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 301 of the year.

Tuesday, October 28th Daily Prep.

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.
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.
Today’s birthdays
1941 – Hank Marvin (84), 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 (70), American business magnate, investor and writer best known for co-founding the software giant Microsoft, born in Seattle, Washington, United States.
1957 – Stephen Morris (68), 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 (58), American actress (Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich, Notting Hill), born in Smyrna, Georgia, United States.
1978 – Gwendoline Christie (47), English actress known for her roles as Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones) and as Principal Larissa Weems (Wednesday), born in Worthing, West Sussex.
1982 – Matt Smith (43), English actor best known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, born in Northampton, Northamptonshire.
1983 – Joe Thomas (42), English actor (The Festival) best known for playing Simon Cooper in the comedy series The Inbetweeners, born in Chelmsford, Essex.
Famous deaths
2022 – Jerry Lee Lewis (b. 1935), American pianist, singer, and songwriter (“Great Balls of Fire”).
2023 – Matthew Perry (b. 1969), American actor who gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends.
The day today
1930 – The birth of Bernie Ecclestone English business magnate who is generally considered the primary authority in Formula One motor racing. His early involvement in the sport was as a competitor and then manager and, in 1972, he bought the Brabham team, which he ran for fifteen years. As a team owner he became a member of the Formula One Constructors’ Association.

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.
1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis Ended. After thirteen of the tensest days of the Cold War, the Soviet Union announced it would dismantle the ballistic missiles it had placed in Cuba. In return, the United States agreed not to invade Cuba again.
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.
2011 – Vincent Tabak, a 33 year old Dutch engineer with an obsession for violent sex and pornography, was found guilty of strangling landscape architect Joanna Yeates for sexual thrills. Her body was found, covered with leaves on Christmas morning 2010. The police initially suspected and arrested Christopher Jefferies, Yeates’ landlord, who lived in a flat in the same building. The nature of press reporting on aspects of the case led to ‘substantial, undisclosed libel damages’ from eight newspapers being awarded to Mr. Jefferies.
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.
2014 – 105 year old Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children, most of them Jews, from the Nazis was awarded the Czech Republic’s highest state honour, the Order of the White Lion. He was aged 29 when he arranged trains to take the children out of occupied Czechoslovakia and for foster families to meet them in London.
2015 – The World Health Organization ranked Tuberculosis as deadly as HIV in its list of the world’s most deadly diseases.
Today in music
1967 – ‘Diana Ross and The Supremes Greatest Hits’ started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart. Although original member Florence Ballard is pictured on the cover and sings on all the tracks, by the time the LP was released, she had been fired from the group and replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
1973 – David Cassidy was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Daydreamer / The Puppy Song’, the singers second No.1. ‘The Puppy Song’ was Cassidy’s version of the Harry Nilsson song.

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.
2022 – One of the last survivors of rock ‘n’ roll’s golden age Jerry Lee Lewis died aged 87. Nicknamed “the Killer”, he was described as Rock and roll’s first great wild man and had worldwide hits with ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ and ‘Great Balls of Fire’. His life was also marred by scandal and violence. His career was briefly halted when, aged 22, he married his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown. In 1976 he accidentally shot his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, in the chest when playing with a loaded .357 Magnum.
Today in history
1492 – Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name “Juana”.
1640 – English King Charles I signs a peace treaty with the Scottish Covenanters, ending the Second Bishops’ War.

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.