March 8th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 68, known International Women’s Day and National Retro Video Game Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of June 15th in the previous year. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
2001 – Donald Campbell’s boat, Bluebird, was recovered from the bottom of Coniston Water in Cumbria.
Todays birthdays
1954 – Cheryl Baker (70), English singer (Bucksfizz – “Making Your Mind Up”) and television presenter, born in Bethnal Green, London.
1958 – Gary Numan (66), English singer and musician (“Cars”), born in London.
1959 – Aidan Quinn (65), American actor (Legends of the Fall, Desperately Seeking Susan, Benny and Joon), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
1976 – Freddie Prinze Jr (48), American actor (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scooby Doo), born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
1977 – James van der Beek (47), American actor (Dawsons Creek, Varsity Blues), born in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States.
Famous deaths
2003 – Adam Faith (b. 1940), English singer (“What Do You Want”) and actor (Love Hurts).
2007 – John Inman (b. 1935), English actor (Are You Being Served).
2020 – Max von Sydow (b. 1929), Swedish actor (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Shutter Island, Minority Report).
The day today
1966 – A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroyed Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin. No one was hurt by the explosion. Six days after the original damage, Irish Army engineers blew up the rest of the pillar after judging the structure to be too unsafe to restore. The planned demolition caused more destruction on O’Connell Street than the original blast, and broke many windows.
1971 – British postal workers returned to work after a strike lasting 7 weeks.
1972 – The Goodyear airship Europa flew over Britain. It was the the first airship over Britain in 20 years.
2001 – Donald Campbell’s boat, Bluebird, was recovered from the bottom of Coniston Water in Cumbria. Campbell was killed on 4th January 1967 at more than 300 mph whilst attempting to break his own water speed record.
2014 – The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (known as Clare’s Law) came into effect across England and Wales. The scheme allowed people find out from police if their partner has a history of domestic violence and was named after 36 year-old Clare Wood who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009.
Today in music
1962 – The Beatles made their radio debut on the BBC’s ‘Teenagers Turn’, (Here We Go), singing Roy Orbison’s ‘Dream Baby’. It was reportedly the first time The Beatles wore suits onstage.
1969 – Small Faces split up after singer Steve Marriott announced he was leaving the band to form Humble Pie. Small Faces scored the hit songs ‘Itchycoo Park’, ‘Lazy Sunday’, ‘All or Nothing’, and ‘Tin Soldier’, as well as their concept album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. Members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones linked up with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart and formed the Faces.
1986 – Diana Ross was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the ‘Chain Reaction.’ Written and produced by The Bee Gees (who also provided the backing vocals for the single). The single became her first No.1 single in the UK since ‘I’m Still Waiting’ in 1971.
1990 – Cher won the worst dressed female, and worst video for ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, in The Rolling Stone Magazine’s awards, Donny Osmond won the most unwelcome comeback award.
2016 – AC/DC postponed the rest of their current US tour after singer Brian Johnson was warned he was going deaf. The band posted a statement on their website saying doctors had advised Johnson to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss.
Today in history
1702 – Anne Stuart, sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regant of England, Scotland, and Ireland after William III died in a riding accident. This gilded statue of William III is in Hull, as Hull was the first large city in Britain to swear their allegiance to the new King when he deposed James II in 1685. Despite seventeen pregnancies, Anne died without surviving children and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover.
1765 – Britain’s House of Lords passed the Stamp Act to tax the American colonies.
1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be the Norfolk born author Thomas Paine, published ‘African Slavery in America’, the first article in the American colonies calling for the equality of slaves and the abolition of slavery.
1859 – The birth, in Edinburgh, of author Kenneth Grahame, most famous for The Reluctant Dragon and The Wind in the Willows, an enchanting story involving the characters Toad, Badger, Mole and Ratty.
1908 – The House of Commons turned down the women’s suffrage bill, thus denying the right for women to vote.