November 9th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 313 of the year! Known as World Freedom Day, National Harvey Wallbanger Day, National Cappuccino Day and Chaos Never Dies Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of February 16th 2023. Your star sign is “Scorpio” and your birthstone is Topaz.
1979 – The UK release of the controversial comedy film Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as Jesus Christ.
Todays birthdays
1951 – Lou Ferrigno (72), American actor (Incredible Hulk 1978 – 1982 TV series) and retired professional bodybuilder, born in New York, United States.
1959 – Tony Slattery (64), British actor and comedian (Whose Line Is It Anyway?), born in Stonebridge, London.
1978 – Sisqó (45), American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. He is most prominently known for his singles “Thong Song”, “Incomplete”, born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
1976 – Angela Barnes (47), English stand-up comedian, mostly known for her appearances on Mock the Week, born in Sidcup, South East London.
1984 – Delta Goodrem (39), Australian musician (Lost Without You), songwriter, television personality and actress, born in Sydney, Australia.
The day today
1915 – The first Women’s Institute (WI) meeting in England was held in the main bar of ‘The Fox Goes Free’ public house at Singleton in West Sussex.
1961 – Brian Epstein went to a lunchtime session at The Cavern in Liverpool to see for himself why his record shop was receiving so many requests for records by a group (the Beatles) that had apparently made none. He later became their manager.
1989 – The Berlin Wall began to fall. While November 9th is marked as the fall of the Berlin Wall, it didn’t all happen overnight. Throughout the first day, several official and unofficial border crossings opened up, with more and more holes in the wall appearing as residents of both sides eagerly tore it down.
1992 – Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud set out on their unassisted crossing of the Antarctic. For 97 days they fought pain, starvation and snow blindness until they were eventually airlifted out after completing the first and the longest, unsupported journey in Polar history.
2012 – The death of the 71 year old actor Bill Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street for more than 30 years.
Today in music
1969 – Simon and Garfunkel record what would become their signature tune, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ with future member of Bread, Larry Knechtel on piano. Art wanted Paul to sing the song, but Paul insisted that Art’s voice was better suited for it. It was a decision that Paul would later say he regretted. The song won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971, including Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
1974 – Bachman Turner Overdrive went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’. Randy Bachman stuttered through the lyrics of the demo recording as a private joke about his brother Gary, who had a speech impediment. The record company liked that take better than the non-stammering version and released it.
2002 – It was announced that Madonna’s latest movie ‘Swept Away’ would not be released in the UK because it had been such a box office flop in the US. The Washington Post said the film was “as awful as you’ve heard and as bad as you’ve imagined.”
2002 – Viewers of the UK music channel VH1 voted ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston as the number 1 most romantic song ever. In second place Elvis Presley ‘You Were Always On My Mind’ and third place went to ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion.
2014 – One Direction were the big winners at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, held in Glasgow, Scotland, picking up three awards including best pop act. They also won best live and biggest fans. Ariana Grande picked up her first EMA’s for best female and best song for ‘Problem’. 5 Seconds Of Summer won the Best New Act award.
Today in history
1492 – Henry VII of England and Charles VIII of France sign the Peace of Etaples. Charles agreed to end his support for the Yorkist Pretender Perkin Warbeck, in return for being recognised as ruler of the Duchy of Brittany.
1620 – Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation.
1729 – The Treaty of Seville was signed between Britain, France, and Spain, formally ending the 1727–1729 Anglo-Spanish War; the Dutch Republic joined the Treaty on 29 November. Restored British and French trading privileges in mainland Spain.
1847 – In Edinburgh, Dr James Young Simpson delivered Wilhelmina Carstairs while chloroform was administered to her mother, the first child to be born with the aid of anaesthetics.
1888 – At 3:30 a.m. in London’s Whitechapel, 25-year-old Mary Kelly became Jack the Ripper’s last known victim. The ‘Ripper’ was never caught, but the nature of the murders and of the victims drew attention to the poor living conditions in the East End of London and galvanised public opinion against the overcrowded, unsanitary slums. In the two decades after the murders, the worst of the slums were cleared and demolished.
Fact of the day
Tea bags were an accidental invention. When Thomas Sullivan distributed tea samples in small, silk bags in 1908, his customers dunked them in water – bag and all. Now, this seems like the normal thing to do – but this was during a time when you could only drink tea through big strainers. From Sullivan’s samples, the conventional tea bag was born.
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