Saturday, March 22nd "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 81, known as World Water Day, World Maths Day, Daffodil Day, Talk Like William Shakespeare Day and Gryffindor Pride Day. Your star sign is Aries and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth in the skies over the northern hemisphere. Hale-Bopp was visible to the naked eye for about 18 months, making it one of the most-viewed comets in history. The comet’s next pass is predicted for the year 4300.
Todays birthdays
1931 – William Shatner (94), Canadian actor. A career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, born in Montreal, Canada.
1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber (77), English composer and impresario of musical theatre (The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar), born in South Kensington, London.
1959 – Matthew Modine (66), American actor (Private Joker in “Full Metal Jacket”, Oppenheimer, Stanger Things), born in Loma Linda, California, United States.
1963 – Susanne Sulley (62), English singer who is one of the two female vocalists in the synth-pop band The Human League (“Don’t You Want Me”), born in Sheffield, South Yokshire.
1973 – Beverley Knight (52), English singer-songwriter (“Shoulda Woulda Coulda”, “Keep This Fire Burning”), born in Wolverhampton.
1976 – Reese Witherspoon (49), American actress (Legally Blonde, Walk the Line, Cruel Intentions), born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Famous deaths
1999 – Ernie Wise (b. 1925), English comedian and actor best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.
The day today
1906 – The first rugby international between France and England in Paris ended with a 35-0 victory to England.
1912 – The birth of Wilfrid Brambell, Irish film and television actor best known for his role as Albert Steptoe in the television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day’s Night, playing Paul McCartney’s fictional grandfather and played Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol.
1963 – John Profumo (Secretary of State for War) denied any impropriety with the model Christine Keeler, or that he was in any way connected to her disappearance when she had been due to appear as a witness in a trial at the Old Bailey. On 5th June 1963 he resigned after admitting that he had lied about his relationship.
1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth in the skies over the northern hemisphere. Hale-Bopp was visible to the naked eye for about 18 months, making it one of the most-viewed comets in history. The comet’s next pass is predicted for the year 4300.
2000 – D.C. Cook became the first major dealership to sell imported vehicles on the Internet and car buyers were offered price reductions of up to 40%.
2002 – A woman, paralysed from the neck down and known to the court as ‘Miss B’, won the legal right to die by having her treatment withdrawn.
2013 – The death, in Ripley, Debyshire of New Zealand born George Lowe, aged 89. He was the last surviving member of the team which first conquered Everest in 1953.
2015 – The coffin of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, visited locations in Leicestershire associated with his final days, ahead of the reinterment at Leicester Cathedral on 26th March. More than 5,000 white, hand-made roses were placed along the route of Richard III’s cortege to raise awareness of missing people.
2017 – Four members of the public were killed and fifty injured at Westminster in a terrorist incident on Westminster Bridge. The terrorist, who was attempting an assault on the Houses of Parliament.was shot and killed after he drove his car at pedestrians on the bridge and then knifed PC Keith Palmer to death.
Today in music
1968 – Tammy Wynette recored her version of the Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman song ‘D-I-V-O-R-C-E’ which went on to top the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in June of this year. ‘D-I-V-O-R-C-E’ is a woman’s perspective on the impending collapse of her marriage. The lyrics begin with an old parenting trick of spelling out words mothers and fathers hope their young children will not understand.
1975 – The tartan teen sensations Bay City Rollers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Bye Bye Baby’, the group’s first of two UK No.1’s.
1980 – The Jam had their first UK No.1 with their tenth release, ‘Going Underground / Dreams Of Children’ the first single of the 80s to debut at No.1.
1980 – Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)’ started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart. The track, which was the group’s only US chart topper, was also a No.1 in the UK, Germany, Australia, Italy and in many other countries around the world. Pink Floyd received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group for the song, but lost to Bob Seger’s ‘Against The Wind.’
1984 – Queen filmed the video for ‘I Want To Break Free’ at Limehouse Studio in London, England. Directed by David Mallet, it was a parody of the northern British soap opera Coronation Street with the band members dressed in drag. Guitarist Brian May later said the video ruined the band in America, and was initially banned by MTV in the US.
2009 – Lady Gaga started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Poker Face’, her second UK chart topper and a No.1 hit in over 20 countries.
2019 – East 17 star Brian Harvey was taken to hospital and arrested after ‘threatening self-harm’ in a livestream video. Police were called to the star’s East London home over concerns for his welfare and officers reportedly threatened to taser him in a tense stand-off. In a string of videos the singer spoke about his financial struggles, living on benefits and the government.
Today in history
871 AD – The Battle of Marton, took place at a place recorded as Marton, perhaps in Wiltshire or Dorset. King Æthelred of Wessex (who reigned from 865 – 871) and Prince Alfred fought against the Danes. After ‘much slaughter’ the Danes remained masters of the field. It was the last of the battles known to be fought by Æthelred against the Danes that year, and the defeated King is reported to have died in April 871.
1774 – Mary Cooper published the first book of English nursery rhymes. Called Tommy Thumb’s Song Book, it included Baa Baa Black Sheep, whose ‘three bags full’ is thought to refer to a tax imposed on the wool trade in 1275.
1785 – The birth, in the village of Dent (now in Cumbria, but still in the Yorkshire Dales National Park) of Adam Sedgwick, a British geologist and one of the founders of modern geology. Sedgwick had guided the young Charles Darwin in his early study of geology, but was an opponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution.
1824 – The British parliament purchased 38 paintings (cost £57,000) to establish a national collection now at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. Angerstein’s collection, housed in his townhouse at 100 Pall Mall, formed the basis of the new national collection.
1888 – Aston Villa’s director, William McGregor, formed the English Football League when 12 clubs met at a hotel in Fleet Street, London. This was the world’s first-ever football league.