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 288 of the year.

Wednesday, October 15th Daily Prep.

Known as Global Handwashing Day, National Fossil Day, National Mushroom Day, National Grouch Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1956 – The last RAF Lancaster bomber was retired from service. Built by Armstrong Whitworth, Lancasters served in the RAF from February 1946 until December 1953 and were officially withdrawn in a ceremony at St. Mawgan, Cornwall.
The last RAF Lancaster bomber was retired from service. Built by Armstrong Whitworth, Lancasters served in the RAF from February 1946 until December 1953 and were officially withdrawn in a ceremony at St. Mawgan, Cornwall.
Today’s birthdays
1948 – Chris de Burgh (77), British singer-songwriter (“The Lady in Red”, “A Spaceman Came Travelling”) and instrumentalist, born in Venado Tuerto, Argentina.
1959 – Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson (66), Duchess of York, British author (Budgie the Little Helicopter), and television personality, born in The London Welbeck Hospital, London.
1969 – Dominic West (56), English actor (300, The Crown, SAS: Rogue Heroes), best known for his role as Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
1971 – Andy Cole (54), English former professional footballer (Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers), born in Nottingham.
1989 – Anthony Joshua (36), English professional boxer and a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, born in Watford.
Famous deaths
1977 – Bing Crosby (b. 1903), American singer (“White Christmas”), entertainer and actor (Holiday Inn, High Society).

2022 – Robbie Coltrane (b. 1950), Scottish actor, comedian and writer (Harry Potter, Nuns on the Run, The World Is Not Enough, Cracker).

The day today
1941 – Hitler declared that all of Germany’s Jews must be relocated, and Polish Jews found outside of their ghettos would be shot on sight. Additionally, anyone who helped Jewish people would be killed too.
1953 – The British nuclear test Totem 1 was detonated at Emu Field in South Australia. The main purpose of the trial was to determine the limit on the amount of plutonium-240 which could be present in a bomb and thus aid the British government’s weapons programme.
1956 – The last RAF Lancaster bomber was retired from service. Built by Armstrong Whitworth, Lancasters served in the RAF from February 1946 until December 1953 and were officially withdrawn in a ceremony at St. Mawgan, Cornwall.
1961 – Amnesty International was founded in London by British lawyer Peter Benenson. Inspired by a newspaper article about two Portuguese students imprisoned for toasting liberty, Benenson published an “Appeal for Amnesty” and established the organization to campaign for human rights.
1973 – Britain and Iceland ended the ‘Cod War’ on fishing rights by a NATO-brokered agreement that recognized Iceland’s 200-nautical-mile fishing limit, forcing Britain to concede its fishing rights in those waters and effectively ending its distant-water fishing operations in the area.
1987 – The Great Storm with hurricane-force winds and gusts up to 100mph, caused massive devastation in Southern England causing 18 deaths. Falling trees and winds damaged roads and railways, disrupted electricity and telephone lines, and damaged many buildings.
1997 – Andy Green broke the land speed record by driving the Thrust SSC to a speed of 763 mph (1,228 km/h), becoming the first person to break the sound barrier on land at Black Rock Desert, Nevada. The record still stands.
2017 – The round £1 coin, introduced in 1983, went out of circulation at midnight. Its replacement was 12 sided and had additional security features.
2021 – David Amess, a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Southend West, was fatally stabbed at a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. His killer, Ali Harbi Ali, a British citizen and Islamic State sympathiser, was arrested at the scene. In April 2022, Ali was convicted of murder and the preparation of terrorist acts, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.
Today in music
1966 – The Four Tops started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Reach Out, I’ll Be There’. The group’s second US No.1 and their first No.1 in the UK, (and becoming Motown’s second UK chart-topper after The Supremes No. 1 hit ‘Baby Love’ in late 1964).
1973 – Dolly Parton released ‘Jolene’ as the first single and title track from her album of the same name. According to Parton, the song which peaked at No. 1 on the Country charts was inspired by a red-headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband Carl Dean at his local bank branch when they were newly married. ‘Jolene’ is the song most recorded by other artists, out of all the songs Parton has written.
1988 – UB40 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Neil Diamond song ‘Red Red Wine’, also a No.1 hit in the US, South Africa, Netherlands and Canada.
1995 – Paul and Linda McCartney were the guest voices on The Simpsons in an episode called “Lisa the Vegetarian”. Macca’s stipulation for appearing was that Lisa’s decision to become a vegetarian would be a permanent character change.
2000 – U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Beautiful Day’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’.
2006 – The Sugababes were the most successful UK all-female act of the 21st century, according to new figures. Since their chart debut in 2000, they had scored 16 hits, beating the likes of Madonna and Britney Spears. The trio first made UK chart history in 2002 when, with ‘Freak Like Me’, made them the youngest female group to top the chart.
2021 – Elton John achieved his first UK No.1 single in sixteen years when his collaboration with Dua Lipa, ‘Cold Heart (Pnau remix)’, rose to the top of the UK Singles Chart during its fifth week in the top-ten.
Today in history
1666 – Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that Charles II had started wearing the first known waistcoat. The King was so overweight that he left the bottom button undone, a fashion custom followed to this day
1783 – Aviation pioneers, the Montgolfier brothers, made the first human ascent in a hot air balloon. Étienne Montgolfier piloted the tethered flight in the Réveillon workshop in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, a suburb of Paris.
1827 – Charles Darwin was admitted to Christ’s College, Cambridge gaining his BA in 1831, his MA in 1836 and an honorary doctorate in 1877.
1864 – The Church Times published ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’, with music by Arthur Sullivan and words by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. It was written for a children’s festival.
1887 – Preston North End beat Hyde 26-0 in an FA Cup tie, the highest goal score ever by an English club in a major competition, with James Ross the first player to score seven goals in a 1st Division match.
1888 – A ‘From Hell’ letter was sent to George Lusk, then head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, claiming to be from the serial killer Jack the Ripper. It was delivered with a small box containing half of what doctors later determined was a human kidney, preserved in ethanol. One of his victim’s kidneys had been removed by the killer, which gave the letter some authenticity. The letter ended with the words – ‘Catch me when you can Mister Lusk.’, but the Ripper was never caught.