March 17th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 77, known as Saint Patricks Day and National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of June 24th in the previous year. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
2015 – The UK’s first Bio-Bus, nicknamed ‘the poo bus’ was officially launched in Bristol as “Service Number 2”. Powered entirely on gas generated by human and food waste, it went into regular service on 25th March.
Todays birthdays
1951 – Kurt Russell (73), American actor (Tombstone, Big Trouble in Little China, Tango and Cash), born in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States.
1956 – Rory McGrath (68), British comedian (They Think It’s All Over, Who Dares Wins), born in Redruth, Cornwall.
1962 – Clare Grogan (62), Scottish actress (Red Dwarf) and singer (Altered Images
– “Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!”), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1975 – Justin Hawkins (49), English musician, singer and songwriter (The Darkness – “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”), born in Chertsey, Surrey.
1992 – John Boyega (32), British actor (Pacific Rim Uprising, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), born in Camberwell, London.
Famous deaths
180 AD – Marcus Aurelius (b. 121), Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher.
1995 – Ronnie Kray (b. 1933), along with his brother Reggie, the Kray twins were London’s most feared gangsters. They were sentenced to life in prison in 1969. Ronnie Kray died on this day in Broadmoor Hospital. Reg died in 2000.
2023 – Lance Reddick (b. 1962), American actor (The Wire, John Wick and the voice of Commander Zavala in the popular video game, Destiny and Destiny 2).
The day today
1951 – The comic strip character Dennis the Menace appeared in the Beano for the first time. His red and black striped jumper did not feature until a few weeks later and his pet dog Gnasher did not make an appearance until 31st August 1968.
1957 – British European Airways withdrew their Viscount 701s from service after one of them crashed at Manchester Airport 4 days previously, killing 21 people.
1978 – The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany. Over 220,000 tons of crude oil seeped out of the crippled ship, causing serious pollution in Britain and France.
1993 – The death of Charlotte Hughes, aged 115 at St David’s Nursing home in Redcar, Cleveland. At the time of her death she was not only the oldest person in Britain, but the second oldest person in the world.
2015 – The UK’s first Bio-Bus, nicknamed ‘the poo bus’ was officially launched in Bristol as Service Number 2. Powered entirely on gas generated by human and food waste it went into regular service on 25th March.
Today in music
1966 – The Walker Brothers had their second UK No.1 with the single ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’, (originally recorded by Frankie Valli).
1973 – Dr Hook’s single ‘On The Cover Of Rolling Stone’ peaked at No.6 on the US chart. The single was banned in the UK by the BBC due to the reference of the magazine.
1979 – The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their fifteenth studio album release Spirits Having Flown, the group’s first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album’s first three tracks were released as singles and all reached No.1 in the US, giving the Bee Gees an unbroken run of six US chart-toppers and tying a record set by The Beatles.
1979 – Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Will Survive.’ The song was originally released as the B-side to a song first recorded by The Righteous Brothers called ‘Substitute.’
2005 – Justin Hawkins from The Darkness became the centre of the latest hands-on activity at Madame Tussauds in London. His wax double would judge the air guitar skills of visitors who would be invited to play an imaginary guitar with smoke and music pumping out. Hawkins said: ‘I find the process of air guitaring rather silly. What makes a good air guitarist? Alcohol.’
Today in history
1040 – The death of Harold ‘Harefoot’ (Harold I), aged just 24, who was King of England for just 5 years. Harold was originally buried in Westminster Abbey, but his half-brother, Harthacnut, who succeeded him, had the body exhumed. Harold I was then beheaded and thrown into a fen bordering the Thames. The body was later recovered by fishermen and reburied in the churchyard of St. Clement Danes, in the City of Westminster.
1337 – Edward, the Black Prince was made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England; a duchy being a territory or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.
1473 – The birth of King James IV of Scotland. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field.
1649 – Oliver Cromwell abolished the position of King of England and the House of Lords and declared England a Commonwealth.
1899 – The first radio distress signal was transmitted from the East Goodwin Lightship when the German merchant vessel Elbe ran aground in dense fog on the Goodwin Sands, Kent.