Tuesday, July 29th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 210, known as National Lasagne Day, National Lipstick Day, International Tiger Day. Your star sign is Leo and your birthstone is Ruby.
1981 – The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. The televised ceremony was watched by over 700 million viewers around the world.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Joe Johnson (73), English former professional snooker player and a snooker commentator for Eurosport, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
1966 – Miles Hunt (59), English singer, songwriter and guitarist the alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff (“Dizzy” – feat Vic Reeves), born in Birmingham.
1966 – Sally Gunnell (59), English former track and field athlete, (1992 Olympic gold winner in the 400 metres hurdles), born in Chigwell, Essex.
1972 – Wil Wheaton (53), American actor (Star Trek Next Generation, Stand By Me and appearences has himself in The Big Bang Theory), born in Burbank, California, United States.
1981 – Fernando Alonso (44), Spanish racing driver (World Formula 1 Drivers Champion 2005-06 with Renault), born in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
1990 – Joey Essex (35), English television personality (The Only Way Is Essex), born in Southwark, London.
Famous deaths
2007 – Mike Reid (b. 1940), English actor best known for his role as Frank Butcher in Eastenders and the host of the children’s game show Runaround.
The day today
1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9 and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
1948 – King George VI opened the 14th Olympic Games in London – the first time the Games had been held in 12 years, due to World War II.
1954 – J. R. R. Tolkien published the original “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” novel.
1976 – Fire destroyed the famous pierhead at the end of the world’s longest pier, in Southend, on England’s south-east coast. The fire, which started near a restaurant on the lower deck, was fueled by strong south-westerly winds and required firefighters to battle the blaze from both the pier and boats in the sea.
1981 – A worldwide television audience of around 750 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
1995 – Monica Seles beats Martina Navratilova in her return to tennis after she was stabbed in an on-court attack in 1993.
2014 – Clifford Hartland, aged 101, a Second World War prisoner camp survivor and his wife Marjorie, aged 97, died within hours of each other on their 76th wedding anniversary.
2022 – Rebekah Vardy loses her UK libel trial with Coleen Rooney in the so-called Wagatha Christie trial, over Rooney accusing Vardy of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper.
2024 – British cyclist Tom Pidcock with a time of 1:26:22 successfully defends his Olympic mountain bike cross country gold medal at the Paris Games.
Today in music
1963 – Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘(You’re The) Devil In Disguise’. His 14th UK No.1. In 1963, when the song was debuted to a British audience on the BBC television show Juke Box Jury, the celebrity guest John Lennon voted the song “a miss” stating on the new song that Elvis Presley was “like Bing Crosby now.”
1965 – The Beatles second feature film Help! had its UK premiere at The Pavilion in London. The Beatles later said the film was shot in a “haze of marijuana”.
1966 – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England. The group’s third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world’s first platinum-selling double album.
1967 – The Doors started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with an edited version of ‘Light My Fire’. The group’s first US No.1, it only reached No.49 on the UK chart.
1974 – Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilsson’s London flat when she died. Her solo hits included ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me,’ which also featured the rest of The Mamas & the Papas and ‘It’s Getting Better’.
1978 – The film soundtrack to Grease featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the UK album chart as well as the USA and 11 other countries.
2019 – ‘Old Town Road’, the viral rap song by Lil Nas X, became the longest-running No.1 in US chart history (No.1 for two weeks in the UK) after it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 weeks, overtaking Luis Fonsi’s ‘Despacito’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘One Sweet Day’, which both spent 16 weeks at No.1. The rapper, a college dropout from Atlanta, recorded the song in 2018, using a backing track he bought online for less than £25.
Today in history
1565 – Mary, Queen of Scots married her cousin Lord Darnley (Henry Stuart) in the Old Abbey Chapel at Holyrood, Edinburgh, thus alienating Scottish protestants and England because Darnley was a Catholic heir to the throne.
1567 – James VI was crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
1588 – The Spanish Armada was sighted off the coast of Cornwall. The English fleet under the command of Charles Howard and Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, to establish the birth of British naval supremacy.
1833 – The death of William Wilberforce, English campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He died a month before the Slavery Abolition Act was passed.
1836 – Arc de Triomphe in Paris became the world’s largest triumphal arch at 164 ft tall.
1848 – The Tipperary Revolt took place in the village of Ballingarry, County Tipperary, in protest at British rule. After being chased by a force of Young Irelanders and their supporters, an Irish Constabulary unit raided a house and took those inside as hostages. A gunfight lasting for several hours followed, but the rebels fled after a large group of police reinforcements arrived.