November 18th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 322 of the year! Known as Apple Cider Day, National Princess Day (since 1994) as well as Mickey Mouse Day and William Tell Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of February 25th. Your star sign is “Scorpio” and your birthstone is Topaz.
1987 – The worst fire in the history of the London Underground killed 30 people. The blaze began in the machinery below a wooden escalator in King’s Cross Underground station and soon filled the tunnels with dense, choking smoke and intense heat.
Todays birthdays
1960 – Kim Wilde (63), British pop singer best known for her 1981 debut single “Kids in America”, born in Chiswick, London.
1963 – Peter Schmeichel (60), Danish former goalkeeper (Manchester United) who captained the club to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble, born in Gladsaxe Municipality, Denmark.
1968 – Owen Wilson (58), American actor (Marley and Me, Behind Enemy Lines, Wedding Crashers), born in Dallas, Texas, United States.
1978 – Ant McPartlin (48), British television presenter (I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!), former singer (PJ and Duncan) and actor (Byker Grove), born in Newcastle upon Tyne.
1988 – Montanna Thompson, British actress best known for her role as Justine Littlewood in the CBBC children’s series The Story of Tracy Beaker, born in Islington.
The day today
1910 – More than 100 suffragettes were arrested by police when they tried to storm the House of Commons at Westminster, London.
1967 – A ban on the movement of farm animals across the whole of England and Wales came into effect at midnight, in a bid to curb the spread of foot and mouth disease.
2002 – United Nations weapons inspectors arrived in Iraq. It had been alleged that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction but no evidence was ever found. Nevertheless, on 20th March 2003, an alliance of primarily U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq with the authority of President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
2014 – Tony and Jan Jenkinson were ‘fined’ £100 by the Broadway Hotel in Blackpool after they wrote a damning review about it on TripAdvisor. After their stay, the couple found that their credit card had been debited, as the hotel had a ‘no bad review policy’ included in its terms and conditions. The money was later refunded and the policy changed.
2018 – An American 26-year-old, John Allen Chau, was killed by natives living on the forbidden Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal. The island is notorious for being unfriendly to outsiders, with many who try to visit losing their lives.
Today in music
1983 – R.E.M. made their first appearance outside the US when they appeared on Channel 4 UK TV show The Tube. The following night they made their live UK debut when the played at Dingwalls, London.
1992 – Black Sabbath were honoured with a star at the Rock Walk in Hollywood, California.
2001 – Britney Spears scored her second US No.1 album with ‘Britney.’ The album’s success made her the first female artist in music history to have her first three studio albums to debut at the No.1 spot. This record however would later be broken by Spears herself with her 4th studio album In the Zone which charted in the same position.
2003 – Following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy, police raided Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch. Jackson denied the allegations, the search came on the day that his latest greatest hits album, ‘Number Ones’ was released in the US.
2007 – 22-year-old X Factor winner Leona Lewis set a British record for the fastest-selling debut album with Spirit. The singer sold more than 375,000 copies in seven days, 12,000 more than the Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 release Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Oasis still had the overall record for the fastest selling British album, selling 813,000 copies in 1997.
Today in history
1307 – According to legend, it was on this day that the Swiss patriot William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head. After refusing to pay homage to a Hapsburg liege, Tell was forced to submit to the test of marksmanship.
1477 – William Caxton’s book, the “Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers”, was published. It was the first printed book in England bearing a date.
1720 – The English pirate of the Caribbean, John Rackham (born 26th Dec. 1682) was hanged On This Day after being captured by the Royal Navy in mid October. He was often called Calico Jack, from the calico clothing that he wore, while Jack is a nickname for John. He is most remembered for two things: the design of his Jolly Roger flag, a skull with crossed swords, which contributed to the popularization of the design, and for having two female crew members, Mary Read and his lover Anne Bonny.
1852 – The state funeral of the Duke of Wellington took place at St Paul’s Cathedral. It was one of the biggest ever held in London. Known as the Iron Duke, he was Tory Prime Minister from 1828-30. His hereditary title was derived from the Somerset town of Wellington and was created for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington.
1906 – Birth of Sir Alec Issigonis, born in Turkey of a Bavarian mother and a Greek father. He came to Britain in 1922 and made his way slowly in the motor industry, designing the Morris Minor in 1948, the first British car to sell more than a million. In 1959 he had his greatest triumph when he unveiled the Mini Minor (‘the Mini’) which ten years later became the first British car to sell over two million.
Fact of the day
The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona. The Spanish city thought it was too ugly, so Gustave Eiffel pitched it to Paris instead. French critics weren’t too thrilled either, but it’s one of the most famous landmarks in the world today.
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