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 269 of the year.

Friday, September 26th Daily Prep.

Known as European Day of Languages, Shamu the Whale Day, National Doodle Day, Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning and World Maritime Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1997 – Two earthquakes strike the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to collapse and damaging priceless artefacts.
Two earthquakes strike the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to collapse and damaging priceless artefacts.
Today’s birthdays
1939 – Ricky Tomlinson (86), English actor (Brookside, Mike Bassett: England Manager), best known for his role as Jim Royle in The Royle Family, born in Bispham, Lancashire.
1944 – Anne Robinson (81), English television presenter (The Weakest Link, Watchdog, Points of View), born in Crosby, Merseyside.

1945 – Bryan Ferry (80), English singer-songwriter and the front man of Roxy Music (“Love Is The Drug”), born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

1956 – Linda Hamilton (69), American actress best known for playing Sarah Connor in The Terminator franchise, born in Salisbury, Maryland.
1962 – Tracey Thorn (63), English singer and a member of the duo Everything but the Girl (“Missing”), born in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire.
1962 – Melissa Sue Anderson (63), American actress known for her role as Mary Ingalls in the drama series Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), born in Berkeley, California.
1981 – Serena Williams (44), American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, born in Saginaw, Michigan.
Famous deaths
1902 – Levi Strauss, (b. 1829), German-American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans, Levi Strauss & Co.
2003 – Robert Palmer, (b. 1949), English singer and songwriter (“Addicted to Love”, “Simply Irresistible”).
The day today
1953 – Sugar rationing in Britain, which began in 1940, finally ended. The removal of sugar from rationing led to an immediate and significant increase in spending on confectionary in the UK. While the initial surge was substantial, sweet sales didn’t experience a steep rise until the more prosperous decades of the 1960s and 70s.
1955 – Birds Eye frozen fish fingers first went on sale in Britain, launched by the company Birds Eye at their factory in Great Yarmouth. The product, an instant hit with consumers, was marketed as a cheap, quick, and convenient meal after a poll of company workers chose the name “Fish Fingers” over “Cod Sticks” or “Herring Savouries”.
1956 – In the first European Cup tie played on English soil. Manchester United beat Anderlecht 10-0 at Maine Road.
1973 – Concorde made its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time, cutting the previous record in half, and flying at an average speed of 954 mph.
1984 – Britain agreed to transfer full sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997, ending 150 years of British rule.

1997 – Queen Elizabeth II and the British Government announced that the Royal Yacht Britannia would neither be refitted nor replaced because of the high cost. She is now a floating tourist attraction in Edinburgh.

1998 – Sheffield Wednesday’s Paolo Di Canio is banned for 11 matches and fined £10,000 for pushing over referee Paul Alcock (who made a real meal of it) after being sent off in the game against Arsenal at Hillsborough.
1997 – Two earthquakes strike the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to collapse and damaging priceless artefacts.
2013 – The funeral service was held for 5 year old April Jones, in her hometown of Machynlleth, mid Wales. She was murdered by 47-year-old Mark Bridger almost a year previously, sparking the biggest missing person search in UK police history.
2017 – The video game Fortnite: Battle Royale by Epic Games is released, eventually becoming one of the most popular games worldwide.
2019 – The World Health Organization announced that they would give measles vaccinations to 800,000 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This announcement was made after reports showed that 3,500 people died each year from the disease.
Today in music
1964 – Roy Orbison started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Oh Pretty Woman’. The title was inspired by Orbison’s wife Claudette interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out; when Orbison asked if she was okay for cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected “A pretty woman never needs any money.”

1981 – Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden replacing Paul Di’Anno, and debuted on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast.

1987 – Michael Jackson started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Bad’. Released nearly five years after Jackson’s previous studio album, Thriller, Bad, went on to become the world’s best-selling album having sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide. The album produced five US No.1’s, the first album to do so… Also on this day, Whitney Houston started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’.
2003 – A report published on requests by artists to venues of their backstage requirements revealed; Limp Bizkit insisted that all the lamps in their rooms be dimmable while Mariah Carey would only have ‘bendy’ straws as she will not use straight ones. Van Halen insisted that back-stage celery is trimmed and not peeled. The Red Hot Chili Peppers asked for a meditation room and a selection of aromatherapy candles. Barry Manilow requested that the air temperature in the auditorium be kept at a regular 65 degrees.

2003 – English singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died of a heart attack aged 54 in Paris France. He was a member of Vinegar Joe and Power Station (with Duran Duran members Andy Taylor and John Taylor with drummer and former Chic member Tony Thompson). As a solo artist had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single ‘Addicted To Love’ and the 1988 hit ‘Simply Irresistible’.

2004 – Green Day scored their first UK No.1 album with ‘American Idiot’ the bands seventh release.
2016 – Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony and several other record labels filed a law suit against the operators of YouTube-mp3.org, a service that allowed its users to remove audio from videos streamed on YouTube. The court action, launched against a German company, alleged that “tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month.”
Today in history
1580 – The Devonshire born seaman Francis Drake returned to Plymouth, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to circumnavigate the earth. Drake plundered a few Spanish ships en-route to keep morale high!
1687 – The city council of Amsterdam voted to support William of Orange’s invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution. King James II of England (James VII of Scotland and James II of Ireland) was overthrown and William ascended the English throne as William III of England, jointly with his wife Mary II of England.
1748 – The birth, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, of Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars.
1861 – The first British Open Golf Championship began at Prestwick, Ayrshire.
1879 – The world’s first railway dining car was introduced in Britain on the line between London and Leeds.