June 6th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 158, known as National Yo-Yo Day, D-Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of September 13th in the previous year. Your star sign is Gemini and your birthstone is Pearl.
1944 – Normandy landings started in France during WWII. This day was the largest seaborne invasion ever in history. 156,000 soldiers and 195,700 naval personnel came together to battle against the Nazis.
Todays birthdays
1947 – Robert Englund (77), American actor best known for playing the serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street, born in Glendale, California, United States
1947 – David Blunkett (77), British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
1956 – Bjorn Borg (68), Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player (11 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Stockholm, Sweden.
1963 – Jason Isaacs (61), English actor (The Patriot), best known for his portrayal of Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, born in Liverpool.
1966 – Tony Yeboah (58), Ghanaian former professional footballer (Leeds United, Ghana) considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African football history, born in Kumasi, Ghana.
Famous deaths
2016 – Muhammad Ali (b. 1942), American boxer nicknamed “the Greatest”, he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century and is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.
The day today
1921 – The Southwark Bridge in London was opened to traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
1936 – Gatwick Airport opened in Surrey. Half a century later, it became Britain’s second biggest international airport, and one of the world’s busiest.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Normandy began. D-Day, code named Operation Overlord, commenced with the landing of roughly 156,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France to liberate Western Europe from German occupation.The allied soldiers quickly broke through the Atlantic Wall and pushed inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s prophetic novel of a world ruled by Big Brother, was published.
1988 – Queen Elizabeth II stripped champion jockey Lester Piggott of his OBE after he was jailed for tax evasion.
Today in music
1965 – The Rolling Stones released the single ’(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ in the US, which went on to give the band their first No.1. In the UK, (where it was released in August 1966), the song initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.
1969 – Elton John released his debut album Empty Sky in the UK, (released January 1975 in the US). ‘Skyline Pigeon’ is the best known song on the album, and is the only one which John, albeit infrequently, performs as part of his live shows.
1987 – Whitney Houston had her second UK No.1 single with ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)’. It reached No.1 in over a dozen other countries and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988.
1998 – B*Witched scored their first UK No.1 single with ‘C’est La Vie’, making them the seventh act in chart history to debut at No.1. Also today, Boyzone scored their third UK No.1 album with ‘Where We Belong’, it was also the first time in chart history that both the No.1 positions were by Irish acts.
1999 – Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)’. Actor Lee Perry read the narrative. The backing is the choral version of ‘Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)’, a 1991 song by Rozalla, used in the film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.
Today in history
1683 – The Ashmolean Museum, on Oxford’s Beaumont Street, opened as the world’s first university museum.
1813 – In the ‘War of 1812’, at the Battle of Stoney Creek, a British force of 700 under John Vincent defeated an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
1820 – Caroline, Princess of Wales, whom George IV wished to divorce, triumphantly entered London, demanding her recognition as queen.
1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in London.
1868 – The birth of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, English naval officer and Antarctic explorer who set out on a second expedition to reach the South Pole in 1910; which turned out to be an ill-fated race to beat the Norwegian, Amundsen.