Sunday, March 30th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 89, known as Doctors Day, Mothers Day (UK), World Bipolar Day and British Summertime Begins. Your star sign is Aries and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
2002 – Queen Elizabeth, later known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, died peacefeully in her sleep aged 101. Elizabeth Bowes Lyon was the daughter of the future Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was descended from the Royal House of Scotland and married the Duke of York, second son of King George V, in 1923.
Todays birthdays
1945 – Eric Clapton (80), English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Layla”), born in Ripley, Surrey.
1964 – Tracy Chapman (61), American singer-songwriter (“Fast Car”, “Give Me One Reason”), born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
1962 – Stanley Kirk Burrell (63), American singer better known by his stage name MC Hammer (“U Can’t Touch This”), born in Oakland, California, United States.
1965 – Piers Morgan (60), English broadcaster, journalist and television personality (Piers Morgan Uncensored, Good Morning Britain), born in Reigate, Surrey.
1968 – Celine Dion (57), Canadian singer (“My Heart Will Go On”, “It’s All Coming Back to Me No”), born in Charlemagne, Canada.
1978 – Simon Webbe (47), English singer and member of the boy band Blue (“All Rise”, “Fly By”), born in Moss Side, Manchester.
Famous deaths
2002 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900).
2018 – Bill Maynard (b. 1928), English actor (various Carry On films), best known for playing Claude Jeremiah Greengrass in the ITV series, Heartbeat.
2020 – Bill Withers (b. 1938), American singer-songwriter (“Just the Two of Us”, “Lean on Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”).
The day today
1944 – The allied bombing raid on Nuremberg. 795 aircraft were despatched from along England’s east coast, including 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The bombers met German fighter resistance at the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands. In total, 95 bombers were lost, making it the largest Bomber Command loss of World War II.
1949 – Riots broke out in Iceland when the Icelandic parliament decided to join NATO. What initially started as a peaceful protest quickly turned violent, and the Icelandic police were forced to use tear gas to disperse the unruly mob. Iceland proceeded to join NATO anyway, an act that brought Iceland into the Cold War.
1964 – The seaside holiday resort of Clacton was the scene of pitched battles by rival gangs of ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’.
1974 – Red Rum won the Grand National at Aintree for the second year running. The horse won it’s 3rd Grand National in 1977.
1987 – The picture ‘Sunflowers’, painted by Vincent van Gogh was sold at auction by Christie’s for £24,750,000.
1997 – Pop group The Spice Girls helped launch Britain’s newest terrestrial TV channel – Channel 5 singing a re-written version of Manfred Mann’s hit “5-4-3-2-1” as “1-2-3-4-5”.
Today in music
1967 – During an appearance by Jimi Hendrix on Top Of The Pops a technician put on the backing track of Alan Price’s ‘Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear’, to which Hendrix responded ‘I don’t know the words to this one man.’
1985 – Phil Collins started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘One More Night’, his second US No.1, it made No.4 in the UK. The track was taken from his third album, No Jacket Required.
1991 – Chesney Hawks started a five-week run at the UK No.1 position with his debut single ‘The One And Only. The song was featured in the film ‘Buddy’s Song’ in which he appeared with Roger Daltrey. The song was written by 80s singer Nik Kershaw.
1996 – The Prodigy started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Firestarter’, the first single from the album The Fat of the Land. The wah-wah guitar riff in ‘Firestarter’ was sampled from The Breeders’ track ‘S.O.S.’
2013 – Music mogul Simon Fuller settled a copyright battle with TV network Fox over the US version of The X Factor. The British creator of Pop Idol and US version American Idol sued Fox and producers FremantleMedia, seeking a credit and fees from the US X Factor. The case followed a dispute between Fuller and Simon Cowell in 2004 over similarities between Fuller’s American Idol and Cowell’s UK show, The X Factor.
2017 – Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the US and UK album chart with his third studio album ÷ (pronounced ‘divide’). The album also topped the charts in 14 other countries. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
2020 – American soul singer Bill Withers died from heart complications aged 81. His hits include ‘Just The Two Of Us’, ‘Lovely Day’ and ‘Use Me’. On ‘Lovely Day’, he set the record for the longest sustained note on a US chart hit, holding a high E for 18 seconds. His ballad ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, earned him his first Grammy award.
Today in history
1296 – Edward I captured Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England. As many as 10,000 men, women and children were killed. Even a woman giving birth was hacked to pieces during her labour. When the garrison commander Lord of Douglas surrendered, his life and those of his garrison were spared.
1406 – On his way to France, (for his safety after his elder brother, David, Duke of Rothesay, was murdered), James I of Scotland was captured at Flamborough Head and imprisoned by King Henry IV.
1750 – The birth of John Stafford Smith, English composer. He is best known for writing the music for the American patriotic song The Star-Spangled Banner following the War of 1812. In 1931 it was adopted as the national anthem of the United States of America.
1775 – The British parliament passed an act forbidding its North American colonies from trading with anyone other than Britain.
1858 – Hymen L. Lipman (born in Kingston, Jamaica to English parents), patented the pencil with an eraser on top. His patent included a metal ferrule to keep the eraser in place.
1889 – In the Football League’s first season, Preston North End won the FA Cup, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0 at Kennington Oval, in London. Preston was the first club to win the FA Cup and The Football League (known as The Double) and they acquired the name The Invincibles.