March 15th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 75, known as Ides of March, World Sleep Day and World Speech Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of June 22nd in the previous year. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
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
1962 – Terence Trent D’arby (62), American singer and songwriter (“Sign Your Name”), born in Manhattan, New York, United States.
1975 – will.i.am [William Adams] (49), American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer (Black Eyed Peas – “Where Is the Love?”), born in Los Angeles, United States.
1975 – Eva Longoria (49), American actress (Desperate Housewives, The Sentinel), born in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States.
1986 – Alexandra Daddario (38), American actress (Baywatch Movie, Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief, Mayfair Witches), born in New York, New York, United States.
1993 – Paul Pogba (31), French professional footballer (Manchester United, Juventus, France), born in Lagny-sur-Marne, France.
Famous deaths
44BC – Julius Caesar (b. 100 BC), Roman general and statesman who was assassinated during a Senate meeting in Rome where senators stabbed him 23 times because they believed Caesar was undermining the Roman Republic.
2003 – Thora Hird (b. 1911), English actress. She is best remembered for her role of almost two decades in Last of the Summer Wine but played many other roles in her long career.
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
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.
1983 – A letter bomb sent to the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was defused by explosives experts.
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.
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’.
1973 – 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’.
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’.
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
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 who pioneered the use of ether.
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.
1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited, the British car and aero-engine manufacturing company was founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls.