Monday, July 14th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 195, known as Mac and Cheese Day, Bastille Day (France), Emmeline Pankhurst Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1951 – Ferrari secured its first Grand Prix victory at the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The winning Ferrari 375 was driven by Argentinian racer, Jose Froilan Gonzalez.
Todays birthdays
1958 – Anne Hegerty (67), English professional quizzer and television personality (The Chase – “The Governess”), born in the City of Westminster, London.
1974 – David Mitchell (51), English comedian (Would I Lie To You?), actor and writer (Peep Show, Mitchell and Webb), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
1975 – Taboo, born Jaime Luis Gomez (50), American, singer, comic book writer and member of Black Eyed Peas (“Where Is The Love”), born in Los Angeles, California, United States
1986 – Dan Smith (39), English singer, songwriter and lead vocalist with pop rock band Bastille (“Pompeii”), born in London.
1988 – Conor McGregor (37), Irish professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer (former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion), born in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland.
Famous deaths
2013 – Alan Whicker (b. 1921), Journalist and broadcaster who’s TV career stretched nearly six decades. He was best known for his documentary series, Whicker’s World.
The day today
1939 – The government announced that all infants and nursing mothers would get fresh milk free or at no more than two pence a pint.
1940 – World War II: Britain tackled the threat of a German invasion by forming the Home Guard, a part-time volunteer army, generally comprising men too old for national service.
1951 – Ferrari secured its first Grand Prix victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix. The winning Ferrari 375 was driven by Argentianian racer, Jose Gonzalez.
1967 – Abortion was legalised in Britain. The Act made it lawful to have an abortion up to the 28th week if two registered medical practitioners believed in good faith that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or harm her physical or mental health, or that of any of her family members.
1989 – Romantic comedy film “When Harry Met Sally” starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, is released.
1997 – Convicted murderer and former London gangster Reggie Kray married Roberta Jones at Maidstone Prison in Kent.
2005 – The death of Dame Cicely Saunders, English nurse, physician and writer. She helped the dying and terminally ill to end their lives in the most comfortable way possible and is best known for her role in the birth of the hospice movement.
2014 – The Rt. Rev. Libby Lane became the first female Church of England bishop, when she was consecrated Bishop of Stockport in a ceremony at York Minster.
Today in music
1964 – The Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘It’s All Over Now’, the group’s first of 8 UK No.1’s. Written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack, it was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack in the same year.
1977 – Elvis Costello and The Attractions made their live debut supporting Wayne County & the Electric Chairs at the Penzance Winter Gardens in Cornwall, England.
1986 – Madonna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with her second No.1 ‘Papa Don’t Preach’. Madonna also had the UK No.1 album with ‘True Blue’.
1989 – Tom Jones lost a paternity suit and was ordered to pay $200 a week in child support to 27-year-old Katherine Berkery of New York. The judge in the case was Judge Judy Sheindlin, who was still serving in her 15-year tenure as a New York Family Court judge before appearing in her court TV show, Judge Judy.
1997 – Walkers Spice Girls crisps went on sale in the UK, over 16 million bags were sold by the end of the year. Flavours included Cheese and Chives, Barbecue and Worcester Sauce.
2009 – Michael Jackson fans from all over the world congregated at London’s O2 arena, where the star had been due to begin his run of 50 concerts. Fans who left messages to a wall of tributes and conducted Jackson sing-a-longs, held a minute’s silence at 1830 BST to mark the time when the doors to the concert would have opened.
2022 – Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini was at No.1 on the UK album chart with his fourth studio album ‘Last Night in the Bittersweet’. His first release in eight years became Nutini’s third consecutive UK No.1 album.
2007 – Rod Stewart collected his CBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. The singer who was honoured for his services to music wore a skull and crossbones tie, white trousers and a stripy shirt instead of the conventional morning suit.
Today in history
1766 – The official opening of the 137 mile long Grand Union Canal (Britain’s longest canal) that links London to Birmingham.
1789 – The Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie finally completed his journey to the mouth of the great river he hoped would take him to the Pacific, but which turns out to flow into the Arctic Ocean. Later named after him, the Mackenzie is the second-longest river system in North America.
1791 – The Priestley Riots (also known as the Birmingham Riots of 1791) took place from 14th to 17th July. The rioters’ main targets were English Dissenters, i.e. those Christians who had separated from the Church of England, most notably the controversial clergyman and chemist Joseph Priestley, who is credited with the discovery of oxygen.
1858 – The birth, in Moss Side Manchester, of Emmeline Pankhurst (although her birth certificate records this as 15 July 1858), the English suffragette who led the fight for women’s suffrage in Britain, often by violent means. It was also a day that held great significance to her as she lived her life in the shadow of the radical tradition of Bastille Day.
1865 – British climber Edward Whymper led the first team of climbers to reach the summit of the Matterhorn in the Alps. As they made their way down, Douglas Hadow, aged 19, slipped and dragged two English climbers and a guide after him. The rope snapped and they plunged to their deaths down a 4,000 ft precipice, but the three others in the party were saved.
1867 – Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey.
1881 – American outlaw Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the Maxwell House at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.