November 28th"2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 332 of the year! Known as Red Planet Day and French Toast Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of March 7th. Your star sign is “Sagittarius” and your birthstone is Topaz.
1935 – The Miles quadruplets (Ann, Ernest, Michael and Paul) were born in Cambridgeshire and were the first British quads to survive infancy.
Todays birthdays
1958 – Kriss Akabusi (65), British broadcaster & former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete, born in Paddington, London.
1961 – Martin Clunes (62), British actor, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series Doc Martin and Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, born in Wimbledon, London.
1969 – Nick Knight (54), English cricket batsman (17 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 113; Essex CCC, Warwickshire CCC) and broadcaster (Sky Sports), born in Watford, England
1970 – Richard Osman (53), English author, television presenter, producer, novelist, and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless, born in Billericay, Essex.
1987 – Karen Gillan (36), Scottish actress (Amy Pond – Doctor Who) and (Nebula in the Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy), born in Inverness.
The day today
1968 – The death of the children’s author Enid Blyton. She wrote more than 800 books over 40 years including Noddy, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven.
1990 – Margaret Thatcher made her last speech outside 10 Downing Street following her resignation as Prime Minister.
2006 – A modern spy drama unfolded following the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London when traces of polonium-210 radiation were found at central London addresses.
2011 – British company Captive Media announced details of its urinal mounted, urine-controlled games console for men. They called it the first ‘hands-free’ video gaming console of its kind, with games on offer including a skiing challenge, and a multiple choice pub quiz. A noted side effect was that the toilets became markedly cleaner, as a new premium was set on accuracy.
2013 – A Newport man (James Howells) searched a landfill site in South Wales hoping to find a computer hard drive he threw away, worth over £4m. The drive contained 7,500 bitcoins, a virtual form of currency for use online. The drive was not found.
Today in music
1964 – The Shangri-Las went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the ‘teen death song’, ‘Leader Of The Pack’. When released in the UK the song was refused airplay by the BBC, (probably due to its death theme), where it went on to chart three times: No.11 in 1965; No.3 in 1972 (by which time the BBC ban had been lifted); and once again at No.7 in 1976.
1987 – Taken from the film ‘Dirty Dancing’, the Jennifer Warnes’ duet with Bill Medley ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’, went to No.1 on the US singles chart. In the UK the song had two chart outings: in November 1987, after the film’s initial release, the song peaked at No.6; and in January 1991, after the film was shown on mainstream television, the song reached No.8.
1999 – Cliff Richard started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Millennium Prayer’, despite the record being boycotted by most radio stations. It became Cliff’s 14th UK No.1.
2000 – Madonna played her first British show for more than seven years at London’s Brixton Academy. Tickets changed hands for more than £1,000. QXL.com the internet auctioneers sold one pair for £2,204.
2000 – David Bowie was crowned the musician’s musician. Bowie beat The Beatles and alternative rockers Radiohead in a survey by the NME that asked hundreds of top rock and pop stars to name their biggest musical influence.
Today in history
1660 – At Gresham College in Central London, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray founded what was later known as the Royal Society, an organization dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
1720 – The female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read were found guilty of piracy. The two were sentenced to death but were spared as it was found later that they were both pregnant.
1757 – The birth of the poet William Blake. His work included a poem that began ‘And did those feet in ancient time’, which became the words for the anthem Jerusalem.
1814 – The Times newspaper was, for the first time, printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer. It signalled the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.
1919 – Lady Nancy Astor became the first woman to become a member of the British House of Commons. She was elected with a large majority, taking the place of her husband Waldorf Astor, who moved into the House of Lords.
Fact of the day
The human brain uses 20% of the oxygen in your body. This is continuous and it does not rest even when we sleep. This is why when people yawn it is believed to be the brain’s way of cooling down.