March 7th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 67, known Alexander Graham Bell Day, Be Heard Day and National Flapjack Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of June 14th in the previous year. 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.
Todays birthdays
1944 – Ranulph Fiennes (80), British explorer ( first person to visit both Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot), born in Windsor.
1956 – Bryan Cranston (68), American actor and filmmaker (Breaking Bad, Malcom in the Middle), born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
1963 – E. L. James (61), real name Erika Mitchell is a British author (Fifty Shades series) which spawned a film franchise, born in Willesden, London.
1970 – Rachel Weisz (54), British actress (The Mummy, Constantine, Enemy at the Gates), born in Westminster, London.
1973 – Ray Parlour (51), English former professional footballer (Arsenal, Middlesbrough) and sports radio pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport, born in Romford, East London.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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 – 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.