On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 66 of the year.

Saturday, March 7th

Today is Alexander Graham Bell Day, Be Heard Day, National Cereal Day and National Flapjack Day. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
1876 – The Scottish-born inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, patented the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
The Scottish-born inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, patented the first practical telephone.
Today’s birthdays
1944 – Ranulph Fiennes (82), English explorer (first person to visit both Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot), born in Windsor.
1946 – Matthew Fisher (80), English musician and songwriter with Procol Harum (“A Whiter Shade of Pale”), born in Addiscombe, Croydon.
1952 – Viv Richards (74), Antiguan retired cricketer (West Indies), widely regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, born in Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
1956 – Bryan Cranston (70), American actor (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Malcolm in the Middle), born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
1963 – Erika Mitchell (63), known by her pen name E. L. James, British author (Fifty Shades series) which spawned a film franchise, born in Willesden, London.
1970 – Rachel Weisz (56), English actress (The Mummy, Constantine, Enemy at the Gates), born in Westminster, London.
1985 – Gerwyn Price (41), Welsh professional darts player (world number one 2021 – 2022) and former professional rugby union and rugby league player, born in Cardiff, Wales.
1993 – Mary Earps (33), English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper (Paris Saint-Germain, England national team), born in Nottingham.
1994 – Jordan Pickford (32), English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper (Everton, England national team), born in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Famous deaths
1999 – Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928), American director, producer, and screenwriter (A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, 2001: A Space Odyssey).
The day today
1926 – The first transatlantic telephone call was made, from London to New York.
1946 – Doctors mounted a campaign to oppose the introduction of a National Health Service.
1946 – 167 Micronesian citizens were asked to relocate temporarily so the US Government could test atomic bombs on their homeland. The inhabitants relocated 125 miles away on an uninhabited atoll.
1975 – The body of Lesley Whittle, a 17-year-old heiress who had been kidnapped from her Shropshire home 52 days earlier, was found at the bottom of a drain shaft. She had been held for 52 days then strangled by Donald Nielson, known as The Black Panther.
1986 – US Air Force divers located the Challenger Space Shuttle’s crew cabin at the bottom of the ocean. On January 28, 1986, the Challenger Space Shuttle broke up just 73 seconds after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. While the crew cabin wasn’t designed to be escapable, the search for it was crucial to recover the seven crew member’s bodies. The crew cabin was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast from Florida.
1989 – Iran severed diplomatic relations with Britain after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in February 1989, calling for the execution of author Salman Rushdie over his book “The Satanic Verses,” which was deemed blasphemous. The move, driven by radicals fearing Western influence, caused a major diplomatic crisis until Iran officially distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998.
1990 – The Egyptian Fayed brothers were allowed to keep Harrods despite an official report that branded them liars during their £615m takeover bid of the House of Fraser Stores.
1996 – The Hubble Space Telescope captured the first images of the surface of Pluto using the ESA Faint Object Camera (FOC). Researchers used a,4-year, 20-computer process called “dithering” to combine multiple, slightly offset images to create a higher-resolution map.
2007 – The British House of Commons voted 337 to 224 in favor of a 100% elected House of Lords, a landmark, non-binding vote aimed at replacing the largely appointed upper chamber. While MPs also favored an 80% elected option, the House of Lords later rejected this, voting instead for a fully appointed chamber, creating a parliamentary stalemate.
2009 – Brazilian football star Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. started his professional career at just 17 years old. He was brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste. The following week he scored his first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim.
2011 – Charlie Sheen was fired from CBS’s Two and a Half Men following a series of erratic public outbursts, personal struggles with addiction, and derogatory comments about show creator Chuck Lorre. After production was suspended, Warner Bros. Television terminated his contract, leading to a major scandal and his replacement by Ashton Kutcher.
2014 – Birmingham city council began investigating an alleged plot to oust headteachers in the city’s schools, replacing them with people who would run their schools on ‘strict Islamic principles’. The plan, dubbed ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ claimed that up to four schools in the city had already been taken over.
2015 – The one millionth Morris Minor to be produced was sold at auction by Surrey-based specialist car auctioneers ‘Historics at Brooklands’ for £25,760; 55 years after it rolled off the production line. The classic British car had 23,364 miles ‘on the clock’ and was still registered on the original number plate 1 MHU, meaning one million in engineering terms.

