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 286 of the year.

Monday, October 13th Daily Prep.

Known as National No Bra Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Day, World Thrombosis Day, English Language Day and Yorkshire Pudding Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1996 – British racing driver Damon Hill, won his first and only Formula 1 World Championship driving for Williams at the Suzuka GP in Japan.
British racing driver Damon Hill, won his first and only Formula 1 World Championship driving for Williams at the Suzuka GP in Japan.
Today’s birthdays
1941 – Paul Simon (84), American multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter (Simon & Garfunkel – “The Sound of Silence”), born in Newark, New Jersey.
1946 – Edwina Currie (79), British writer, broadcaster and former politician (Conservative Party from 1983 until 1997), born in Liverpool.
1948 – Pete Spencer (77), British drummer and songwriter with Smokie (“Living Next Door to Alice”), born in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
1970 – Paul Potts (55), British tenor and winner of the first series of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent with his performance of “Nessun dorma”, born in Kingswood, Bristol.
1971 – Sacha Baron Cohen (54), English actor and comedian (Ali G, Borat, The Dictator, Grimsby), born in Hammersmith, London.
1980 – David Haye (45), British former professional boxer and a unified cruiserweight world champion in 2008), born in Bermondsey, London.
Famous deaths
2022 – Angela Lansbury (b. 1925), British-American actress (Bedknobs and Broomsticks) best known for her role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote.
The day today
1904 – The birth, in Halifax, of Wilfred Pickles OBE, actor and radio presenter. Pickles was a proud Yorkshireman and was the first newsreader to speak in a regional accent. His BBC Radio show ‘Have A Go’, ran from 1946 to 1967 and launched such catchphrases as ‘What’s on the table, Mabel?’ and ‘Are yer courting?’, all delivered in Pickles’s inimitable style.
1972 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying members of a Uruguayan rugby team and others, crashed in the Andes mountains. Survivors resorted to cannibalism to survive for 72 days before 16 of the 45 passengers were rescued.

1988 – The British Government lost its long-running battle to stop the publication of the controversial book Spycatcher, written by a former secret service agent.
Law Lords ruled the media can publish extracts from former MI5 officer Peter Wright’s memoirs, because any damage to national security had already been done by its publication abroad.

1992 – Under John Major’s Conservative administration, the government revealed plans to close 31 of Britain’s 50 remaining deep coal mines. The announcement projected job losses of around 31,000 miners. This move followed a history of declining mining employment, with over 200,000 miners losing their jobs between 1980 and 1994 due to a larger pattern of phasing out the coal industry.
1996 – British racing driver Damon Hill, won his first and only Formula 1 World Championship driving for Williams at the Suzuka GP in Japan.
2008 – The government said that they would pump billions of pounds of taxpayers money into three UK banks in one of the UK’s biggest nationalisations. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and HBOS would have a total of £37bn injected into them. In return for the investment, the government would get a say in how the banks were run, including controls over the bonuses paid to management.
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.

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.

2018 – 115,000-year-old Neanderthal child bones were found in Poland, and analysis confirmed they had passed through a giant bird’s digestive system. The child was likely between 5 and 7 years old, and while it’s unclear if the bird killed the child or found it as carrion, the bones show damage consistent with a large bird of prey.
2021 – William Shatner becomes the oldest person to reach space, travelling aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket at the age of 90 years and 7 months.
Today in music
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.’ They played, ‘From Me To You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘I’ll Get You.’

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.
2002 – UK rock band Muse took legal action against Celine Dion after she announced her forthcoming Las Vegas show would be called ‘Muse’. Singer Matt Bellamy from the band said ‘We don’t want anyone to think we’re Celine Dion’s backing band.’
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
1269 – The present church building at Westminster Abbey is consecrated in the presence of King Henry III. The church was built in the Gothic style, influenced by French cathedral architecture. The rebuilding project began after Henry III demolished the second church, which was built by Edward the Confessor and consecrated in 1065. The rebuilding took place from 1220 to 1272.
1399 – Henry IV (the first King of the House of Lancaster) was crowned king of England.
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.
1899 – The start of the siege of the British garrison at Mafeking by Boer forces. The commander of the garrison, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell and his forces held firm for 217 days.