Thursday, June 19th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 170, known as National Martini Day, National Watch Day, Corpus Christi, World Sickle Cell Day. Your star sign is Gemini and your birthstone is Pearl (Alexandrite and Moonstone is also recognised).
1978 – Ian Botham takes eight wickets against Pakistan. Captain Mike Brearley called him a ‘colossus’ after a third Test century in England’s 364 and 8-34 in Pakistan’s second innings.
Todays birthdays
1929 – Thelma Barlow (96), English actress (Mavis Wilton in Coronation Streen, Dolly Bellfield in Dinnerladies), born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire.
1962 – Paula Abdul (63), American singer (“Straight Up”, “Cold Hearted”), dancer and choreographer, born in San Fernando, California, United States.
1963 – Rory Underwood (62), English former rugby union player (England’s record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996), born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire.
1964 – Boris Johnson (61), British former Prime Minister and former Mayor of London, born in Upper East Side, New York, United States.
1965 – Sadie Frost (60), English actress (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance, The Krays), born in Islington, London.
1983 – Mark Selby (42), English professional snooker player (22 ranking titles and former world number 1) nicknamed “The Jester from Leicester”, born in Leicester.
Famous deaths
1993 – William Golding (b. 1911), British novelist (Lord of the Flies), playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate.
The day today
1912 – The opening of Peasholm Park in Scarborough, the vision of Harry Smith, Borough Engineer from 1897 – 1933. Underneath the lake lie the remains of a medieval manor, once owned by the future King Richard III. The layout was designed to echo the Willow Pattern china plate of 1780. In 1999 Peasholm was included on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
1961 – Kuwait declared its independence from the United Kingdom after which the state’s oil industry saw unprecedented economic growth. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded and annexed by neighbouring Iraq.
1970 – Edward Heath became the new British prime minister after a surprise victory for the Conservatives and the defeat of Labour leader Harold Wilson.
1975 – An inquest jury decided that the missing Lord Lucan murdered the 29-year-old nanny of his three young children.
1978 – Cricketing star Ian Botham became the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.
1996 – Britain offered to slaughter up to 67,000 more cattle in an effort to end the ban on British beef after cattle had become infected with BSE.
2012 – Isle of Man based Excalibur Almaz announced details of a plan to take people to orbit the moon for the first time since 1972, but budding space-travellers would have to find around £100m first. Excalibur said it was confident that its recycled Russian equipment would be enough to attract the handful of multi-millionaires it needed to fund and crew its lunar orbit.
2014 – 63 year old Jeremy Paxman presented his last edition of the BBC Two programme ‘Newsnight’, after 25 years at the helm.
Today in music
1964 – Martha and the Vandellas recored one of Motown’s signature songs ‘Dancing in the Street’ at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan. Written by Marvin Gaye, William “Mickey” Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter the song reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.4 in the UK.
1968 – The Rolling Stones scored their seventh UK No.1 single when ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’ hit the top of the charts. Keith Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards’ country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded: “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.”
1977 – Six men wielding knives and iron bars outside Shepherd’s Bush underground station beat up Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols. Cook required 15 stitches to a head wound.
1987 – Guns N’ Roses made their UK live debut at a sold out Marquee Club in London. For the first few songs the band were pelted with plastic beer cups thrown from the audience, and a few people close to the stage were spitting at the band.
2011 – Amy Winehouse was booed by crowds in Serbia’s capital Belgrade after appearing to be too drunk to perform. The concert – the first on the singers 12-day European tour, saw Winehouse mumble her way through parts of songs, leave the stage altogether and at one point she threw her microphone to the floor. She was frequently booed by the crowd, who had paid up to £45 to see her in a country in which wages are some of the lowest in Europe.
2016 – Artists including Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Pearl Jam, U2 and Sir Paul McCartney called for online copyright laws to be reformed. More than 180 artists signed an open letter criticising the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). They claimed the law benefits companies that “exploit music for their financial enrichment”, but not artists.
Today in history
1306 – The Earl of Pembroke’s army defeated Robert the Bruce’s Scottish army at the Battle of Methven, west of Perth. Robert the Bruce was King of the Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. His body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while it is believed his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey.
1586 – English colonists leave Roanoke Island, after failing to establish England’s first permanent settlement in North America.
1809 – Curwen’s Act was passed in Britain, to prevent the sale of parliamentary seats, thus decreasing the number of seats which the British government could manipulate for its regular supporters.
1829 – Robert Peel’s Act was passed, to establish a new police force in London and its suburbs. They were known as Peelers and then Bobbies, derived from his surname and Christian name respectively.
1861 – Douglas Haig, British field-marshal was born. Haig became known as ‘Butcher of the Somme’, after he unnecessarily sent thousands of British troops to their deaths. After the war, he devoted himself to the care of ex-Servicemen.