Tuesday, June 10th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 161, known as National Ballpoint Pen Day, National Herbs and Spices Day. Your star sign is Gemini and your birthstone is Pearl (Alexandrite and Moonstone is also recognised).
2013 – A Dornier 17 German World War II bomber was raised from the bottom of the English Channel. The aircraft was shot down off the Kent coast during the Battle of Britain and is believed to be the only intact example of its kind in the world.
Todays birthdays
1942 – Gordon Burns (83), Northern Irish retired journalist, broadcaster and host of The Krypton Factor (1977–1995), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1961 – Maxi Priest (64), British reggae vocalist (“Wild World”, “That Girl”, “Close to You”), born in Lewisham, London.
1965 – Elizabeth Hurley (60), English actress (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Bedazzled, Passenger 57) and model, born in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
1966 – David Platt (59), English retired football coach (Manchester City) and player (Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, England), born in Chadderton, Greater Manchester.
1973 – Faith Evans (52), American R&B singer (“Ain’t Nobody”, “I’ll Be Missing You” – with Puff Daddy) and songwriter, born in Lakeland, Florida, United States.
1986 – Tinchy Stryder (39), Ghanaian British rapper, singer, songwriter (“Famous”, “Number 1″ – Feat N-Dubz), born in Accra, Ghana.
Famous deaths
1993 – Les Dawson (b. 1931), English comedian who is remembered for his deadpan style, grumpy on stage personality and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife.
2004 – Ray Charles (b. 1930), American singer-songwriter and pianist (“Shake A Tail Feather”, “Hit the Road Jack”).
The day today
1931 – Chester Zoo opened its doors to the public for the first time. It was the boyhood dream of George Saul Mottershead from Sale, who vowed to build a ‘zoo without bars’ when he grew up.
1936 – At a special meeting of Skegness Council, John Hassell, one of the greatest of all poster artists and the painter (in 1908) of the famous poster of the Jolly Fisherman was ‘entitled to free access to all municipal undertakings in the town during his lifetime.’ It has been said that Skegness rose to fame on the poster and its accompanying slogan ‘Skegness is SO bracing’. It is possibly the most famous holiday advertisement ever drawn.
1940 – Italy declared war on France and Britain.
Benito Mussolini was the Italian leader at the time, and he wanted to end the Anglo-French presence within the Mediterranean.
1977 – An elusive goldfish eating perch with a prodigious appetite was finally netted after two years on the rampage in a Kent pond. The fish, nicknamed Jaws, was caught by two Southern Water Board engineers equipped with a rowing boat, a fishing net and a 240v stun rod. Jaws was accused of eating 3,000 goldfish in a breeding lake near Canterbury.
1986 – Bob Geldof, the Irish-born singer and charity fund raiser and US citizen John Paul Getty II, were both made honorary knights by Queen Elizabeth II.
1989 – After an era of 157 years, Britain’s last manned lightvessel (Planet LV23, built 1959) was towed away from her position north-west of the Channel Island of Guernsey. She became a cafe / bar and museuum in Liverpool docks and in 2014 Planet became the base for a re-creation of Radio Caroline North, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Radio Caroline pirate radio station. In 2016 she was repossessed by bailiffs for non-payment of mooring fees and was towed from Liverpool to a mooring in Bristol.
2012 – Hundreds of tourists were left to survey the wreckage of their holiday homes after floodwater devastated campsites and villages around Aberystwyth. The heavy rain continued throughout the summer, making 2012 the second wettest year in the UK since records began in 1910.
2013 – A Dornier 17 German World War II bomber was raised from the bottom of the English Channel. The aircraft was shot down off the Kent coast during the Battle of Britain and is believed to be the only intact example of its kind in the world.
Today in music
1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You’re The One That I Want’ also No.1 in the UK.
1989 – Jason Donovan was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Brian Hyland 1962 hit ‘Sealed With A Kiss’. Donovan became the first Australian act to enter the UK charts at No.1.
1993 – Irish singer Sinead O’Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to “stop hurting me please.” She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O’Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.
2001 – Radiohead went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Amnesiac’. The band’s fifth studio album debuted at No.2 on the US Billboard 200 and produced three singles, ‘Pyramid Song’, ‘I Might Be Wrong’ and ‘Knives Out’.
2007 – Rihanna went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her third album Good Girl Gone Bad, featuring the single ‘Umbrella’. which spent 10 consecutive weeks at No.1 in the UK making it the longest running No.1 single since Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love Is All Around’.
2016 – Rod Stewart was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to music and charity. Stewart said: “I’ve led a wonderful life and have had a tremendous career thanks to the generous support of the great British public. This monumental honour has topped it off and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Today in history
1540 – Former chief minister to King Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell is arrested in Westminster for treason and heresy.
1692 – Bridget Bishop was the first person to be trialed and hung for witchcraft in Massachusetts, US.
1719 – The Battle of Glen Shiel, in the West Highlands of Scotland took place between British government troops and an alliance of Jacobites and Spaniards, resulting in a victory for the government forces. It was the last close engagement of British and foreign troops on mainland Great Britain.
1768 – British customs officials seize John Hancock’s ship, “The Liberty”, on the suspicion that Hancock had illegally unloaded cargo without paying duties a month earlier.
1829 – The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on the Thames in London. The Oxford team won.
1867 – Cricket authorities in England legalised over-arm bowling.