June 2nd "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 154, known as Cancer Survivors Day, Leave Work Early Day, Rotisserie Chicken Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of September 9th in the previous year. Your star sign is Gemini and your birthstone is Pearl.
1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey, London. It was the first British coronation to be televised.
Todays birthdays
1957 – Mark Lawrenson (67), English former professional footballer (Liverpool 81-88) and former manager (Oxford United, Peterborough United), born in Preston, Lancashire.
1960 – Tony Hadley (64), English pop singer and lead singer of Spandau Ballet (“True”, “Gold”), born in Islington, London.
1961 – Liam Cunningham (63), Irish actor (Dog Soldiers), best known for playing Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones, born in East Wall, Dublin, Ireland.
1968 – John Culshaw (56), English actor, comedian and impressionist (Dead Ringers, Spitting Image), born in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
1978 – Dominic Cooper (46), English actor (Dracula Untold, Need For Speed, Mamma Mia, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), born in Greenwich, London.
Famous deaths
2017 – Peter Sallis, English actor ( Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine) and the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit.
The day today
1953 – The royal coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place at Westminster Abbey, London. The coronation was the first to be televised, and 27 million people in the UK alone watched it on their screens.
1970 – The collapse of the Cleddau Bridge in Pembrokeshire. Errors in the box girder design caused it to collapse during its construction. A 230 feet (70 m) cantilever being used to put one of the 150-tonne sections into position collapsed on the south side of the estuary. Four workers died and five were injured. The bridge finally became operational in 1975.
1985 – The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced an indefinite ban on English football clubs from taking part in any of the European competitions, after continued hooliganism by their fans when travelling abroad.
1994 – 25 senior intelligence officers, involved in counter terrorism in Northern Ireland, were killed when their Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.
2022 – Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd June saw an extended Bank Holiday and weekend break to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. She acceded to the throne on 6th February 1952 on the death of her father George VI, who died from a coronary thrombosis, aged 56.
Today in music
1962 – Owen Gray’s ‘Twist Baby’ became the first single released on UK based Island Records. The label became home to Free, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Bob Marley and U2.
1966 – Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Strangers In The Night’, the singers second UK No.1. The song was originally composed by Avo Uvezian as ‘Broken Guitar’ and later under the title ‘Beddy Bye’ as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed.
1972 – Pink Floyd released “Obscured By Clouds” in the UK. The album, which was recorded in Paris in less than two weeks, peaked at No.6 on the UK chart and No.46 on the US chart.
1979 – Donna Summer started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hot Stuff’, her second US No.1, it made No.11 in the UK.
1984 – Wham! had their first UK No.1 with ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.’ Written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo. Inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Andrew’s parents, originally intended to read “wake me up before you go” but with “up” accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote “go” twice on purpose.
Today in history
1420 – King Henry V of England married Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI, King of France.
1692 – Bridget Bishop, born in Norwich, England is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.
1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet was born at Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. He continues to be widely regarded for his novels, such as Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd.
1868 – A group of trade unionists from all over the UK came to Manchester, and together they held the first meeting of the Trades Union Congress, at the Mechanics’ Institute.
1896 – Italian engineer and inventor Guglielmo Marconi applies for the first ever patent for a system of wireless telegraphy (Radio) in the United Kingdom.