Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 320 of the year.

Sunday, November 16th Daily Prep.

Known as National Fast Food Day, National Clairnet Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Topaz.
2003 – 16-year-old Lionel Messi makes his official debut for FC Barcelona when he comes on as a substitute in a friendly against Porto.
16-year-old Lionel Messi makes his official debut for FC Barcelona when he comes on as a substitute in a friendly against Porto.
Today’s birthdays
1942 – Willie Carson (83), Scottish retired Thoroughbred horse racing jockey, born in Stirling, Scotland.

1953 – Griff Rhys Jones (72), Welsh comedian (Alas Smith and Jones), writer, actor (Morons From Outer Space), and television presenter, born in Cardiff.

1961 – Frank Bruno (64), English former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996, born in Hammersmith, London.
1967 – Lisa Bonet (58), American actress (Enemy of the State) best known as Denise Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show, born in San Francisco, California, United States.
1974 – Paul Scholes (51), English football coach, pundit, former player (Manchester United, England National Team), born in Salford, Greater Manchester.
1984 – Gemma Atkinson (41), English actress (Hollyoaks, Casualty, Emmerdale), former glamour model and influencer, born in Bury, Greater Manchester.
Famous deaths
2009 – Edward Woodward (b. 1930), English actor (The Wicker Man, The Equalizer).
The day today
1904 – English engineer John Ambrose Fleming received a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube). It drove the expansion and commercialisation of radio broadcasting, television, radar, sound recording, large telephone networks, and analogue and digital computers until the invention of the transistor.
1938 – Willie Hall of Tottenham Hotspurs scored five goals for England against Ireland with his three goals in 3 minutes, setting a record for the fastest ever in an international match.

1940 – World War II: In response to the heavy bombing of Coventry two days previously, the Royal Air Force bombed Hamburg. Much of Coventry was destroyed, including the Cathedral.

1942 – The jockey Willie Carson was born, in Stirling. He was British Champion Jockey five times (in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983) and had a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain.
1965 – The Soviet Union’s Venera 3 space probe was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The probe, which was sterilized before launch, was on a mission to land on the surface of Venus. It missed Venus on its first attempt, and after its course was corrected, contact with the probe was lost. On March 1, 1966, Venera crash-landed onto Venus’ surface, making it the first spacecraft to reach another planet’s surface.
1976 – Seven men who took part in an £8m bank robbery raid at the Bank of America in Mayfair, London, received jail terms totalling nearly 100 years. Only £1/2m was recovered. The judge said the sentence ensured that the thieves would not enjoy the fruits of their haul.
1986 – Dennis Potter’s TV drama “The Singing Detective”, starring Michael Gambon, premieres on the BBC in the UK.
1995 – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had a right hip replacement surgery at King Edward VII Hospital in London at the age of 95. The operation was successful, and she was expected to be in the hospital for about two weeks. This was her first hip replacement, as her second surgery to replace her left hip occurred in 1998 after a fall.
2003 – 16-year-old Lionel Messi makes his official debut for FC Barcelona when he comes on as a substitute in a friendly against Porto.
2014 – A couple who had been married for 65 years died moments apart. Harry Stevenson (88) died just minutes after care home staff informed him of the death of wife, Mavis (89), at the Derby care home.
2021 – Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took shelter in their spacecraft after Russia tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon that destroyed one of its own satellites. The test created a large debris field of thousands of pieces of space junk that passed close to the ISS. The seven astronauts (four Americans, two Russians, and one German), were forced to take shelter in their docked capsules for about an hour as a precaution against potential collisions.
Today in music
1960 – Patsy Cline recorded ‘I Fall to Pieces’ which the following year became Cline’s first No.1 hit on the Country charts, and her second hit single to cross over onto the Pop charts. It was the first of a string of songs that would be written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. The song was ranked at No.7 on CMT’s television special of the 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

1962 – The Beatles recorded their second appearance on Radio Luxembourg, for the program The Friday Spectacular. The Beatles were interviewed and then they played in front of a live audience both sides of their latest single, ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘P.S. I Love You’.

1968 – Led Zeppelin played their first ever show in the North of England when they appeared at Manchester College of Science & Technology. Zeppelin were paid £225 for the gig.
1985 – Former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey had his only UK No.1 single with the Maria McKee song ‘A Good Heart’ written about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench. Sharkey followed up the single with Tench written ‘You Little Thief’, this time about Tench’s relationship with McKee.
1985 – Starship started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘We Built This City’, it made No.12 in the UK.
1996 – The Beatles ‘Anthology 3’ went to No.1 on the UK album chart. The album included rarities and alternative tracks from the final two years of the band’s career, ranging from the initial sessions for The Beatles (also known as The White Album) to the last sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road in later 1969 and early 1970.
1999 – Dr. Dre’s second studio album, 2001 (also known as The Chronic 2001), was released. The album was a major success, featuring hit singles like “Still D.R.E.” and “Forgot About Dre,” and is considered a landmark in West Coast hip-hop.
2004 – American singer Mario released his hit single “Let Me Love You.” The song became Billboard’s Song of the Year for 2005.
2006 – Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ album was declared the Best Selling UK album of all time by The Official UK Charts Company. The chart which was made up of sales figures from the last fifty years showed their Greatest Hits compilation had sold 5,407,587 copies. The Beatles occupied second place with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.
Today in history
1272 – Whilst travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward became King of England upon the death of Henry III, but he would not return to England for almost two years to assume the throne.
1519 – Due to mosquito infestations, the city of Havana was relocated to its final location. This was not the first time the city’s location was moved, as it had been relocated twice before, within the first four years of establishing Havana.
1724 – The highwayman Jack Sheppard, born in Stepney, was hanged at Tyburn. The crowd gathered for his execution was enormous, with estimates reaching 200,000, making his hanging a major public spectacle.
1835 – “Extracts from Letters to Henslow”, a collection of letters written by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the Beagle, is read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society and later published as a pamphlet.

1855 – British explorer David Livingstone was the first European to see Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya).

1857 – Twenty four Victoria Crosses were awarded in the Second Relief of Lucknow (British India). It was the most awarded in a single day.