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 312 of the year.

Saturday, November 8th Daily Prep.

Known as National Cappuccino Day, World Radiography Day, World Pianist Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Topaz.
1987 – An IRA bomb exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 11 people. The IRA later claimed the bombing was a mistake and that its intended target was the British soldiers parading to the memorial.
An IRA bomb exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 11 people.
Today’s birthdays
1947 – Roy Wood (78), English musician, singer and songwriter with Wizzard (“See My Baby Jive”) and The Electric Light Orchestra (“Look at Me Now”), born in Birmingham.
1956 – Richard Curtis (69), British screenwriter, producer and director (Love Actually, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bean), born in Wellington, New Zealand.
1963 – Paul McKenna (62), English hypnotist, behavioural scientist, television and radio broadcaster and author of self-help books, born in Enfield, Greater London.
1966 – Gordon Ramsay (59), British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter (Hells Kitchen, Next Level Chef) and writer, born in Johnstone, Scotland.
1981 – Joe Cole (44), English football coach and former professional footballer (Chelsea, England), born in Paddington, London.

1985 – Jack Osbourne (40), English media personality (The Osbournes) and son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, born in St John’s Wood, London.

Famous deaths
2003 – Bob Grant (b. 1932), English actor, best known for playing bus conductor Jack Harper in the television sitcom On the Buses, as well as its film spin-offs.
The day today
1920 – Rupert Bear made his first appearance in the Daily Express. Rupert Bear Annuals have been produced since 1936 and are still in production today. The Rupert Annual is still one of the top three Annual titles sold worldwide.
1957 – A report into a fire at Windscale nuclear power plant in Cumbria blamed the accident on human error, poor management and faulty instruments. The fire caused an unspecified amount of radioactive iodine vapour – iodine 131 – to escape into the atmosphere.
1967 – BBC Radio Leicester (the first of the new breed of BBC Local Radio stations) began broadcasting at 12.45 p.m. from a transmitter located on Gorse Hill above the city centre.
1992 – Nigel Mansell in his Williams crashes during the season ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide but wins his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 52 points.
1999 – “The World is Not Enough”, the 19th James Bond film premieres in Los Angeles, starring Pierce Brosnan, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, and Denise Richards (released November 26 in the UK).
2011 – Asteroid 2005 YU55 came dangerously close to hitting the Earth. It whizzed past at a distance of about 201,700 miles (324,600 km), closer than the moon’s orbit. It was the closest a space object has come to us since 1976.
2018 – A camp fire in California became that state’s deadliest blaze after it killed 88 people and caused 52,000 people to be evacuated.
2018 – Two hundred bodies were found in a mass grave site between Ethiopia and Somalia. It became physical evidence of the atrocities done by former regional president Abdi Mohamed.
2024 – The bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris ring out for the first time since the 2019 fire; the restored north tower belfry installation includes three new bells, one commissioned for use during the Olympic Games.
Today in music
1952 – The first ever UK pop chart was published by the New Musical Express after staff asked 53 record shops to divulge their sales returns. ‘Here In My Heart’ by Al Martino was the first No.1. The song stayed at No.1 for nine weeks.
1958 – The soundtrack to South Pacific went to No.1 on the UK album chart. It became the longest running No.1 album of all time spending a total of 115 weeks at the No.1 position.
1972 – Lou Reed released his second solo album Transformer. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed’s most successful single, ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, which touched on controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution and drug use.
1986 – Berlin started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Take My Breath Away’. The song which was featured in the film Top Gun, was written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1986.
1998 – Robbie Williams scored his second UK No.1 album with ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’. The album, which featured his UK No.1 hit ‘Millennium’, went on to become the UK’s best selling album for that year with sales now over 2.5m.
2001 – Winners at the MTV Europe Awards included Robbie Williams who won Best male and Best song for ‘Rock DJ’, Craig David won Best R&B act and Best UK & Ireland act, Dido won Best new act and Anastacia won Best pop act. Gorillaz won Best song for ‘Clint Eastwood’ and Best Dance act and Eminem won the Best Hip Hop award.
2007 – Four men were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice after Police raided a house in Camden, London belonging to singer Amy Winehouse. The arrests were in connection of a court case involving Ms Winehouse’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who faced charges of causing grievous bodily harm.
2009 – Former Smiths frontman Morrissey stopped a concert halfway through his second song after being hit by a beer bottle. The 50-year-old singer who was hit in the eye by a plastic bottle of beer, said goodnight to the 8,000 strong crowd in Liverpool, England before walking off.
2016 – Adele more than doubled how much she’s worth to be crowned the richest British celebrity under 30. She knocked One Direction off the top spot after their three-year run in first place and was now reported to have an estimated £92m in the bank. Last year the 28-year-old was in fourth place on Heat’s list of the 30 richest British stars under 30.
Today in history
1602 – The Bodleian Library, situated at The University of Oxford (one of the oldest libraries in Europe), opened its doors to the public. The Bodleian Library is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library.
1605 – Robert Catesby, the ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, was killed by gunshot, along with other conspirators at Holbeche House, on the border of Staffordshire. He was buried close by but the bodies of Catesby and fellow conspirator Percy were exhumed and decapitated and Catesby’s head was placed on the side of the Parliament House.
1656 – The birth of Edmond Halley, English astronomer and mathematician best known for the comet named after him and for his work predicting its orbit. He also produced the first meteorological chart.
1745 – Charles Edward Stuart invaded England with an army of 5000 that would later participate in the Battle of Culloden (16th April 1746).
1802 – The birth of Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works at the time of Big Ben’s installation in the tower at the Houses of Parliament. The famous 13 ton bell is named after him.