September 30th "2023" daily prep

Welcome to day 273 of the year! Known as Ask A Stupid Question Day and International Translation Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of January 7th 2023 and your star sign is “Libra”.
1840 – The foundation stone for Nelson’s Column (laid by Charles Davidson Scott) was laid in Trafalgar Square and completed in 1843.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Michael Van Wijk (71), Indian-born English bodybuilder, professional sportsperson, actor and TV presenter. He is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, born in Mumbai, India.
1965 – Omid Djalili (58), British stand-up comedian, actor and TV presenter (Winning Combination) of Iranian heritage, born in Chelsea, London.
1980 – Martina Hingis (43), Swiss former professional tennis player, born in Košice, Slovakia.
1984 – Keisha Buchanan (39), English singer and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes (Push the Button, About You Now), alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy, born in Kingsbury, Northwest London.
1997 – Max Verstappen (26), Belgian-Dutch racing driver and the 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Champion, born in Hasselt, Belgium.
The day today
1936 – Pinewood Film Studios opened near Iver, in Buckinghamshire, to provide Britain with a film studio to compete with America’s Hollywood Studios in California.
1946 – 22 Nazi leaders, including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Hermann Goering are found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death or prison at the Nuremberg war trials.
1955 – James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause) regarded as a cultural icon, is killed aged 24 when his new Porsche Spyder collides with a Ford Tudor at an intersection.
1967 – Launch of the UK’s first National pop radio station, BBC Radio 1 as DJ Tony Blackburn plays Flowers In The Rain by The Move.
1994 – Music channel VH1 launches in the UK with the first airing of the video for ‘Dolphin’ by The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
Today in music
1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John had their second UK No.1 from the film ‘Grease’ with ‘Summer Nights.’ Seven weeks at No.1 it became the second best selling single of 1978, beaten by ‘Saturday Night Fever’.
1995 – Simply Red scored their first UK No.1 single when ‘Fairground’ started a four-week run at the top of the charts. It was their 15th UK Top 40 hit.
1999 – Chris de Burgh’s web site was closed down after countless obscene messages were posted on the guestbook. One message consisted entirely of two four-letter words repeated 3500 times.
2003 – An auction of the contents of Sir Elton John’s London home raised more than £1.4 million. An oil painting, entitled Madison Square Park, sold for £67,200, and a 19th Century portrait of Lieutenant George Dyer, painted by James Northcote in 1817, fetched £55,200. Sir Elton sold off the items so he could redecorate his home in a more modern style.
2007 – Foo Fighters went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Echoes Silence Patience & Grace the bands sixth studio album and second UK No.1. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Album, and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
Today in history
1630 – John Billington, one of the original pilgrims who sailed to the New World on the Mayflower, became the first man executed in the English colonies. He was hanged for having shot another man during a quarrel.
1772 – The death of James Brindley, British canal builder and one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. The Trent and Mersey Canal was the first part of Brindley’s ambitious project to use canals to link the four great rivers of England: the Mersey, Trent, Severn and Thames (the “Grand Cross” scheme).
1840 – The foundation stone for Nelson’s Column (laid by Charles Davidson Scott) was laid in Trafalgar Square and completed in 1843.
1888 – Jack the Ripper murdered two more women – Liz Stride, found behind 40 Berner Street, and Kate Eddowes in Mitre Square, both in London’s East End.
1909 – The Cunard Line’s RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.
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