that a paying audience for any event had been televised, and audience members were informed that they could request seats out of range of the cameras. Originally from Paddington, London, his circus became famous in Britain for its Christmas shows at Olympia in West London and his troupe were the last to perform with live animals on the Drury Lane Theatre stage.

1948 – Burma (now Myanmar) declared its independence from the United Kingdom. British rule began in 1824, and World War II hastened the push for independence. The Burma Independence Act 1947 formalized the separation, making Burma a fully sovereign state outside the British Commonwealth.
1957 – A dissatisfied plastic surgeon patient was sentenced in London to ten years’ imprisonment, after he had threatened his surgeon with a gun, complaining that his nose was too short.
1958 – Sir Edmund Hillary led a team to the South Pole as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, becoming the first to reach it by overland motor vehicle and the first expedition party since Scott’s 1912 attempt. His team, using modified Massey Ferguson tractors, reached the Pole ahead of Vivian Fuchs’s main crossing party, completing a historic feat using mechanized transport for the first time in polar exploration.
1967 – Donald Campbell, 45 year old son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, died during his attempt to break the World Water Speed Record on Coniston Water in his Bluebird K7 hydroplane, as his craft flipped at over 300 mph. His body and the wreckage were not recovered until 2001.
1972 – Rose Heilbron became Britain’s first woman judge at the Old Bailey. Her career included many ‘firsts’ for a woman – she was the first woman to win a scholarship to Gray’s Inn, the first woman to be appointed King’s Counsel in England, the first to lead in a murder case, the first woman Recorder, the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey and the first woman Treasurer of Gray’s Inn.
2000 – Catherine Hartley and Fiona Thornewill, the first British women to walk across Antarctica to the South Pole arrived safely, more than two months after starting their record-breaking journey.
2010 – The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa which stands at 829m / 2,722 ft tall was opened in Dubai.
2014 – Richard Parks, a former Welsh rugby player turned adventurer claimed a record for the fastest solo, unsupported and unassisted journey to the South Pole by a Briton. The 715 mile journey took 29 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes. In 2011, Parks achieved his world-record-breaking dream to reach seven summits and three poles in seven months in his 737 Challenge, aiming to raise £1m for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
2021 – Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier was arrested and charged by police after she admitted using public transport in September while infected with Covid-19. She admitted travelling to London and attending debates in the Commons despite taking a Covid-19 test. After being told her test was positive, Ferrier then travelled home by train from London via Glasgow, and later acknowledged visiting several businesses in her Rutherglen constituency on the day she took the test.
Today in music
1970 – The Beatles (without John Lennon) re-record vocals and a new guitar solo on the Paul McCartney song ‘Let It Be’ at Studio Two, EMI Studios, London. This session will be the final studio appearance for The Beatles, as a group. (The final date that all four of The Beatles were in the studio together is August 20, 1969).
1970 – Chauffeur Neil Boland was accidentally killed when The Who’s drummer Keith Moon ran over him in his Bentley. Moon was trying to escape from a Gang of skinheads after a fight broke out at a pub in Hatfield, England. Boland got out to try to protect the car, but left it in gear. He fell under the car and it started moving with Moon at the wheel as he tried to escape the fight. The drummer had never passed his driving test.
1983 – Eurythmics released their breakthrough second studio album, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” catapulting the British synth-pop duo to global stardom with its iconic title track and hits like “Love Is a Stranger,” establishing their definitive electronic sound and becoming a massive success on both sides of the Atlantic.
1986 – Irish singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. With Thin Lizzy he had the 1973 hit ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, (their version of the traditional Irish song) and ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’.
2001 – Madame Tussaud’s waxworks in London revealed that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher had come third in ‘The Most Hated Characters’ list of exhibits, behind Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic.
2009 – Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant was voted the Greatest Voice In Rock by listeners of radio station Planet Rock. Plant beat Queen’s Freddie Mercury, Free’s Paul Rodgers and Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan to the top spot in the UK poll.
2011 – Scottish singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty died aged 63 after a long illness. Rafferty had been a member of Stealers Wheel, who had the 1973 US No.3 & UK No.8 single ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ and had the solo 1978 UK No.3 and US No.2 single ‘Baker Street.’
2020 – Miley Cyrus reached a settlement in the $300 million copyright infringement lawsuit that accused the singer of stealing her 2013 hit ‘We Can’t Stop.’ The lawsuit, filed in 2018, was made by Jamaican songwriter Michael May, who alleged that ‘We Can’t Stop’ replicated his 1988 track ‘We Run Things.’
Today in history
871 AD – The Battle of Reading took place, in the county of Berkshire. It followed an invasion of the then kingdom of Wessex by an army of Danes. The Saxon forces retreated, allowing the Danes to continue their advance into Wessex. Much of King Alfred’s 28-year reign was taken up with this Danish conflict.
1642 – Under the orders of King Charles I, armed soldiers entered Parliament and attempted to arrest five members. The arrest was unsuccessful as these members were tucked away safely at a top hiding spot in the City of London. This violent act was a significant cause that led to the English Civil War.
1813 – Birth of Sir Isaac Pitman, English inventor of the first major shorthand system. Pitman founded a company called Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, which became one of the world’s leading educational publishers and training businesses. In 1837-38 he became a teetotaller and vegetarian, practices to which he attributed his health and his ability to work long hours.
1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London, England to promote equality, citizenship, and human rights.
1890 – The Daily Graphic was launched; the first daily illustrated paper. It merged with the Daily Sketch in 1926.