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 296 of the year.

Thursday, October 23rd Daily Prep.

Known as National iPod Day, National Crocs Day, Lung Health Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
2018 – The world’s longest over sea bridge opened in China. The 34.2-mile bridge links the cities of Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. The bridge reduced what was a four-hour journey, to just 45 minutes.
The world’s longest over sea bridge opened in China. The 34.2-mile bridge links the cities of Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. The bridge reduced what was a four-hour journey, to just 45 minutes.
Today’s birthdays
1959 – Weird Al Yankovic (66), American comedy musician, writer, and actor (“Amish Paradise”, “Another One Rides the Bus”), born in Downey, California, United States.
1976 – Cat Deeley (49), English television presenter (SMTV Live, CD:UK, Fame Academy, This Morning), born in West Bromwich, West Midlands.
1976 – Ryan Reynolds (49), Canadian actor (Deadpool, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and co-owner of Wrexham AFC, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1978 – Jimmy Bullard (47), English former professional footballer (West Ham, Fulham, Ipswhich Town), coach and television personality (Soccer AM), born in East Ham, London.
1986 – Emilia Clark (39), English actress (Terminator Genisys) best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, born in London.
Famous deaths
2014 – Alvin Stardust (b. 1942), English rock singer and stage actor (“My Coo Ca Choo”).

2016 – Pete Burns (b. 1959), English singer, songwriter and lead vocalist with the band Dead or Alive (“You Spin Me Round”).

2024 – Geoff Capes (b. 1949), English shot putter, strongman, and Highland Games competitor. He was famous in the UK in the 1980s for his sporting prowess and appearances on television in shows such as Superstars and the World’s Strongest Man.
The day today
1906 – Women suffragettes, campaigning for the right to vote, held a demonstration at the House of Commons. Ten were arrested and sent to prison.

1954 – Britain, the US, France and the USSR agreed to end the occupation of Germany. On the same day, the Western nations agreed to allow West Germany to enter NATO.

1967 – British farmers began slaughtering cattle following a severe outbreak of ‘foot and mouth’ disease. A farmer from Bryn Farm near Oswestry in the county of Shropshire, concerned by the health of one of their sows, sought veterinary advice and the animal was found to have contracted foot-and-mouth disease. Bryn Farm was immediately put into quarantine and general animal movement was banned.
1977 – Despite not driving in the season ending Japanese Grand Prix, Austrian Niki Lauda wins his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 17 points from Jody Scheckter of South Africa.
1987 – Lestor Piggot, the 11-time champion jockey, who guided home nine Derby winners, was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to three years in prison, although he served just over a year. He was also stripped of his OBE, which had been awarded in 1975.
1991 – The House of Lords ruled that husbands could legally be convicted of raping their wives, overturning the centuries-old legal principle that a wife’s consent was implied by marriage. The ruling declared that a marital rape exemption did not exist in English law, making it possible for a husband to be found guilty of raping his wife.
2001 – Apple releases the iPod. As of May 28, 2019, only the iPod Touch (7th generation) remains in production.
2012 – The switchover to digital television in the UK was complete when the analogue TV signal in Northern Ireland was turned off on Tuesday night at 23:30 BST. Simultaneously BBC Ceefax, the world’s first teletext service, launched on 23rd September 1974 took its final bow with a series of graphics on Ceefax’s front page.
2013 – Prince George, future king and future head of the Church of England was baptised at the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace.
2018 – The world’s longest over sea bridge opened in China. The 34.2-mile bridge links the cities of Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. The bridge reduced what was a four-hour journey, to just 45 minutes.
2018 – The Freddie Mercury bio film “Bohemian Rhapsody” directed by Bryan Singer, starring Rami Malek (Best Actor Academy Awards 2019) premieres in London.
Today in music
1961 – Dion started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Runaround Sue’, it reached No.11 in the UK.
1976 – Chicago started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘If You Leave Me Now’. It was the group’s 18th Top 40 and first US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK. It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
1982 – Culture Club were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’, the group’s first chart topper and the first of 12 UK Top 40 hits. The song became a major hit after their memorable debut performance on Top Of The Pops when they stood in for Shakin’ Stevens who was ill and not able to appear.
1993 – Take That scored their first UK No.1 album with their second release ‘Everything Changes.’ The album which was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize became the third best selling album of 1993 in the UK.
1993 – Meat Loaf had his first UK No.1 with ‘I’d Do Anything For Love’ (But I Won’t Do That’). It stayed at No.1 for seven weeks. A No.1 in twenty-eight countries and gave Meat Loaf his first US No.1 hit.

2005 – Arctic Monkeys scored their first UK No.1 single with ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, the Sheffield bands debut single.

2006 – Amy Winehouse released her “signature song” ‘Rehab’ as a single, taken from her second studio album, Back to Black. The lyrics are autobiographical, and talk about Winehouse’s refusal one time to enter a rehabilitation clinic. It won three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and also won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.
2008 – Beyonce went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘If I Were A Boy’, the singers fourth UK No.1 hit. Taken from her third solo album, I Am’ Sasha Fierce.
2015 – Adele released ‘Hello’ as the lead track from her third studio album, 25. The music video for the song broke the Vevo Record by achieving over 27.7 million views within 24-hours and entered the top of the UK Singles Chart with 333,000 combined sales, of which 259,000 were downloads, making it the biggest selling No.1 single on the UK chart in three years.
2016 – English singer-songwriter and television personality Pete Burns died following a sudden cardiac arrest. He was a member of the Mystery Girls (with Pete Wylie and Julian Cope), and then Dead Or Alive who scored the 1985 UK No.1 single ‘You Spin Me Round, Like A Record’.
Today in history
1295 – The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.
1641 – The outbreak of the Irish Rebellion began as an attempted coup d’état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule. However, the coup failed and the rebellion developed into an ethnic conflict between the native Irish Catholics and the English and Scottish Protestant settlers.
1642 – The first major battle of the English Civil War took place at Edgehill in South Warwickshire. Charles I and Prince Rupert led the Royalists and the Earl of Essex led the Parliamentarians. It was an inconclusive result that prevented either faction gaining a quick victory in the war, which eventually lasted four years.
1666 – The most intense tornado on record in English history, an F4 storm on the Fujita scale or T8 on the TORRO scale, strikes the county of Lincolnshire, with winds of more than 213 miles per hour (343 km/h).
1814 – Joseph Constantine Carpue (1764-1846) performed the first plastic surgery operation in Britain, reconstructing the nose of an army officer whose nose had collapsed due to long-term mercury treatments for a liver complaint. The operation lasted fifteen minutes, with no anaesthetic.

1843 – Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square was finally completed. It commemorates Admiral Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.