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 283 of the year.

Friday, October 10th Daily Prep.

Known as World Mental Health Day, National Cake Decorating Day, World Homeless Day, World Porridge Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1903 – Emmeline Pankhurst (pictured center) and several colleagues founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an organisation open only to women and focused on direct action to win the vote.
Emmeline Pankhurst (pictured center) and several colleagues founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an organisation open only to women and focused on direct action to win the vote.
Today’s birthdays
1946 – Chris Tarrant (79), English broadcaster, television personality (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) and former radio DJ (Capital Radio), born in Reading, Berkshire.
1946 – Charles Dance (79), English actor (Alien 3, Last Action Hero, Game of Thrones), born in Redditch, West Midlands.
1953 – Midge Ure (72), Scottish musician (Ultravox, Band Aid), singer-songwriter and record producer, born in Cambuslang, Glasgow, Scotland.
1961 – Martin Kemp (64), English musician (Spandau Ballet) and actor (Eastenders, The Krays), born in Highbury, London.
1964 – Sarah Lancashire (61), English actress (Coronation Street, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax), born in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
1966 – Tony Adams (59), English former football manager and player (Arsenal FC, England National Team), born in Romford, Greater London.
1970 – Matthew Pinsent (55), English former rower (4 x Olympic Gold) and broadcaster for the BBC, born in Holt, Norfolk.
1981 – Una Healy (44), Irish singer who rose to fame with The Saturdays (“What About Us”, “Ego”, “Up”), born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Famous deaths
1985 – Yul Brynner (b. 1920), Russian born American actor (The King and I, The Magnificent Seven, Return of the Seven).

2004 – Christopher Reeve (b. 1952), American actor best known for playing the title character in the Superman film series (1978–1987).

2009 – Stephen Gately (b. 1976), Irish singer who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone.
The day today
1903 – Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters founded the Women’s Social and Political Union. They would later be credited as playing a significant part in attaining the right to vote for women in the UK.
1957 – A fire broke out in the Windscale Pile 1 nuclear reactor in Cumbria, England. It released significant amounts of radioactive material, primarily iodine-131, over the UK and Europe. Later studies estimated that the incident led to a number of cancer cases in the affected population. Details of the event were kept quiet for decades due to the military nature of the site, making the accident less famous than later nuclear incidents.
1963 – The second James Bond spy movie, “From Russia With Love,” was released in London.
1975 – Elizabeth Taylor got married for the 6th time. She re-married British actor Richard Burton at a remote location in Botswana. They divorced the following year.
1980 – Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made her memorably defiant speech “U-turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning” at her party’s conference in Brighton.
1996 – A Scottish fisherman found a message in a bottle. It had been thrown in the North Sea in 1914 to chart the currents.
1999 – Thousands gathered to watch the giant Millennium wheel become the latest landmark on the London skyline.
2004 – Having already clinched his record 7th F1 World Drivers Championship, German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins a record 13th race of the season with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
2024 – English actress Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife) releases her memoir “I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You,” revealing her struggle with Lyme disease.
Today in music
1970 – Black Sabbath were at No.1 on the UK chart with their second album ‘Paranoid.’ The album which contains some of the band’s best-known signature songs, including the title track, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘War Pigs’ is now regarded as one of the classic Heavy Metal albums.
1987 – Whitesnake went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Here I Go Again’, a No.9 hit in the UK.
1992 – R.E.M. scored their second UK No.1 album with ‘Automatic For The People’, featuring the singles ‘Drive’, ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘Man On The Moon’ and ‘The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight.’
1999 – Christina Aguilera went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Genie In A Bottle.’ The song spent 5 weeks at No.1 on the US chart and won Aguilera the Best New Artist Grammy for the year.
2000 – Britney Spears made her UK live debut when she played the first of three sold out nights at London’s Wembley Arena.
2002 – Twelve protesters dressed as monkeys picketed outside the north Wales holiday home of former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown. The demonstrators argued Brown, was selling the five-bedroom house, in the small village of Llithfaen on the Llyn Peninsula for an inflated price – £150,000 – which local people could not afford. The monkey costumes worn by the anonymous protesters, referred to the name of Brown’s recent solo album ‘Unfinished Monkey Business.’
2009 – Boyzone singer Stephen Gately died suddenly at the age of 33 while on holiday in Majorca. Spanish police said there were no signs of suspicious circumstances, but the cause of death was not yet known. Gately was on holiday with his long-term partner Andy Cowles.
2014 – Taylor Swift was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year 2014, making her the first artist to receive the award twice. The award goes to the female artist who “has shaped and inspired the music industry with her success, leadership and innovation” over the last year.
2023 – Ed Sheeran was at No.1 on the UK chart with his seventh studio album Autumn Variations. It became his seventh UK No.1 album and debuted at No.4 on the Billboard 200 in the US.
Today in history
1549 – Edward Seymour, the first Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, had his title stripped from him. After having been stripped of his title in 1552, Seymour was sentenced to death by the King, who was his 14-year-old nephew. The event was considered a plot against Seymour, also known as a coup d’état.
1580 – After a three day siege, (the Siege of Smerwick) the English Army beheaded over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir in Ireland. Although the defenders eventually surrendered, most of them were then massacred on the orders of the English commander, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Arthur Grey.
1731 – The birth of Henry Cavendish, the English physicist and chemist who discovered hydrogen.
1846 – British astronomer William Lassell discovered Neptune’s largest moon, Triton.
1877 – William Morris, motoring pioneer and English car manufacturer, was born. The Morris name remained in use until 1984 when British Leyland’s Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin brand.
1881 – The Savoy Theatre in London, the first public building to be lit by electricity, opened with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Patience’.