Welcome to day 286 of the year! Known as No Bra Day, National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day and Train Your Brain Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of January 20th 2023. Your star sign is “Libra”.
2014 – 176 people took part in the 48th World Conker Championships at Southwick, in Northamptonshire. Competitors came from overseas, including the United States, Mexico, and Italy.
Todays birthdays
1941 – Paul Simon (82), American multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter (Simon & Garfunkel – “The Sound of Silence”; solo – “Kodachrome”; “Still Crazy After All These Years”; “Graceland”), and actor (One Trick Pony), born in Newark, New Jersey.
1946 – Edwina Currie (77), British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997, born in Liverpool.
1970 – Paul Potts (53), British pop-opera singer and 1st winner of Britain’s Got Talent (2007), born in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire.
1971 – Sacha Baron Cohen (52), English comedian, actor, writer and producer. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, born in Hammersmith, London.
1980 – Scott Parker (43), English soccer midfielder (18 caps; Charlton, West Ham, Fulham) and manager (Fulham, AFC Bournemouth), born in Lambeth, London.
The day today
1963 – The term Beatlemania was coined after The Beatles appeared at the Palladium. They made their debut as the top of the bill on ITV’s ‘Sunday Night at The London Palladium.’
1992 – The government announced plans to close one third of Britain’s deep coal mines, putting 31,000 miners out of work.
1996 – British racing driver Damon Hill, driving a Williams, won the Japanese Grand Prix to clinch his first (and only) World Championship.
2010 – All 33 miners trapped after a mining accident in Chile were rescued after being stuck underground for 69 days. The accident happened on August 5, 2010, at the San José copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert. The men were stuck 296.6 ft (700 m) under the surface, and it cost $20 million for the rescue mission.
2014 – The Royal College of Midwives took part in strike action for the first time in the organisation’s 133 year history, in protest at the government’s decision not to grant a 1% ‘across the board’ pay rise. The 4 hour strike, (from 7:00 a.m. at hospitals in England) also included nurses, paramedics, hospital porters and ambulance crews.
Today in music
1965 – The Who recorded ‘My Generation’ at Pye studios, London. When released as a single it reached No.2 on the UK chart, held off the No.1 position by The Seekers ‘The Carnival Is Over’. Roger Daltrey would later say that he stuttered the lyrics to try to fit them to the music. The BBC initially refused to play the song because it did not want to offend people who stutter.
1979 – Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’, his second US solo No.1, a No.3 hit in the UK.
1984 – Stevie Wonder started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’, his 7th US No.1, also No.1 in the UK.
2002 – Will Young went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut album ‘From Now On.’ Young came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise. His debut single, ‘Anything is Possible’, was released two weeks after the show’s finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the United Kingdom.
2011 – American band Maroon 5 were on the top 10 of the UK singles chart with ‘Moves Like Jagger’, featuring Christina Aguilera. Its lyrics referred to a male’s ability to impress a female with his dance moves, which he compared to those of Mick Jagger.
Today in history
1399 – Henry IV (the first King of the House of Lancaster) was crowned king of England.
1853 – The birth of Lillie Langtry, actress and mistress of King Edward VII, also the Earl of Shrewsbury and Prince Louis of Battenberg.
1884 – Greenwich was chosen as the universal time meridian of longitude from which standard times throughout the world are calculated.
1894 – The first Merseyside ‘derby’ football match was played at Goodison Park between Liverpool and Everton, with Everton winning 3 – 0.
1914 – The Safety Hood, which would later become the gas mask, was patented by Garrett Morgan. Morgan described his invention as a “portable attachment which will enable a fireman to enter a house filled with thick, suffocating gases and smoke.”