May 27th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 148, known as Cheese Rolling Gloucester, National Gray Day, Spring Bank Holiday. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of September 3rd in the previous year. Your star sign is Gemini and your birthstone is Emerald.
1852 – The opening of Grimsby Royal Dock. Grimsby once had the largest fishing fleet in the world. Albert, Prince Consort laid the first stone on 17th April 1849.
Todays birthdays
1957 – Siouxsie Sioux (67), born Susan Janet Ballion, English singer, songwriter (Siouxsie and the Banshees – “The Last Beat of My Heart”), born in Southwark, London.
1957 – Duncan Goodhew (67), English former competitive swimmer for Greast Britain (Gold and Bronze medalist 1980 Moscow Olympics), born in Marylebone, London.
1967 – Paul Gascoigne (57), English former professional footballer (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, England), born in Dunston, Gateshead.
1970 – Joseph Feinnes (54), English actor (Enemy at the Gates, Shakespeare in Love), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
1975 – Jamie Oliver (49), English celebrity chef, former restaurateur and author (The Naked Chef), born in Clavering, Essex.
Famous deaths
2022 – Andy Fletcher (b. 1961), English musician and founding member of the electronic band Depeche Mode (“Personal Jesus”, “Just Can’t Get Enough”).
The day today
1941 – World War II: Royal Naval ships Dorsetshire, King George V and Rodney attacked and sank the German battleship Bismarck in the Atlantic after it had been damaged by torpedoes dropped by British aircraft from HMS Ark Royal.
1986 – Irish-born singer Bob Geldof was made an honorary Knight of the Realm by Queen Elizabeth II for his efforts to raise money for the starving of Africa.
1998 – 18 year old Michael Owen became the youngest ever England international goalscorer with the only goal in a 1-0 friendly against Morocco in Casablanca.
2008 – Hundreds of lorry drivers protested in London over the continuing rising cost of fuel and a two-mile line of lorries crawled along the M4 towards Cardiff.
2014 – 34 year old Edward McKenzie-Green, former head of counter-fraud at Oxfam, was jailed for more than two years after using fake companies to defraud Oxfam of more than £64,000.
Today in music
1977 – The Sex Pistols single ‘God Save The Queen’ was released in the UK. Banned by TV and radio, high street shops and pressing plant workers refused to handle the record. It sold 200,000 copies in one week and peaked at No.2 on the UK charts behind Rod Stewart’s ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About It’. There have been persistent rumours, (never confirmed or denied), that it was actually the biggest-selling single in the UK at the time, and the British Phonographic Industry conspired to keep it off the No.1 slot.
1983 – The Smiths were at No.1 on the UK independent chart with their debut single ‘Hand In Glove.’ The Smiths recorded the track after their manager Joe Moss paid £250 for a one-day recording session at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England.
1989 – Cliff Richard released his one hundredth single, ‘The Best Of Me’, which became his 26th Top 3 UK hit.
2005 – Robbie Williams was voted into first place beating Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie to be named the best live solo artist. A UK nation-wide survey of 5,000 people saw the former Take That star beat music icons including Madonna, Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan. U2 were named best live band, ahead of Queen and Oasis, in a poll by Carling to celebrate the UK’s live music scene.
2008 – UK High street chain Woolworths announced it would stop selling CD singles in its stores saying that the format was in “terminal decline” and would be removed from the shelves from August. Sales of CD singles had fallen sharply as the popularity of downloading music from the internet had increased.
Today in history
1153 – Malcolm IV became King of Scotland. He was noted for his religious zeal and interest in knighthood and warfare. For much of his reign he was in poor health and died, unmarried, at the age of twenty-four.
1657 – Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell refused parliament’s offer of the title King of England.
1679 – Britain passed the Habeas Corpus Act which made it illegal to hold anyone in prison without a trial.
1849 – The Great Hall of Euston station in London was opened. It was the first inter-city railway station to be built in London.
1852 – The opening of Grimsby Royal Dock. Grimsby once had the largest fishing fleet in the world. Albert, Prince Consort laid the first stone on 17th April 1849. During the Second World War, there were plans to demolish the 309ft (61m) high Dock Tower as it acted as a beacon for German Luftwaffe aircraft heading towards Liverpool.