September 14th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 258 of the year! Known as Gobstopper Day, National Cream-Filled Donut Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 22nd in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1951 – Prime Minister Clement Attlee opened the largest oil refinery in Europe, at Fawley on Southampton Water when it was rebuilt and extended and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom.
Todays birthdays
1935 – Amanda Barrie (89), English actress (Carry On Cabby, Carry On Cleo) known for her role as Alma Halliwell in Coronation Street from 1981 to 2001, born in Greater Manchester.
1945 – Martin Tyler (79), English football commentator (Sky Sports from 1990 to 2023) and semi-professional football coach, born in Chester, Cheshire.
1967 – John Power (57), English singer-songwriter, bass player, and guitarist (The La’s – “There She Goes”), born in Allerton, Liverpool.
1978 – Ben Cohen (46), English former rugby union outside back (57 Tests; Northampton RFC, CA Brive, Sale Sharks RFC), born in Northampton.
1981 – Ashley Roberts (43), Ashley Roberts, American singer, dancer and former member of The Pussycat Dolls (“Don’t Cha”, “When I Grow Up”), born in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
Famous deaths
2009 – Keith Floyd (b. 1943), British celebrity cook, restaurateur, television personality and “gastronaut” who hosted cooking shows for the BBC.
2009 – Patrick Swayze (b. 1952), American actor (Dirty Dancing, Road House, Ghost), singer (“She’s Like the Wind”) and dancer.
The day today
1951 – Prime Minister Clement Attlee opened the largest oil refinery in Europe, at Fawley on Southampton Water when it was rebuilt and extended and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom.
1964 – The British daily newspaper, the Daily Herald, ceased publication and was replaced by the Sun.
1981 – A teenage boy who fired blank shots at the Queen in June 1980, pleaded guilty to a charge under the 1848 Treason Act.
1988 – A London taxi reached New Delhi with the meter showing a fare of £13,200. It was part of a six-man expedition on the way to Sydney.
2001 – An exceptionally rare first edition of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic Frankenstein broke the world auction record for a printed work by a woman when it was sold, (Lot 96), for £850,000 at Christie’s in New York. The first edition was one of 500 copies of the novel printed in 1818, and the first to be auctioned since 1985.
Today in music
1984 – David Bowie won Video of the year for ‘China Girl’ at the first MTV Video awards. The song co-written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop during their years in Berlin, first appeared on Pop’s album The Idiot released in 1977.
1996 – Peter Andre scored his first UK No.1 single when ‘Flava’ went to the top for one week. The English-born Australian singer became a major television personality after taking part in the British reality TV series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!; during which he met and subsequently married glamour model Jordan. The couple split in May 2009 after three and a half years of marriage.
1999 – It was reported that George Michael was being sued for $10m by the policeman who arrested the singer in a public lavatory. Marcelo Rodriguez claimed he was mocked in the video ‘Outside’ leaving him in physical distress.
2008 – Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson was one of the pilots who flew specially chartered flights after 85,000 tourists were stranded in the US, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe after Britain’s third-largest tour operator went into administration. The singer, who had worked for the airline Astraeus for nine years, took up flying during a low point in his solo career after he quit the band in 1993. Also on this day… Kings Of Leon started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sex On Fire’ taken from the band’s fourth studio album Only by the Night.
2014 – A life-size bronze statue of singer Amy Winehouse was unveiled in Camden, north London. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, said she was “in love with Camden” and it was the place fans associated with her. Created by sculptor Scott Eaton, the statue features the Back to Black star with her hand on hip and her trademark beehive hairdo.
Today in history
1607 – The ‘Flight of the Earls’ from Lough Swilly, Donegal, in Ireland took place when Hugh Ó Neill (the earl of Tyrone) and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe following their earlier defeat in battle. They hoped to recruit an army for the invasion of Ireland with Spanish help, but King Philip III of Spain wanted to preserve the recent peace with England under its new Stuart dynasty so it was all to no avail. Nevertheless he persisted with the invasion plan until his death in exile in 1616.
1752 – The 3rd of September became the 14th as the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain. Crowds of people rioted on the streets demanding, ‘Give us back our 11 days.’
1759 – The earliest dated board game in England was sold on this day by its inventor John Jeffreys, from his house in Chapel Street, Westminster. The game was called ‘A Journey Through Europe’, or ‘The play of Geography’.
1852 – The Duke of Wellington, victor at Waterloo, died aged 83. He was known as the Iron Duke and was Tory Prime Minister from 1828-30. ‘Duke of Wellington’ is a hereditary title, derived from the Somerset town of Wellington and was created for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington.
1868 – At the Open Championships at Prestwick in South Ayrshire, Scotland, the legendary Scottish golfer Tom Morris scored the first recorded hole-in-one, on the 8th hole (166 yards).