November 12th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 317 of the “leap” year! Known as World Pneumonia Day, Chicken Soup for the Soul Day, Tempranillo Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Topaz.
2015 – Storm Abigail, the first storm to be officially named by the Met Office, was upgraded to amber, with winds forecast of up to 90mph in the Western Isles of Scotland.
Todays birthdays
1962 – Mariella Frostrup (61), British journalist (The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday) and presenter (The Big Painting Challenge), born in Oslo, Norway.
1967 – Grant Nicholas (57), Welsh musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Feeder (“Just the Way I’m Feeling”), born in Newport, Wales.
1969 – Jason Cundy (55), former professional footballer (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur) and radio broadcaster for talkSPORT, born in London.
1980 – Ryan Gosling (44), Canadian actor (La La Land, Barbie, Blade Runner 2049), born in London, Ontario, Canada.
1982 – Anne Hathaway (42), American actress (The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada), born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Famous deaths
2004 – Fred Dibnah (b. 1938), English steeplejack and television personality.
2012 – Clive Dunn (b. 1920), English actor best known for his role as Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad’s Army.
The day today
1912 – The remains of English explorer Robert Scott and his companions were found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Scott’s party had reached the South Pole on 17th January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian expedition. Scott and his four comrades all perished on the return journey from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.
1933 – The first photograph of the ‘Loch Ness monster’ was taken by Mr Hugh Gray. He managed to take five pictures altogether but after processing, four of them were blank and the fifth was not confirmed as being Nessie.
1984 – It was announced, by Chancellor Nigel Lawson, that the pound note, after being in circulation for more than 150 years, would be phased out and replaced with the pound coin.
1997 – Train robber Ronnie Biggs, was celebrating after Brazil’s Supreme Court rejected a British request to extradite him, for the 2nd time. The court in Rio de Janeiro ruled that because Biggs’ crime was committed more than 20 years previously he could not be extradited.
2001 – Greece held 12 plane-spotting British ‘spies’ to carry out further inquiries. All were arrested for allegedly taking photographs at an air show at a military base.
Today in music
1977 – The Sex Pistols went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut LP Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols. the punk group’s only No.1 album. The album was met by a hail of controversy upon its release. The first problems involved the allegedly ‘obscene’ name of the album, resulting in the prosecution of the manager of the Nottingham Virgin record shop for having displayed it in a window. More outrage was sparked by the lyrics of the songs ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Anarchy in the UK.’
1997 – The Spice Girls were at No.1 on the UK album chart with their second album ‘Spiceworld’, it was also the name of their tie-in film. The album became a huge hit worldwide, lengthening the so-called “Spicemania” fever at that time. It produced 4 singles all of which saw commercial success and has now sold over 20 million worldwide.
1998 – Winners at the MTV Europe Awards included Madonna best female artist and album for ‘Ray Of Light’, The Spice Girls won best group, All Saints won breakthrough artist, Robbie Williams, best male artist and Natalie Imbruglia won best song with ‘Torn.’
2008 – American singer Beyoncé released her third studio album I Am… Sasha Fierce debuting at No.1 on the US Billboard chart. Her third consecutive US No.1 solo album was marketed with the release of several singles, including ‘If I Were a Boy’ and ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’, both of which charted highly internationally.
2016 – Robbie Williams broke the record for the most No.1 albums by a British solo artist. The singer’s latest album, The Heavy Entertainment Show, debuted at No.1 on this week’s chart. It is his 12th album to reach the summit and pushed him ahead of David Bowie who has 11 No.1 albums to his name.
Today in history
1035 – The death of Cnut the Great (King Canute of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden). On his death, the Danish throne went to his son Hardicanute and the English to another son, Harold Harefoot, who ruled England until AD 1040.
1439 – Plymouth becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament. The town was originally called Sutton, but the name gradually changed to Plymouth as the port at the mouth of the Plym estuary became more important. In 1254, the town was granted a market charter, and in 1276 it was first recorded as a borough.
1595 – The death of Admiral Sir John Hawkins chief architect of the Elizabethan navy. Among his many other roles, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588.
1600 – English author John Bunyan was arrested for preaching without a licence. He refused to give up preaching and remained in jail for 12 years.
1847 – The first public demonstration of the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic was given by James Simpson, at Edinburgh University.