2016 – Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was suspended for 15 months after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016

2019 – Queen Elizabeth II published her first post on Instagram. The queen’s royal debut into the world of Instagram featured an image of a letter penned by famed 19th-century inventor Charles Babbage to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The letter told of a new invention called the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer.
2019 – Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei sued the US government, challenging the constitutionality of a federal ban (Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act) that restricted government agencies from purchasing its equipment. Huawei argued the ban was unlawful, lacked evidence, and unfairly targeted the company, while the US cited national security risks.
2021 – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s much-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in the US and the UK with the couple sharing their side of the story about life in the Royal Family. The couple spoke about their relationships with other royals, racism and how their mental health suffered.
2022 – The global death toll from Covid-19 passes 6 million according to Johns Hopkins figures, with 57% of the world’s population fully vaccinated.
2023 – British architect Sir David Chipperfield CH was named the 2023 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honour in the field. Known for his subtle yet transformative civic projects, he was recognized for a 40-year career that emphasizes sustainability, historical context, and respectful, modernist design across over 100 projects worldwide.
2024 – Sweden abandoned its 200-year neutrality stance and officially joined NATO. Sweden became the 32nd member of the military alliance, following Finland, which joined in April 2023. Both nations were prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Today in music
1953 – Guy Mitchell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Wears Red Feathers’. The song details a bizarre story of an English banker’s love for a hula-hula girl.
1962 – The Beatles recorded their first radio appearance, at the Playhouse Theatre, Hulme, Manchester, for the BBC radio program Teenager’s Turn – Here We Go’. After a rehearsal, the Beatles put on suits for the first time and, along with the other artists appearing on the program, record the show in front of a teenage audience.
1966 – Tina Turner recorded her vocal on the Phil Spector produced ‘River Deep Mountain High’. It went on to make No.3 in the UK but only No.88 on the US chart. Spector was well aware of Ike Turner’s controlling attitude in the studio, and therefore he drafted an unusual contract: the River Deep – Mountain High album and single would be credited to Ike and Tina Turner, but Ike was paid $20,000 to stay away from the studio, and only Tina Turner’s vocals would be used on the record.
1970 – Simon and Garfunkels album Bridge Over Troubled Water started a ten week run at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split-up by the time of release.
1973 – A song from the movie Deliverance called ‘Duelling Banjos’ by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel became one of the few 1970s instrumentals to be awarded a Gold record. The record had topped the Cash Box Magazine Best Sellers list and reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1976 – Elton John was immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds in London. The first rock star to be so since The Beatles.

1983 – New Order released ‘Blue Monday,’ as a 12-inch single through Factory Records. The track went on to become the biggest-selling 12-inch single of all time.

1983 – Tears for Fears released their debut studio album The Hurting which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album featured the singles ‘Mad World’, ‘Change’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ all of which reached the top five in the UK.
1987 – The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, ‘Licensed To Ill’. The album is one of Columbia Records’ fastest-selling debut records to date.
1991 – The readers of Rolling Stone magazine voted George Michael the best male singer and sexiest male artist.
1998 – Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Frozen’ the singers eighth UK No.1. Taken from her dance-influenced album ‘Ray of Light’.
2001 – Ex-Trammps member Jerry Collins was convicted of attempted murder after being found guilty of bashing his wife’s head into a sink and also pistol-whipping her. He was later sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in jail. The Tramps are best known for the single ‘Disco Inferno’ a No. 11 hit on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1978 and which was included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
2004 – The Smiths song ‘I Know It’s Over’ topped a poll of tunes, which people turn to when they are miserable in ‘The Songs That Saved Your Life’ poll by BBC radio station 6 Music. REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ and Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ also made the Top 10.
2015 – Drake had 14 songs in the Hot 100, after the release of his mixtape ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’. The Beatles are the only other act to accomplish this, with 14 songs on the chart for a week in April 1964. Drake went on to place 27 songs on the chart dated July 14, 2018.
2023 – Gorillaz scored their first UK No.1 album with Cracker Island. The eighth studio album by the British virtual band featured collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown and Beck. The album peaked at No.3 on the US charts and reached the top 10 in 19 other countries.
Today in history
1530 – When King Henry VIII’s divorce request was denied by the Pope, Henry declared himself (not the Pope) as the supreme head of the English church.
1671 – The birth of Robert Roy MacGregor, usually known simply as Rob Roy, the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century. He died on 28th December 1734 and is buried in Balquhidder churchyard in Stirling.
1778 – English explorer, Captain James Cook’s log reported the sighting of Oregon, on the west coast of the United States. They were the first Europeans to visit Oregon for more than 200 years.
1802 – Edwin Henry Landseer, English painter, well known for his paintings of animals, particularly horses, dogs and stags, was born. The best known of Landseer’s works, however, are the sculptures of the lions in Trafalgar Square.
1876 – The Scottish-born inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, patented the first practical telephone. Bell’s father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf; factors that profoundly influenced Bell’s life’s work. Ironically, Bell considered the telephone an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and he refused to have a telephone in his study.
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