October 31st "2024" Daily Prep

Welcome to day 305 of the “leap” year! Known as Halloween, Diwali, National Magic Day, Samhain. Your star sign is Scorpio and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
The Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
Happy Halloween – The Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
Click here for some Halloween Facts.
Todays birthdays
1961 – Larry Mullen (63), Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2 (“With Or Without You”), born in Artane, Dublin, Ireland.
1963 – Johnny Marr (61), British guitarist and songwriter (The Smiths – “This Charming Man”; “Ask”), born in Ardwick, Manchester.
1963 – Sanjeev Bhaskar (61), British actor, comedian and television presenter. (Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No. 42, Unforgotten), born in Ealing, London.
1982 – Monica and Gabriela Irimia (42), Romanian singing duo known as The Cheeky Girls (“Checky Boy”, “Take Your Shoes Off”), born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
1997 – Marcus Rashford (27), English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team, born in Manchester.
Famous deaths
1993 – River Phoenix (b. 1970), American actor (Stand By Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Sneakers).
2020 – Sean Connery (b. 1930), Scottish actor (The Rock, Entrapment, Highlander) and the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film in Dr No (1962).
The day today
1951 – The first zebra crossing was introduced on Slough High Street. Pedestrian crossings with Belisha beacons (amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole) had been in use in the UK since the 1930s, originally introduced under Section 18 of the Road Traffic Act, 1934.
1964 – The Windmill Theatre off London’s Piccadilly Circus closed after 32 years. Their slogan ‘We Never Closed’ was a tribute to them staying open to troops during the war.
1988 – Coventry became Britain’s first city to introduce a by-law banning the drinking of alcohol in public places. Coventry was made famous much earlier by Lady Godiva who, in July 1040, clothed only in her long hair, rode through the city after her husband agreed to repeal the taxes if she would strip naked and ride through the streets.
1997 – A 19 year old British au pair Louise Woodward, was found guilty by a court in America of murdering 8 month old Matthew Eappen.
2008 – Officials asked for the Welsh translation of a bilingual road sign which in English read – “No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only.” When the automatic e-mail came back from Swansea council it read “Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i’w gyfieithu” and this was duly printed on the road sign. Only later was it discovered that the Welsh part of the sign said “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.”
Today in music
1963 – Gerry And The Pacemakers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ The group’s third and final No.1.
1974 – Led Zeppelin held the UK launch for their new record label Swan Song at Chislehurst Caves, Kent, England on Halloween night. Drinks were served by nuns in suspenders, a naked woman lay in a coffin covered in jelly and naked male wrestlers cavorted in recesses of the caves. Label mates Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell also attended. The launch also tied in with the releases of The Pretty Things new album Silk Torpedo. The label was named after an unreleased Zeppelin instrumental track.
1998 – Chart history was made when the UK Top 5 singles chart was made up entirely of new entries. Alanis Morissette went in at No.5, Culture Club at No.4, U2 at No.3, George Michael at No.2 and Cher with ‘Believe’ at No.1. It made Cher (who was 52) the first female artist to have a No.1 single over the age of 50. The song was a No.1 in 23 countries.
2007 – 22-year-old X Factor winner singer Leona Lewis helped boost UK online music downloads to a record 1.7 million in one week making it the biggest week ever for download sales. Lewis sold more than 106,000 downloads of her track ‘Bleeding Love.’
2015 – One Direction played the final gig of their world tour before their self-proclaimed extended break. The show in Sheffield, England was the last of 80 shows across 20 countries. But 1D insisted they were not splitting up and instead wanted to focus on solo projects.
Today in history
1541 – After over four years in the making, Michelangelo unveiled “The Last Judgment” painting at the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.
1794 – English scientist John Dalton theorized to the Manchester Literary/Philosophical Society that colour blindness was caused by an abnormal tint in the vitreous humor, the jelly-like fluid in the eye, which filtered certain wavelengths of light. Dalton’s theory was met with resistance, so he donated his eyes for examination after his death. Dalton’s work led to the term “Daltonism” becoming a synonym for colour blindness.
1795 – The birth of John Keats, English romantic poet. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculosis at the age of 25.
1863 – The Maori Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato in North Island. In 1995 the Waikato Tainui tribe completed negotiations with the New Zealand government and accepted a settlement package worth approximately 1 percent of the value of the lands confiscated in 1863.
1888 – Scottish inventor John Boyd Dunlop patented pneumatic bicycle tyres. Dunlop’s company also manufactured other rubber products, including golf and tennis balls, floor coverings, and brake shoes.