Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 268 of the year.

Thursday, September 25th Daily Prep.

Known as National Comic Book Day, National Food Service Workers Day, National One-Hit Wonder Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1977 – Independent airline owner Freddie Laker took on the main commercial airlines with his first ‘Skytrain’ service between London and New York… Look how comfortable those seats look!
Independent airline owner Freddie Laker took on the main commercial airlines with his first ‘Skytrain’ service between London and New York… Look how comfortable those seats look!
Today’s birthdays
1944 – Michael Douglas (81), American actor (Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Romancing the Stone), born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States.
1946 – Felicity Kendal (79), English actress (The Good Life, Rosemary and Thyme), born in Olton, Solihull, West Midlands.
1951 – Mark Hamill (74), American actor (Luke Skywalker – Original Star Wars franchise), voice artist and writer, born in Oakland, California, United States.
1968 – Will Smith (57), American actor (Independance Day, I Am Legend, Men In Black, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
1969 – Catherine Zeta Jones (56), Welsh actress (Darling Buds of May, Entrapment, The Mask of Zorro, Wednesday), born in Swansea, Wales.
1975 – Declan Donnelly (50), British television presenter (Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent), actor (Byker Grove) and singer, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear.
1978 – Jodie Kidd (47), English fashion model and television personality, born in Guildford, Surrey.
Famous deaths
2023 – David McCallum, (b. 1933), Scottish actor (The Great Escape) best known for his role as secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E
The day today
1926 – Henry Ford changed employees’ working schedules to 8-hour days, 5 days a week. Around this time, some people worked 100 hours a week., The changes came with no reductions to their salaries.
1944 – World War II: Surviving elements of the British 1st Airborne Division withdrew from Arnhem in the Netherlands, thus ending the Battle of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time.

1956 – A Transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated. It consisted of 4,500 miles of cable, laid in waters up to 2.5 miles deep between Gallanach Bay, near Oban in Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland and initially carried 36 telephone channels.

1967 – Britain, France and West Germany signed an agreement to co-operate on an ‘airbus’ airliner, intended to rival American production.
1983 – Thirty eight republican prisoners, armed with 6 handguns, hijacked a prison meals’ lorry and smashed their way out of the Maze prison in County Down, Northern Ireland, considered one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. The escape was the biggest in British history, and the biggest in Europe since World War II when 76 Allied POW’s managed to escape from German Stalag Luft III.
1996 – The last of the ‘Magdalene Asylums’ closed in Waterford, Ireland. The asylums, for ‘fallen women’ and others believed to be of poor moral character, such as prostitutes, operated for much of the 19th and well into the 20th century.
2018 – Bill Cosby is sentenced to between three and ten years in prison for aggravated sexual assault.
2020 – David Attenborough gained one million followers on Instagram within 4 hours and 45 minutes of his first post. The famed British naturalist broke the record for the fastest time to reach a million followers on the social media platform. The previous record-holder was Jennifer Aniston, with a time of 5 hours and 16 minutes.
Today in music
1968 – Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Those Were The Days’. Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.
1980 – John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a heavy drinking session. ‘Bonzo’ was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours).
1993 – Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince started a two week run at No.1 in the UK with the single ‘Boom! Shake The Room’. Featuring Will Smith who was a rapper and actor starring in TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993.
1999 – Oasis singer, Liam Gallagher was stopped by customs officials at Heathrow airport and made to pay £1300 after not declaring a fur coat he had bought in America.
2000 – Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”
2006 – ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ by the Scissor Sisters was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, ‘Sexyback’ by Justin Timberlake was at No.1 on the US charts and Sandi Thom had the Australian No.1 single with ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair).
2007 – Foo Fighters released their sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Album, and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
2022 – The American psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling, starring Harry Styles, topped the box office while his song ‘As It Was’ remained at No.1 on the US Hot 100. The film was directed by Olivia Wilde, who started dating Styles after meeting him on set.
Today in history
1066 – England’s King Harold II defeated the King of Norway (Harald Hardrada), at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. After a horrific battle, Hardrada and most of the Norwegians were killed. Although Harold repelled the Norwegian invaders, his victory was short-lived and he was defeated and killed by the Normans at the Battle of Hastings less than three weeks later.
1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crosses the Panama Isthmus becoming first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
1660 – Samuel Pepys drank his first cuppa, after reading that tea made the body active and lusty.
1687 – Sir Isaac Newton published his theories on gravitation. Newton was born at Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham, Lincolnshire and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
1818 – The first blood transfusion using human blood (as opposed to earlier attempts with animal blood) took place at Guy’s Hospital in London.