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 328 of the year.

Monday, November 24th Daily Prep.

Known as Sardines Day and Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day. Your star sign is Sagittarius and your birthstone is Topaz.
1991 – Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) died at the age of 45, following complications from the AIDS virus. His death came just one day after he announced his diagnosis. Mercury co-founded Queen in 1970, and remained the band’s frontman throughout his life.
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) died at the age of 45, following complications from the AIDS virus. His death came just one day after he announced his diagnosis. Mercury co-founded Queen in 1970, and remained the band’s frontman throughout his life.
Today’s birthdays
1942 – Billy Connolly (83), Scottish actor (The Man Who Sued God), retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and television presenter, born in Anderston, Glasgow.
1947 – Dwight Schultz (78), American television, film and voice actor best known for his role as Captain “Howling Mad” Murdock on the 1980s action series The A-Team, born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
1955 – Ian Botham (70), English former test cricketer and test team captain turned commentator and chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017, born in Heswall, Merseyside.
1961 – Matt Hayes (64), English angler and television presenter (The Great Rod Race, Total Fishing, Lake Escapes), born in Smethwick, West Midlands.
1963 – Lisa Maxwell (62), English actress and television presenter best known for her role in The Bill as Samantha Nixon. She was also a regular panellist on ITV chat show series Loose Women between 2009 and 2014, born in London.
1964 – Alistair McGowan (61), English impressionist and BAFTA award winning comic (The Big Impression), born in Evesham, Worcestershire.
1974 – Stephen Merchant (51), English comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter (Life’s Too Short, The Office, An Idiot Abroad), born in Hanham, Bristol.
Famous deaths
1991 – Freddie Mercury (b. 1946), British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music.

2005 – Pat Morita (b. 1932), American actor (Happy Days, M*A*S*H), best known for his role as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid.

