Saturday, March 15th "2025" Daily Prep

Welcome to day 74, known as Ides of March, Brutus Day, World Consumer Rights Day, World Speech Day, World Essential Workers Day. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
Selfridges store (named after its owner Harry Gordon Selfridge) was opened in London's Oxford Street.
1909 – Selfridges store (named after its owner Harry Gordon Selfridge) was opened in London’s Oxford Street. In September 1997 they opened their first store outside London when the Trafford Centre (Manchester) opened.

Todays birthdays

1943 – Lynda La Plante (82), English author, screenwriter and former actress often known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series, born in Liverpool.

1943 – Sly Stone [Sylvester Stewart] (82), American funk musician (Sly & The Family Stone – “Everyday People”; “Dance To The Music”), born in Denton, Texas, United States.

1949 – John Duttine (76), English actor as Sgt George Miller in Heartbeat and Bill Masen in the TV series The Day of the Triffids, born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

1962 – Terence Trent D’arby (63), American singer and songwriter (“Sign Your Name”), born in Manhattan, New York, United States.
1975 – will.i.am [William Adams] (50), American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer (Black Eyed Peas – “Where Is the Love?”), born in Los Angeles, United States.
1993 – Paul Pogba (32), French professional footballer (Manchester United, Juventus, France), born in Lagny-sur-Marne, France.
Famous deaths
2003 – Thora Hird (b. 1911), English actress best known for her role as Edie Pegden in Last of the Summer Wine from 1986 – 2003.
2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright (b. 1947), English chef, author, and television personality (Two Fat Ladies). A former barrister, Clarissa Dickson Wright was, until 2013 the youngest woman ever to be called to the Bar, passing her exams aged 21.
The day today

1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited, the British car and aero-engine manufacturing company was founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls.

1909 – Selfridges store (named after its owner Harry Gordon Selfridge) was opened in London’s Oxford Street. In September 1997 they opened their first store outside London when the Trafford Centre (Manchester) opened.
1974 – The architect John Poulson was jailed for five years for corruption. He was found guilty of bribing public figures to win contracts.

1985 – The very first .com domain was registered. The domain name was symbolics.com and was made by Symbolic Inc – a computer company in Massachusetts, US.

1990 – Iraq hanged British journalist Farzad Bazoft, a freelance reporter for The Observer, for alleged spying for Israel while working in Iraq. Immediately after the execution, Britain recalled her ambassador to Iraq and all ministerial visits were cancelled. Bazoft’s story contributed to international isolation of Saddam’s Hussein’s regime and just months after the incident, on 2nd August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, sparking the first Gulf War.
2019 – 1.4 million students across 125 nations participated in the School Strike for Climate. The protests were inspired by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, with students making demands of their respective governments to take immediate action to prevent climate change.
Today in music
1969 – Roberta Flack was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’. Flack first heard the song on an airline, when the Lori Lieberman original was featured on the in-flight audio program. The song was born from a poem Lieberman wrote after experiencing a strong reaction after seeing Don McLean perform the song ‘Empty Chairs’.

1969 – Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Dizzy’, also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart.

1986 – The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with ‘Manic Monday’, a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher, it also made No.2 in the US, held of No.1 by Prince with ‘Kiss’.

1988 – Mick Jagger opened his first ever solo tour, his first ever performances in Japan and his first full concerts since 1982, with three shows at Osaka’s Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The show was mostly made up of Rolling Stones songs, including songs not performed by the Stones for a long time, including ‘Bitch’, ‘Gimmie Shelter’, ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ as well as the Jimi Hendrix song ‘Foxy Lady’.

1997 – The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mama’, making them the first act ever to have their first four singles reach No.1 on the UK chart.

1998 – Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with her seventh studio album Ray of Light. up until this point, no other female artist had achieved more than three UK No.1 albums.

Today in history

44 BC – Julius Caesar was assassinated. It happened during a Senate meeting in Rome where senators stabbed him 23 times because they believed Caesar was undermining the Roman Republic. The Ides of March is the day on the Roman calendar marked as the Idus, roughly the midpoint of a month, of Martius, corresponding to 15 March on the Gregorian calendar and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

1672 – King Charles II enacted the ‘Declaration of Indulgence’, a first step at establishing freedom of religion in England to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics. It suspended the laws that punished those who did not attend the services of the Church of England. The following year the Cavalier Parliament compelled him to withdraw this Declaration. When Charles II’s Catholic successor (James II) attempted to issue a similar Declaration it led to the Glorious Revolution that ousted him from the throne.

1813 – The birth of John Snow, the English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene.
1824 – Building work started on the London Bridge designed by John Rennie (which opened in 1831 and moved more than 130 years later to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, U.S.). Other bridges he designed include Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge.
1877 – The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.