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 300 of the year.

Monday, October 27th Daily Prep.

Known as National Black Cat Day, Cranky Co-Workers Day, National Mother-in-Law Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
2006 – Amy Winehouse released her second and final studio album Back to Black. The album spawned five singles: “Rehab”, “You Know I’m No Good”, “Back to Black”, “Tears Dry on Their Own” and ‘”Love Is a Losing Game” and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Amy Winehouse released her second and final studio album Back to Black. The album spawned five singles: "Rehab", "You Know I’m No Good", "Back to Black", "Tears Dry on Their Own" and ‘"Love Is a Losing Game" and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Today’s birthdays
1939 – John Cleese (86), English actor (Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, A Fish Called Wanda), comedian and screenwriter, born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
1953 – Peter Firth (72), English actor best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme Spooks, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

1957 – Glenn Hoddle (68), English former footballer (Tottenham, Swindon, Chelsea) and manager (England, Southampton, Tottenham, Wolverhampton), born in Hayes, London.

1958 – Simon Le Bon (67), English singer and the lead vocalist and lyricist of the band Duran Duran (“Hungry Like the Wolf”, “The Reflex”), born in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
1978 – Vanessa-Mae (47), British violinist who also competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics, born in Singapore.
1984 – Kelly Osbourne (41), English television personality, singer (“Changes”), fashion designer and the daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, born in Westminster, London.
Famous deaths
1988 – Charles Hawtrey (b. 1914), English actor and comedian appearing in 24 of the 31 Carry On films, his first being Carry On Sergeant (1958).
The day today
1914 – World War I: The British super-dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious was sunk off Tory Island, north-west Ireland, by a minefield laid by the armed German merchant-cruiser Berlin. The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Sir John Jellicoe, proposed that the sinking be kept a secret, to which the Board of Admiralty and the British Cabinet agreed, and for the rest of the war, Audacious’ name remained on all public lists of ship movements and activities.
1967 – Britain passed the Abortion Act, allowing abortions to be performed legally for medical reasons.
1968 – An estimated 6,000 marchers, demonstrating against the Vietnam War, faced up to police outside the US Embassy in London.
1978 – Four people were killed and four others seriously wounded after a gunman (Barry Williams) went on a shooting spree on the Bustleholm estate, Wednesbury and later at a service station in Nuneaton.
1986 – The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang.
2013 – German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit to clinch his 4th straight F1 World Drivers Championship and 6th consecutive Grand Prix victory.
2016 – A letter John Lennon wrote to the Queen explaining why he was returning his MBE was found tucked in a record sleeve from a £10 car boot haul. It was later valued at £60,000. Lennon had returned the MBE in protest at Britain’s involvement in the Biafra civil war.
2017 – The first successful operation of conjoined twins joined at the head was completed in New Delhi, India. The surgery took 16 hours and a team of 30 doctors.
2017 – Gaza plunged into a total communications blackout as Israel launches one of its biggest nights of bombing so far. Around 1,200 people were killed in the October 2023 Hamas attack and 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Today in music
1957 – The Crickets started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘That’ll Be The Day’. It was also a No.3 hit in the US where it went on to sell over a million.

1966 – The Four Tops were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” The group’s only UK No.1.

1977 – Baccara were at No.1 in the UK singles chart with “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”. They were the first Spanish act to score a UK No.1, and first female duo to do so. “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” is also one of the thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.
1980 – Former T. Rex member Steve Took, choked to death on a cherry stone, after some magic mushrooms he had eaten, numbed all sensation in his throat, he was aged 31.
2006 – Amy Winehouse released her second and final studio album Back to Black. The album spawned five singles: “Rehab”, “You Know I’m No Good”, “Back to Black”, “Tears Dry on Their Own” and ‘”Love Is a Losing Game” and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Back to Black sold 3.58 million copies in the UK alone, becoming the UK’s second best-selling album of the 21st century. Worldwide, the album has sold over 20 million copies.
2014 – The Pet Shop Boys’ “Always On My Mind” was voted the top cover version of all time in a BBC Music vote. The song, written by John Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, was first made famous by Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley in 1972. Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” came in second place, followed by The Stranglers’ version of Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By”. Jimi Hendrix’s take on Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ came fourth and Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” completed the top five.
2014 – Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album, “1989.” The album won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards in 2016. This made Swift the first female solo artist to win Album of the Year twice.
2019 – Scottish singer, songwriter Lewis Capaldi achieved his first No.1 single in the US with ‘Someone You Loved’ after the track had spent 23 weeks in the US charts before reaching the top. The singer celebrated by painting his face in the style of the Stars and Stripes.
Today in history
939 AD – Edmund I succeeded Athelstan as King of England. Edmund was murdered at a feast in his own hall in 946 at the age of 25. His younger half-brother, Eadred, succeeded him.
1644 – The Second Battle of Newbury in the English Civil War took place in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The combined armies of Parliament inflicted a tactical defeat on the Royalists, but failed to gain any strategic advantage.
1662 – Charles II of England sold the coastal town of Dunkirk to King Louis XIV of France.
1682 – Englishman William Penn founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a close companion of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers and was offered a charter for land in the New World as a way to escape persecution in London for his religious beliefs. He established Pennsylvania as a refuge for Quakers and other religious minorities.
1728 – The birthday of Captain James Cook, English naval officer and one of the greatest navigators in history. His voyages in the Endeavour led to the European discovery of Australia, New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands. Thanks to Cook’s understanding of diet, no member of the crew ever died of scurvy, the great killer on other voyages. In his youth he was apprenticed to a ship owner in Whitby… NOTE: His birthday is 7 November 1728 but due to the new Gregorian calendar, the dates changed over from the Julian calendar.