March 4th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 63, known as The National Grammar Day, International HPV Awareness Day and National Waltz Dance Day. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
1966 – Beatle, John Lennon, caused outrage amongst Christians by stating “We’re more popular than Jesus Christ right now. I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.” Beatles’ records were consequently banned in many US states and in South Africa.
Todays birthdays
1946 – John Virgo (79), English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player who also presented Big Break (1991-2002), born in Salford, Greater Manchester.
1948 – Shakin’ Stevens (77), Welsh singer-songwriter (“Green Door”, “This Ole House”, “Merry Christmas Everyone”) and former milkman, born in Ely, Cardiff.
1951 – Chris Rea (74), English rock and blues singer-songwriter (“The Road to Hell”, “Driving Home for Christmas”, “On the Beach”), born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire.
1967 – Tim Vine (58), English comedian, actor, writer and presenter (Not Going Out), born in Cheam, Sutton, Greater London.
1968 – Patsy Kensit (57), English actress (Lethal Weapon 2, The Great Gatsby) and lead singer of the 80’s pop band Eighth Wonder (“I’m Not Scared”), born in Lambeth, London.
1968 – Patsy Kensit (56), English actress (Lethal Weapon 2, The Great Gatsby) and lead singer of the 80’s pop band Eighth Wonder (“I’m Not Scared”), born in Lambeth, London.
Famous deaths
2019 – Keith Flint (b. 1969), English dancer and vocalist of the electronic dance act The Prodigy (“Firestarter”, “Breathe”).
2022 – Shane Warne (b. 1969), Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster.
The day today
1912 – Suffragettes, demanding votes for women, smashed every window they passed in Knightsbridge as a protest at government inaction.
1967 – The first gas from the North Sea was piped ashore near Durham.
1969 – The Kray twins, Ronald and Reginald, were convicted of murdering George Cornell and Jack “the hat” McVitie. They were sentenced to life in prison, with a recommendation that they serve at least 30 years.
1975 – Charlie Chaplin was knighted after a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
1997 – In London, the match-fixing trial of footballers Bruce Grobbelar, John Fashanu and Hans Segers ended in deadlock, with the jury failing to reach verdicts.
Today in music
1966 – John Lennon’s statement that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus Christ’ was published in The London Evening Standard. His opinions drew no controversy when published in the UK, but when republished in the US a few months later, angry reactions flared up in Christian communities. Extensive protests broke out with some radio stations banning Beatles songs and their records were publicly burned.
1974 – ABBA released ‘Waterloo’ the first single from their second album and the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA. It later became the winning entry for Sweden in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and a No.1 hit in several countries. It reached the US Top 10 and went on to sell nearly six million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles in history.
2003 – A noisy neighbour was banned from playing her music and had her stereo system impounded, after she had played Cliff Richard music too loudly. 23 year-old Sian Davies was fined £1,000 plus court costs after environmental protection officers raided her flat in Porth, Rhondda, Wales and seized 15 amplifiers and speakers, plus 135 CDs and cassette tapes. The disc found in her CD player was the Cliff Richard single, ‘Peace in Our Time’. A spokesman for the Cliff Richard Organization said he was delighted to hear of somebody in their early 20s owning one of his many recordings. He added, Cliff would not want anyone to play his music so that it caused a nuisance.
2019 – Keith Flint, singer and dancer with English electronic dance group The Prodigy was found dead at his home in Essex, England age 49. The Prodigy scored the 1996 UK No.1 & US No. 30 single ‘Firestarter’ and the 1997 UK & US No.1 album ‘The Fat Of The Land’. He owned a motorcycle race team, Team Traction Control, which won three Isle of Man TT races in 2015 and competed in the British Supersport Championship running Yamaha YZF-R6 motorcycles.
2007 – Take That went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Shine’, their 10th UK No.1 single. The song was featured in several commercials for the re-launched Morrisons supermarkets in the UK, and went on to win the British single of the year award at the 2008 Brit Awards.
Today in history
1238 – The death, aged just 27, of Joan of England, queen consort of Scotland and wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. She married Alexander II at the age of ten at York Minster, when he was aged 23. The couple had no children together and Alexander went on to marry Marie de Coucy, who bore him a son Alexander, the future Alexander III of Scotland.
1681 – King Charles II granted a Royal Charter to William Penn, entitling him to establish a colony in North America called Pennsylvania.
1790 – The death of Flora Macdonald, the Scottish Jacobite heroine who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie (the Stuart claimant to the British throne) escape after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
1824 – The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI was formed) by Sir William Hillary. Initially known as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, Hillary was inspired to form the charitable organisation when he saw a fishing fleet destroyed by a storm off the Isle of Man.
1890 – The Forth Railway Bridge in Scotland was opened by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge is more than one and a half miles long and took six years to build.