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 297 of the year.

Friday, October 24th Daily Prep.

Known as National Jamaican Jerk Day, World Polio Day, World Tripe Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
2003 – The legendary supersonic aircraft, Concorde, landed for the final time amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport. The final transatlantic flight, ending 27 years of supersonic history, carried 100 celebrities from New York.
The legendary supersonic aircraft, Concorde, landed for the final time amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport. The final transatlantic flight, ending 27 years of supersonic history, carried 100 celebrities from New York.
Today’s birthdays
1936 – Bill Wyman (89), English musician who and former bassist for the rock band the Rolling Stones (“Satisfaction”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”), born in Lewisham, London.
1957 – Sarah Greene (68), English television presenter and actress (Blue Peter, 1980-83; Going Live!, Ghostwatch), born in St Pancras, London.

1966 – Roman Abramovich (59), Russian business oligarch and former owner of Chelsea FC, born in Saratov, Russia.

1971 – Dervla Kirwen (54), Irish actress (Goodnight Sweetheart, Ballykissangel, House of Guinness), born in Churchtown, Dublin.
1978 – Sabrina Washington (47), English singer and lead vocalist with the garage/R&B girl group Mis-Teeq (“Scandalous”, “All I Want”), born in Harlesden, London.
1985 – Wayne Rooney (40), English professional football manager and former player (Manchester United and England) and current head coach at Plymouth Argyle, born in Liverpool.
Famous deaths
2005 – Rosa Parks (b. 1913), American civil rights activist, best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in defiance of racial segregation laws.
The day today
1908 – Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel were sent to prison for ‘inciting the public to rush the House of Commons’. Two Cabinet ministers were witnesses for the defence including Lloyd-George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1969 – British actor Richard Burton bought his wife, American actress Elizabeth Taylor, a 69.42 carat pear-shaped diamond, known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond costing more than half a million pounds.
1976 – English McLaren driver James Hunt finishes 3rd in the season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway to win his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship over Niki Lauda. Lauda withdrew from the race due to dangerous, rainy conditions, which allowed Hunt to clinch the championship by just one point.
1979 – Guinness World Records recognised Paul McCartney as the most successful songwriter and musician in popular music history, awarding him a special “Triple Superlative Award”. This was in recognition of his immense achievements, including being the most successful composer and recording artist, having 60 gold discs, and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles.
1983 – Civil servant Dennis Nilsen, a Scottish serial killer and necrophile from North London, went on trial for the murder six teenage boys and two attempted murders, despite having killed at least 12 between 1978 and 1983.
1995 – Britain’s main church leaders attacked the setting up of Britain’s first National Lottery, accusing it of undermining public culture and damaging society.
2003 – The legendary supersonic aircraft, Concorde, landed for the final time amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport. The final transatlantic flight, ending 27 years of supersonic history, carried 100 celebrities from New York.
2008 – ‘Bloody Friday’ saw many of the world’s stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices. This was a key moment in the global financial crisis, marking the point where the crash spread worldwide beyond just the United States and Europe.
2012 – Sir Norman Bettison resigned as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, saying that an inquiry into his role after the Hillsborough football tragedy of 1989 was ‘a distraction’ to the force. At the time he was a South Yorkshire Police inspector who attended the match as a spectator and later took part in an internal inquiry. He denied claims that he helped ‘concoct’ a false version of events.
2018 – The European Union banned many single-use plastic products, such as plates, cutlery, and straws, from being placed on the market in 2021. The directive was created to address plastic pollution, particularly in the marine environment, where a significant amount of plastic waste comes from these single-use products.
2022 – It was announced that Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the Tory leadership race.
Today in music
1970 – Pink Floyd were at No.1 on the UK album chart with the ‘Atom Heart Mother’, the group’s first No.1. The album cover shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text nor any other clue as to what might be on the record.

1979 – Paul McCartney received a medallion cast in rhodium after being declared the most successful composer of all time. From 1962 to 1978, McCartney had written or co-written 43 songs that had sold over a million copies each.

1987 – Michael Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Bad’, a No.3 hit in the UK. A music video for ‘Bad’, directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starring one of the first appearances of yet-undiscovered Wesley Snipes, was released in late 1987.
1987 – Sting went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his third solo release ‘Nothing Like The Sun.’ The title comes from Shakespeare’s Sonnet No.130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”), which Sting used in the song “Sister Moon”. The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards.
1999 – Westlife went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Flying Without Wings’. It made the Irish boy band only the third act to debut at No.1 with their first three singles, B*Witched and Robson and Jerome being the other two.
2004 – Queen became the first rock act to receive an official seal of approval in Iran. Western music was still strictly censored in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is considered a crime. Freddie Mercury, was proud of his Iranian ancestry, and illegal bootleg albums and singles had made Queen one of the most popular bands in Iran.
2006 – Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut studio album. Swift was 16 years old at the time of the album’s release and the album went on the top the Country Albums Chart for 24 non-consecutive weeks selling over seven million copies. The album also became the longest-charting album on the Billboard 200 of the 2000s decade, remaining on the chart for 277 weeks in total.
2017 – American pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino died aged 89 at his home in Harvey, Louisiana after a long-term illness. Domino’s 1956 version of ‘Blueberry Hill’ was selected for the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry of historic sound recordings worthy of preservation.
Today in history
1537 – Henry VIII’s 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, died following the birth of future king, Edward VI.
1596 – The second Spanish armada sets sail to strike against England, but is smashed by storms off Cape Finisterre forcing a retreat to port.
1681 – The first Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, was accused of high treason in London for his role in the movement to bar the Catholic James II from the succession. While he was released after a Whig grand jury dismissed the charges, he later fled to Amsterdam in 1682 due to fears of a second prosecution and died there in 1683.
1851 – English merchant and astronomer, William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus. He also discovered Neptunes moon Titan on 10th October 1846 and Saturns moon Hyperionian on 16th September 1848.
1857 – The founding of the world’s first official football club, Sheffield Football Club, in Yorkshire, by a group of former students from Cambridge University. The club’s finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup, a competition conceived after a suggestion by Sheffield. They are commemorated by the English Football Hall of Fame for their significant place in football history. Sheffield Wednesday was founded 4 September 1867 and Sheffield United was founded 22 March 1889.
1895 – The birth of Jack Warner OBE, the English film and television actor who is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon in the BBC television series Dixon of Dock Green, a part he played until the age of eighty.