Welcome to day 253 of the year! Known as World Suicide Prevention Day and National Swap Ideas Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of December 18th 2022 and your star sign is “Virgo”.
2012 – Andy Murray wins the US Open, his first Grand Slam title, beating Novak Djokovic.
Todays birthdays
1957 – Carol Decker (66), English singer and musician (T’Pau – China in Your Hand), born in Liverpool.
1958 – Siobhan Fahey (65), Irish singer and founding member of Bananarama 1981–1988 (Venus), then Shakespears Sister 1988–1996 (Stay), born in Dublin, Ireland.
1960 – Colin Firth CBE (63), English actor and producer (Bridget Jones Diary, The King’s Speech, Kingsman: Secret Service), born in Grayshott, Hampshire.
1968 – Guy Ritchie (55), English film director, producer and screenwriter (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
1995 – Jack Grealish (28), English professional footballer (Manchester City and England National Team), born in Birmingham.
The day today
1978 – Lotus driver Mario Andretti wins the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship with a sixth place at the Italian Grand Prix. Team mate Ronnie Peterson, 34, crashes and dies.
1988 – TV presenters Mike Smith and Sarah Greene are seriously injured when a helicopter he is piloting crashes in Gloucestershire. On the same day, Steffi Graf wins her first US title and completes the Grand Slam, beating Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
1993 – The pilot episode of the science-fiction series “The X-Files” aired on FOX in the US & Canada and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 19, 1994.
2005 – Glamour model Katie Price marries singer Peter Andre. On the same day, television presenter Kate Garraway marries former political lobbyist Derek Draper.
2012 – Andy Murray wins the US Open, his first Grand Slam title, beating Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Today in music
1988 – Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love.’ Taken from his film Buster the song had been a No.2 hit for The Mindbenders in 1966.
1991 – Nirvana’s single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was released in the US. The unexpected success of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in late 1991 propelled Nevermind to the top of the charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point where alternative rock entered the mainstream.
2006 – Scissor Sisters were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’, the American’s band first UK No.1. The song was co-written with Elton John, who also played piano on the song.
2007 – Girls Aloud broke the record for most consecutive top 10 hits in the U.K. singles chart by a female act. Their latest single ‘Sexy! No No No’ entered the chart at number five giving them a run of 16 top 10 hits.
2021 – ABBA returned to the top-ten of the UK Singles Chart for the first time in almost forty years when ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ debuted at No.9, becoming their 20th top-ten single. The group’s last single to reach the top-ten of the UK charts was ‘One of Us’, which peaked at No.3 in December 1981.
Today in history
1224 – The Franciscans, founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi, first arrived in England. They were originally called Grey Friars because of their grey ‘habits’.
1515 – Thomas Wolsey was invested as a Cardinal. When Wolsey failure to secure Henry VIII’s annulment to Catherine of Aragon it caused his downfall and arrest and he was stripped of his government office and property, including Hampton Court.
1547 – The Duke of Somerset led the English to victory over the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Musselburgh. It was the last full scale military ‘pitched battle’ confrontation between England and Scotland and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles.
1891 – Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-E, the most popular song in Victorian England in the 1890s was written by former Canadian bandsman Henry J Sayers. Sayers later admitted to copying an Austrian song after hearing the tune being played in a brothel.
1897 – George Smith, a London cab driver, became the first person to be convicted for drunken driving. He was fined £1.