Saturday, June 21st "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 172, known as National Selfie Day, World Motorcycle Day, international Yoga Day, World Day of Music. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Pearl (Alexandrite and Moonstone is also recognised).
1996 – Britain and other members of the EU reached an agreement for the phased lifting of the ban on British beef. French farmers, however, blockaded two channel ports.
Todays birthdays
1944 – Ray Davies (81), English musician and lead vocalist of the rock band the Kinks (“You Really Got Me”, “Waterloo Sunset”, “Sunny Afternoon”), born in Fortis Green, London.
1951 – Alan Silson (74), English musician, singer and former member of Smokie (“Living Next Door to Alice”), born in Birkenshaw, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.
1952 – Marcella Detroit (73), American singer and a member of Shakespears Sister (“Stay”), born in Detroit, Michigan, United States
1965 – Sonique (60), born Sonia Marina Clarke, British singer, musician and DJ (“Alive”, “Feels So Good”), born in Crouch End, London.
1973 – Juliette Lewis (52), American actress (Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Kalifornia) and musician, born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
1979 – Chris Pratt (46), American actor (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, The Tomorrow War), born in Virginia, Minnesota, United States.
1982 – William, Prince of Wales (43), heir apparent to the British throne, born in St Mary’s Hospital, London.
Famous deaths
1993 – William Golding (b. 1911), British novelist (Lord of the Flies), playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate.
The day today
1919 – German sailors scuttled 72 warships at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys even though Germany had surrendered. It was the greatest act of self-destruction in modern military history.
1937 – First televising of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships when matches were transmitted by the BBC from Centre Court for up to half an hour each day of The Championships. In 1967, Wimbledon provided the first ever colour broadcast in Britain.
1948 – The Manchester Mark I computer became the first stored computer to run a program at a lab at Manchester University, UK.
1954 – The birth, in Oldham, Lancashire of actress Anne Kirkbride, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street, which she played for 42 years from 1972 until her death in 2014.
1978 – The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.
1996 – Britain and other members of the EU reached an agreement for the phased lifting of the ban on British beef. French farmers, however, blockaded two channel ports.
2006 – Two newly discovered moons orbiting Pluto were named Nix and Hydra. Nix is named after the Greek goddess of darkness and night, who also happens to be the mother of Charon. Hydra, on the other hand, is named after a mythological multi-headed serpent that Hercules defeated. Nix and Hydra were only first spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in June 2005, partially because their orbits are much further out than Pluto’s previously known moon, Charon.
Today in music
1962 – The “James Bond Theme”, first heard in the 1962 film Dr. No. The Bond Theme was recorded using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a solo guitar and a rhythm section. The original recording of the theme was played by Vic Flick on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier. Flick was paid a one-off fee of £6 for recording the famous James Bond Theme motif.
1966 – Reg Calvert the manager of The Fortunes, Screaming Lord Sutch and the owner of offshore pirate radio station Radio City was shot dead by business rival William Smedley during a confrontation. Smedley was the owner of pirate station Radio Caroline and was later cleared of the murder.
1986 – Genesis scored their fourth UK No.1 album with their 13th studio album ‘Invisible Touch’. It remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide.
1994 – George Michael lost his lawsuit against Sony Records. Michael claimed that his 15-year contract with Sony was unfair because the company could refuse to release albums it thought wouldn’t be commercially successful. Michael vowed he would never record for Sony again. He re-signed with the company in 2003.
2011 – American band Maroon 5 released ‘Moves Like Jagger’, featuring Christina Aguilera. Its lyrics refered to a male’s ability to impress a female with his dance moves, which he compares to those of Mick Jagger. The video featured old video footage of Jagger and his iconic dance moves.
2015 – Apple Music reversed its payment policy, a day after Taylor Swift said she was refusing to allow the company to stream her latest album 1989. In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers, saying “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.” Apple now said it would pay artists for music streamed during trial periods.
Today in history
1377 – The death of Edward III, King of England. His long reign of 50 years was the second longest in medieval England (after that of his great-grandfather Henry III). He transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe and saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English parliament.
1675 – The laying of the foundation stone of the new St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and the site faced that of the church destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
1706 – The birth of John Dollond, English optician. Dollond & Aitchison opticians was established in 1750.
1798 – During the Irish Rebellion the British Army defeated Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. It marked a turning point in the rebellion, as it was the last attempt by the rebels to hold and defend ground against the British military.
1854 – The first Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest medal for bravery, was awarded to Charles Lucas, who was awarded it during the Crimean War for conspicuous bravery. The medal was made from metal from a cannon captured at Sebastopol. The Victoria Cross was extended to colonial troops in 1867 and to date a total of 1,356 Victoria Crosses have been awarded.