The day today
1939 – Imperial Airways and British Airways merged to become BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), which later merged with British European Airways and returned to one of the previous names, British Airways.
1962 – ‘That Was the Week That Was’ went out live from the BBC, introduced by a new presenter, David Frost and with some material written by an equally unknown John Cleese.
1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President John F Kennedy is himself shot dead by nightclub owner and mob contact Jack Ruby on live TV as he is being moved from a Dallas police station.
1993 – The last 14 bottles of Scotch whisky salvaged from the SS Politician, wrecked off the coast of Eriskay in 1941 and the inspiration of the book and film, Whisky Galore, were sold at auction.
1993 – 11-year olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the murder of 2-year old James Bulger.
1995 – Ireland ended its ban on divorce by passing a referendum which was enacted through the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution and the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996. The vote was very close, with just 50.28% of voters in favor, and the first divorce was granted in 1997.
2005 – New laws came in force in England and Wales allowing ’round-the-clock drinking’. However, the new laws did not mandate 24-hour drinking; instead, they allowed premises to apply for extended hours, with most applications leading to only slight increases rather than a full 24-hour operation.
2010 – Weather forecasters predicted that the UK would be entering a prolonged cold spell which could bring one of the earliest significant snowfalls since 1993. A few days later more than a thousand schools were closed across the UK and snow caused travel chaos in Scotland and the north of England.
2013 – German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix; his record 9th straight GP victory; record equalling 13th consecutive GP win and 4th straight World Drivers Championship.
2019 – New Zealand cricket batsman BJ Watling scores a marathon 205 off 473 balls to lead the home side to an innings and 65 run 1st Test victory over England at Mount Maunganui.
2021 – Twenty seven migrants (17 men, 7 women and 3 children) heading for the UK drowned in the Channel near Calais after their inflatable dinghy sank. The International Organisation for Migration declared it the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014. More than 25,700 people made the dangerous journey to the UK in small boats by mid November 2021, more than three times the total for the whole of 2020.
2023 – A four-day ceasefire begins in Gaza with Hamas releasing 24 hostages and Israel 39 Palestinian prisoners, allowing more urgently needed humanitarian aid into the territory.
Today in music
1976 – Chicago started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘If You Leave Me Now’, the American group’s only UK No.1. It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
1983 – Irish group The Undertones split up. Lead singer Feargal Sharkey went on to have a No.1 UK single as a solo artist with ‘A Good Heart’ and later worked in A&R for various record labels, and later became the head of UK Music, an umbrella organisation representing the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry.
1991 – Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) died at the age of 45, following complications from the AIDS virus. His death came just one day after he announced his diagnosis to the press. Mercury co-founded Queen in 1970, and remained the band’s frontman throughout his life. Beloved for his flamboyant stage presence and his impressive vocal range, Mercury wrote many of the band’s best-loved hits, including the operatic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody to Love,” and the enduring anthem, “We Are the Champions.”
2002 – Robbie Williams started a five week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with his fifth studio album ‘Escapology’. The album became the best selling album of 2002 in the United Kingdom, selling 1.2 million copies.
2003 – Agadoo’ by Black Lace was named the worst song of all time by a panel of music writers. The song which peaked at No.2 on the UK charts in 1984 spent 30 weeks in the top 75 and went on to become the eighth best-selling single of 1984 in the UK. Black Lace themselves recorded an X-rated version of the song entitled ‘Have a Screw’, which was released on the B-side of the 12-inch vinyl ‘Gang Bang’.
2008 – Boy George appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court after being charged with falsely imprisoning a male escort, Audun Carlsen. During the trial, the court heard that Boy George handcuffed Carlsen to a wall at his flat after accusing him of tampering with his computer. He was later convicted of false imprisonment, and in January 2009, was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
2008 – Craig David released his first Greatest Hits album. It features many of his most popular songs, along with three new tracks: “Where’s Your Love,” “Insomnia,” and “Officially Yours”. The album was a compilation of his major hits up to that point, including chart-toppers like “Fill Me In” and “7 Days,” as well as collaborations with artists like Sting and Tinchy Stryder.
2012 – Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the most-viewed YouTube video with over 808 million views, surpassing Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. The music video, known for its humorous and catchy dance moves, became a global sensation, sparking numerous parodies and viral trends worldwide. The video’s popularity didn’t stop there; it later became the first video to surpass one billion views in December 2012. It also “broke” YouTube’s view counter in 2014 when it exceeded the 2.147 billion limit for a 32-bit integer, forcing the company to update its system.

2013 – Robbie Williams scored his 11th UK No.1 album when Swings Both Ways went to the top of the charts. It was also the 1,000 No.1 UK album since the charts began in 1956 when Frank Sinatra was at No.1 with Songs For Swingin’ Lovers.

2019 – Taylor Swift received the Artist of the Decade award at the 47th Annual American Music Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Swift was the most-awarded artist of the night with six wins, becoming the most-awarded artist in the award’s history with 29 wins.
Today in history
1434 – From this day until February 10, 1435, London’s Thames river completely froze. In 1806, English author B. Lambert wrote about the event in his book “The History and Survey of London and its Environs” after studying the Thames’ patterns of freezing over.
1542 – The English army defeated the Scots at the Battle of Solway Moss. It started as a family dispute when Henry VIII of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church and asked James V of Scotland, his nephew, to do the same, but James ignored his uncle’s request.
1639 – English astronomers Jeremiah Horrocks and William Crabtree recorded the first known observation of a transit of Venus across the sun.
1806 – The birth of Reverend William Webb Ellis, Anglican clergyman and the alleged inventor of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School. According to legend, Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it during a school football match in 1823. The William Webb Ellis Cup is presented to the winners of the Rugby World Cup.
1859 – Charles Darwin published his revolutionary work, On the Origin of Species. At its time of writing, Darwin’s claim that all life as we know it descended from a set of common ancestors was laughed at by many. It wasn’t until the 20th century that Darwin’s theories were taken as seriously as he would have wanted.