Friday, September 12th "2025" Daily Prep

Welcome to day 255, Known as National Video Game Day, Chocolate Milkshake Day, Stand Up To Cancer Day. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1970 – The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise.

Todays birthdays

1944 – Colin Young (81), British singer and lead vocalist with The Foundations (“Build Me Up Buttercup”), born in Barbados Island, Barbados.

1973 – Darren Campbell (52), English former sprint athlete and the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season, born in Sale, Greater Manchester.

1974 – Guy Smith (51), English professional racing driver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (winner in 2003), born in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire.
1981 – Jennifer Hudson (44), American singer-songwriter (“Spotlight”), actress (Dreamgirls, Respect), born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
1986 – Alfie Allen (38), English actor (Game of Thrones – “Theon Greyjoy” and John Wick – “Iosef Tarasov”), born in London, England.
1986 – Emmy Rossum (39), American actress (Shameless USA, The Day After Tomorrow), born in New York, New York, United States.
Famous deaths
2003 – Johnny Cash (b. 1932), American singer-songwriter (“Ring of Fire”, “I Walk the Line”), guitarist, and actor (Stagecoach).

The day today

1906 – The opening of the Newport Transporter Bridge in South Wales. Only eight such bridges remain in use worldwide and this is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain.
1936 – Britain’s Fred Perry won the US Tennis Championships against Donald Budge. Britain had to wait a further 76 years for a male singles champion and on 11th September 2012 Andy Murray won the US Open, beating Novak Djokovic.
1940 – A 17,000-year-old cave art was discovered in France. A dog fell down a hole and when the owner (Marcel Ravidat) and his friends went to help, they discovered paintings of animals on the walls within the cavern. They are now known as the Lascaux Cave Paintings, and the area is now a World Heritage Site.
1960 – Ministry of Transport (MOT) tests on motor vehicles were introduced in the UK.
1970 – The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise.
2005 – England took the Ashes from Australia for the first time since 1987.
2012 – After three years reviewing 450,000 documents, including those relating to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Merseyside police, the Hillsborough Independent Panel published its report. The report exposed the police campaign to blame Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster which saw the death of 96 fans. It led to a new criminal inquiry into the disaster and an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
2017 – East London sewers were blocked by an 829 foot (253 meters), 23 ton giant fatberg. Fatbergs are formed when things are flushed down the toilet that shouldn’t be. This mass was comprised of fat, wet wipes, oil, condoms, and more.
2021 – All Britain’s major newspapers carried the story of unseeded 18 year old Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, after beating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets. She did not drop a set through qualifying or the main draw, was the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam and was the first British woman to win a Grand Slam trophy since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
Today in music
1954 – The first ‘teen idol’, Frank Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Three Coins In The Fountain,’ the singer’s first UK No.1. The song was The Academy Award winning Best Original Song of 1954.
1963 – The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Loves You’, the group’s second No.1. It became the biggest seller of the year and the biggest selling Beatles single in the UK.
1970 – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Tears Of A Clown’, their first UK No.1. Stevie Wonder (who was discovered by Miracles member Ronnie White), and his producer Hank Cosby wrote the music for the song.
1987 – Michael Jackson kicked of his Bad World Tour by playing the first of three sold-out nights at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. By the end of the 123-date tour, Jackson had played to over 4million fans across fifteen countries.
1990 – Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac announced they were leaving the band at the end of their current tour. At the time, some believed that Nicks’ and McVie’s departures were hastened by bad blood in the wake of Fleetwood’s memoir, Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac.
1999 – The Vengaboys went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘We’re Going To Ibiza!’ The song was originally known as ‘Barbados’ a No.1 for Typically Tropical in 1975. The Vengaboys gave it a new title with revised lyrics.
2003 – US singer songwriter Johnny Cash died of respiratory failure aged 71 following complications from diabetes.
2010 – Lady Gaga wore a full outfit made of meat for the MTV Video Music Awards. Designed by Franc Fernandez, it was a controversial and iconic fashion statement sparking much debate, particularly from animal rights groups, and was seen as a political statement against the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy at the time.
2020 – Taylor Swift was at No.1 on the US chart with her eighth studio album Folklore. The album had over 80.6 million global streams on Spotify and earned the Guinness World Record for the most opening-day streams for an album by a female artist. The album broke the Apple Music record for the most-streamed pop album in a day and the Amazon Music indie/alternative record. Folklore and its songs received five Grammy Award nominations at the 63rd ceremony, winning the Album of the Year.

Today in history

1440 – Eton College was founded by Henry VI for 25 poor and needy scholars. Prefects were warned to look out for “ill-kempt heads, unwashed faces, foul clothes”.
1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship ‘Half Moon’ into New York harbour and 150 miles further inland to Albany, along the waterway now called Hudson River.
1792 – Court martial begins for instigators of the mutiny on the Bounty on board HMS Duke in Portsmouth harbour, presided over by Vice-Admiral Samuel Hood.
1852 – The birth of Herbert Henry Asquith, British Liberal Prime Minister. It was Asquith who introduced old age pensions and Lloyd-George was his Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1878 – Cleopatra’s Needle, an ancient Egyptian obelisk, 68ft of granite, was presented to Britain by the ruler of Egypt and Sudan and erected on the Thames Embankment. Inside the pedestal were placed some important reminders of the British Empire, including Bradshaw’s Railway Guide, Whitaker’s Almanack and a dozen pin-ups of Victorian ladies.
1885 – The Scottish football team of Arbroath beat Bon Accord (from Aberdeen) by 36 goals to nil in the first round of the Scottish Cup, making it a record breaking score for professional football. Thirteen goals were scored by centre-forward John Petrie.