September 20th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 264 of the year! Known as National Fried Rice Day, National String Cheese Day, National Tradesmen Day. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1997 – Elton John started a six week run at No.1 in the UK singles chart with “Candle in the Wind ’97’ as a tribute to Princess Diana. It became the best-selling single of all time.
Todays birthdays
1934 – Sophia Loren, born Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (90), Italian actress (El Cid, The Black Orchid, Arabesque), born in Rome, Italy.
1967 – Kristen Johnston (57), American actress (Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock From the Sun, Wilma in The Flintstones – Viva Rock Vegas), born in Washington, D.C.
1971 – Henrik Larsson (53), Swedish professional football coach (Helsingborgs IF) and former player (Celtic, Barcelona), born in Helsingborg, Sweden.
1973 – Jo Pavey (51), British long-distance runner representing Europe, Great Britain and England plus BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award nominee, born in Devon.
1975 – Juan Pablo Montoya (49), Colombian racing driver (Formula 1 from 2001–2006), born in Bogotá, Colombia.
Famous deaths
2004 – Brian Clough (b. 1935), English footballer (Sunderland, England) and manager (Derby County, Nottingham Forest).
The day today
1932 – Four branches of Methodism in England united to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain and Ireland. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, the United Methodist Free Churches and the United Methodists.
1967 – The liner Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) was launched at Clydebank, Scotland by Queen Elizabeth II. The ship’s anchor was donated to Southampton by Cunard in March 2010.
1978 – Police launched a massive manhunt for the killers of 13 year old paperboy Carl Bridgewater. He had been shot in the head at close range at an isolated farmhouse near Stourbridge in Staffordshire.
2000 – Neversoft’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 was released for the PlayStation. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 has a legendary status among skaters and gamers alike and is the second-highest-rated video game of all time on Metacritic.
2012 – Apple’s new mapping service for iPhone users was launched, with many errors. It relocated London – England to London – Ontario, Paddington station vanished and Dublin was gifted a previously undiscovered airport on a 35 acre working farm. Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, was nowhere to be found while the Welsh town of Pontypridd was transplanted six miles north-west and placed where Tonypandy should have been.
Today in music
1969 – Based on the comic-book TV series Archie and his friends The Archie’s started a four-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Sugar Sugar. It became the longest running One Hit Wonder in the UK after spending eight weeks at the top of the charts.
1980 – Kate Bush scored her first UK No.1 album with ‘Never For Ever.’ It was the first ever album by a British female solo artist to top the UK album chart as well as being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at No.1.
1995 – The Daily Mirror ran a front page story ‘ban this sick stunt’ referring to the new single from Pulp ‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz.’ The artwork showed how to fold a ‘speed’ wrap, the sleeve was changed, the single entered the UK chart at No.8.
1997 – Elton John started a six week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Something About The Way You Look Tonight’, and ‘Candle In The Wind 97.’ A re-write of his 1974 hit about Marilyn Monroe. This version was raising funds for the Diana, Princess of Wales charity, following her death in Paris. It went on to become the biggest selling single in the world ever.
2009 – Muse went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘The Resistance’ the bands fifth studio album.
Today in history
1066 – The Battle of Fulford, Yorkshire. Harald III Hardrada of Norway defeated the Northern Saxon Earls Edwin and Morcar.
1258 – The consecration of Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom at 123m/404 ft. It also has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain, the world’s oldest working clock (from AD 1386) and the best surviving of the four original copies of Magna Carta.
1643 – The First Battle of Newbury (English civil war). King Charles I’s forces were beaten by a parliamentary army led by the Earl of Essex and Philip Stapleton.
1854 – The Russian army was defeated by the British and French at the Battle of Alma, considered to be the first battle of the Crimean War. The first six Victoria Crosses to be awarded to the British Army for acts of bravery during the fighting were won at this battle.
1860 – The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) visited the United States. It was the first tour of North America by an heir to the British throne. The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward’s self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain.