November 17th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 321 of the year! Known as National Take a Hike Day, Homemade Bread Day and National Baklava Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of February 24th. Your star sign is “Scorpio” and your birthstone is Topaz.
1887 – The birth of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English soldier who was a painstaking planner, which contributed to his most successful battle in North Africa when he broke through Rommel’s lines during the Second World War.
Todays birthdays
1944 – Danny Devito (79), American actor (Twins, Matilda, Batman Returns), comedian, and filmmaker, born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, United States.
1955 – Peter Cox (68), British pop-rock singer-songwriter (Go West – “Call Me”; “King of Wishful Thinking”), born in Kingston upon Thames.
1957 – Debbie Thrower (66), British journalist and broadcaster who presented BBC national news bulletins in the 1980s, born in Nairobi, Kenya.

1960 – Jonathan Ross (63), British broadcaster (The Masked Singer UK, The Jonathan Ross Show), film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer, born in Saint Pancras, London.

1978 – Tom Ellis (45), Welsh actor (Miranda, Lucifer), born in Cardiff, Wales.
The day today
1887 – The birth of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English soldier who was a painstaking planner, which contributed to his most successful battle in North Africa when he broke through Rommel’s lines during the Second World War.
1919 – King George V proclaimed Armistice Day, later to be known as Remembrance Day.
1959 – Two Scottish airports, Prestwick and Renfrew, became the first to offer duty free goods in Britain. Heathrow followed soon after.
2014 – The family of murdered schoolgirl April Jones (aged 5) watched the demolition of the house owned by her killer Mark Bridger. The rented home was bought by the Welsh government in August and is where Bridger is believed to have killed and dismembered April after snatching her outside her parents’ home in Machynlleth, mid Wales, on 1st October 2012. Detectives believe that Bridger dismembered her body at the cottage and disposed of her remains at numerous locations around the countryside.
2019 – A 55-year-old man became the first known person to contract COVID-19. The unnamed man hailed from the Hubei province, where the virus was first recorded. Despite cases of the virus being found as early as this, the Chinese government didn’t recognize it as a new virus until a few weeks later.
Today in music
1966 – The Beach Boys were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Good Vibrations.’ As a child, Brian Wilsons mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad vibrations” Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.
1973 – The Who’s double album Quadrophenia entered the UK album chart peaking at No.2. One of two two full-scale rock operas from The Who (the other being the 1969 ‘Tommy’). The 1979 film based on the story stars Phil Daniels, Toyah Willcox, Ray Winstone, Michael Elphick and Sting.
1984 – Wham! Were at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Make It Big’ and No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’. Michael’s inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Andrew’s parents, originally intended to read “wake me up before you go” but with “up” accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote “go” twice on purpose.
1996 – The Spice Girls were at No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release ‘Spice Girls.’ Five singles were released from the album: ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘2 Become 1’, ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and ‘Mama’. The first single, ‘Wannabe’, went to No.1 in 31 countries, and the next two singles, ‘Say You’ll Be There’ and ‘2 Become 1’, the top of the charts in 53 countries.
2003 – 21 year-old Britney Spears became the youngest singer to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only other performer to get a Hollywood star at her age was Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert.
Today in history
1278 – All of London’s Jews (approx. 680) were accused and arrested for coin clipping and counterfeiting. Two hundred and ninety-three of them were later hanged.
1558 – The Elizabethan era began when Mary I, England’s first queen (also known as ‘Bloody Mary’), died at St James’s Palace London. She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I.
1603 – The trial of Sir Walter Raleigh began. Falsely accused of treason, he had been offered a large sum of money by Lord Cobham, a critic of England’s King James I, to make peace with the Spanish and put Arabella Stuart, James’s cousin, on the throne. Raleigh claimed he turned down the offer, but Lord Cobham told his accusers that Raleigh was involved in the plot.
1810 – Sweden declared war on its ally Britain during the Napoleonic Wars to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever took place! The declaration of war was the result of an ultimatum by France to the Swedish government that France and its allies would declare war against Sweden if Sweden did not meet the French demands to declare war on Britain, confiscate all British ships and seize all British products. The war existed only on paper, and Britain was still officially allowed to station ships in the Swedish port of Hanö and trade with the Baltic nations.
1882 – The Royal Astronomer witnessed an unidentified flying object from the Greenwich Observatory. He described it as a circular object, glowing bright green.
Fact of the day
The Ancient Romans used to drop a piece of toast into their wine for good health – hence why we ‘raise a toast’.
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