Thursday, May 15th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 135, known as Global Accessibility Awareness Day, International Family Day, National Nylon Stocking Day, National Tuberous Sclerosis Day. Your star sign is Taurus and your birthstone is Emerald.
1921 – The formation of the British Legion by Earl Haig (known as ‘Butcher of the Somme’).. It brought together four National Organisations of ex-Service men that had established themselves after the Great War.
Todays birthdays
1953 – Mike Oldfield (72), retired English composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter best known for his debut studio album Tubular Bells, born in Reading, Berkshire.
1959 – Andrew Eldritch (66), English singer, songwriter and the only remaining original member of the Sisters of Mercy (“Temple of Love”), born in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
1965 – Jon Sevink (60), English violinist with folk rock and anarcho-punk band The Levellers (“Just The One”), born in Harlow, Essex.
1970 – Nicola Walker (55), English actress (Spooks, Last Tango in Halifax, Unforgotten), born in Stepney, London.
1981 – Zara Tindall [nee Philips] (44), English equestrian, Olympian and socialite, daughter of Princess Anne, born in St Mary’s Hospital, London.
1987 – Andy Murray (38), British professional tennis player (He was ranked world No. 1 for 41 weeks in 2016), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
Famous deaths
2019 – Freddie Starr (b. 1943), English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (Opportunity Knocks and the Royal Variety Performance).
2020 – Little Richard (b. 1932), American singer, songwriter, and pianist (“Tutti Frutti”, “The Girl Can’t Help It”).
The day today
1921 – The formation of the British Legion by Earl Haig (known as ‘Butcher of the Somme’).. It brought together four National Organisations of ex-Service men that had established themselves after the Great War of 1914-1918 and it is the UK’s leading Armed Forces charity. It provides practical, emotional and financial support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present, and to their families.
1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the world’s first Mcdonald’s in San Bernardino, California.
1941 – The first flight of Britain’s first jet propelled aircraft, the Gloster-Whittle E.28/39. It was designed to test the Whittle jet engine in flight, leading to the development of the Gloster Meteor.
1951 – The first vaginoplasty procedure (sex reassignment surgery) in the UK performed on Roberta Cowell by Harold Gillies, who is considered as the ‘Father of Modern Plastic Surgery’.
1957 – Britain’s first hydrogen bomb was exploded on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The effect of the radiation on some of the British soldiers who watched the test only came to light many years later.
1990 – Home produced beef was banned in UK schools and hospitals as a result of concern over ‘mad cow disease’ (BSE).
2010 – Lydia Eva, the world’s last surviving steam-powered herring drifter steamed back to Great Yarmouth for the first time in many years. Built in 1930 she was purchased by the Maritime Trust in 1971 and , until 1986 she was part of the Maritime Trust exhibition at St Katherine’s Dock next to London’s Tower Bridge.
2021 – Shoppers flocked to the last remaining 28 Debenhams stores ahead of their closure today. The company had traded for than 240 years but went into administration in 2019 after several years of falling sales. At its height, there were more than 150 Debenhams stores across the UK. The Debenhams brand will continue to trade online after it was bought by the fashion retailer Boohoo for £55m in January.
Today in music
1959 – Elvis Presley scored his fourth No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘A Fool Such As I / I Need Your Love Tonight.’ His first ballad to hit No.1.
1961 – Floyd Cramer was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘On The Rebound.’ The US singer’s only UK No.1. The Nashville pianist played on many Elvis Presley hits.
1976 – The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the US album chart with Black And Blue, the group’s sixth US No.1 album. The band’s first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor featured the hit ‘Fool To Cry’.
1982 – Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ebony And Ivory’. The song gave McCartney his 24th US No.1 as a songwriter. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!”. It was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine and in 2007 was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners.
1993 – Janet Jackson started a eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’, her sixth US No.1, a No.2 hit in the UK.
1994 – Blur scored their first UK No.1 album with Parklife which went on to spend over two years on the chart. The album featured four UK hit singles: ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘End of a Century’, ‘Parklife’ and ‘To the End’. In the year following its release the album came to define the emerging Britpop scene. The album cover for Parklife was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of “Classic Album Cover” postage stamps issued in January 2010.
1995 – Supergrass released their debut studio album ‘I Should Coco’. The album which peaked at No.1 on the UK chart featured their No.2 hit single ‘Alright’. The album title is Cockney rhyming slang for “I should think so”.
1999 – Rob Gretton manager of Joy Division and New Order died aged 46. He was also a partner in Factory Records, proprietor of the Rob’s Records label and a co-founder along with Tony Wilson of The Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, England.
Today in history
1464 – The Battle of Hexham (Northumberland). It marked the end of significant Lancastrian resistance in the north of England during the early part of the reign of Edward IV.
1536 – The trial of Anne Boleyn. She was accused of incest, sleeping with 4 men and an assassination plot against her husband, King Henry VIII. She was found guilty by a specially-selected jury and executed four days later.
1567 – Mary Queen of Scots married James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, just three months after the assassination of her husband, Lord Darnley.
1568 – Mary Queen of Scots spent her last night on Scottish soil at Dundrennan Abbey. The next morning she boarded a fishing boat bound for Workington in England for imprisonment and eventual execution.
1718 – The first machine gun was patented by London lawyer James Puckle who, as a keen fisherman, intended to use it at sea! He began to manufacture it in London in 1721.
1880 – George III survived two assassination attempts in one day, the second coming from James Hadfield who fired a shot at the King during a performance at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. Hadfield was later acquitted by reason of insanity.