October 28th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 302 of the “leap” year! Known as National Chocolate Day, International Animation Day, Plush Animal Lover’s Day. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1959 – The first use of a car phone, with a call from Cheshire to London. A mere twenty five people had paid the astronomical sum of £200 each for one of the phones.
Todays birthdays
1941 – Hank Marvin (83), English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the backing band for Cliff Richard, born in Newcastle upon Tyne.
1955 – Bill Gates (69), American business magnate, investor and writer best known for co-founding the software giant Microsoft, born in Seattle, Washington, United States.
1957 – Stephen Morris (67), English drummer who is best known for his work with the rock band New Order (“Blue Monday”) and previously, Joy Division (“Love Will Tear Us Apart”), born in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
1967 – Julia Roberts (57), American actress (Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich, Notting Hill), born in Smyrna, Georgia, United States.
1978 – Gwendoline Christie (46), English actress known for her roles as Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones) and as Principal Larissa Weems (Wednesday), born in Worthing, West Sussex.
Famous deaths
2023 – Bobby Charlton (b. 1937), English footballer and manager (member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup).
The day today
1949 – The glove puppet Sooty, with Harry Corbett, made his first appearance on BBC TV.
1959 – The first use of a car phone, with a call from Cheshire to London. A mere twenty five people had paid the astronomical sum of £200 each for one of the phones.
1962 – The opening of Britain’s first urban motorway – the M62 (now M60) around Manchester.
2011 – Commonwealth leaders pledged to amend legislation dating back to the 17th century to allow daughters of the monarch to take precedence over younger sons in the line of succession.
2014 – Tesco’s Aberystwyth store made a blunder on a Welsh sign which was supposed to advertise ‘free money’ from the supermarket’s cashpoint. The sign read “codiad am ddim”, meaning free erections when it should read “arian am ddim” which means free money.
Today in music
1995 – Coolio featuring L.V. scored his first UK No.1 single with ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. The song sampled the chorus of the 1976 Stevie Wonder song ‘Pastime Paradise’ and featured in the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds (starring Michelle Pfeiffer).
2001 – Afroman (Joseph Foreman), started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Because I Got High.’ The song about how cannabis use was degrading his quality of life, rose from obscurity to popularity after it was circulated around the Internet.
2007 – X Factor winner Leona Lewis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with the first track from her debut album ‘Bleeding Love.’ Lewis had the biggest week one sales so far in 2007 that year outselling the rest of the top five put together, with 218,000 copies. She beat Take That’s ‘Rule The World’ into second place.
2013 – New Zealand singer Lorde topped the UK singles chart with her debut single, ‘Royals’, making her the youngest solo artist to score a UK No.1 since 15-year-old Billie Piper’s ‘Because We Want To’ in 1998.
2016 – Elvis Presley broke the record for the most No.1 albums by a solo artist. The late singer’s new album The Wonder Of You beat competition from Lady Gaga and Michael Buble to become his 13th album to top the chart. Before now, Elvis and Madonna were tied record holders with 12 No.1 albums each to their names.
Today in history
1664 – The Corps of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, commonly referred to as the Royal Marines, was established. It was originally known as The Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot.
1726 – English literature classic Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift was published.
1794 – The birth of Robert Liston, Scottish physician who carried out Britain’s first operation with the aid of an anaesthetic. He was also the inventor of the double edged amputation knife (Liston Knife).
1831 – English physicist Michael Faraday demonstrated the dynamo, founding the science of electro-magnetism.
1893 – HMS Havelock, the Royal Navy’s first destroyer, went on trials.