Thursday, September 4th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 247, Known as National Wildlife Day, Eat an Extra Dessert Day, Macadamia Nut Day. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1739 – At Curry’s Point in Whitley Bay (Tyne and Wear), Michael Curry was executed for the murder of the landlord at the Three Horseshoes Inn, Hartley. His body was afterwards hung in chains from a gibbit at this spot within sight of the scene of his crime.
Todays birthdays
1944 – Dave Bassett (81), English former football manager (Barnsley, Leicester City) and player (Wimbledon), born in Stanmore, Greater London.
1944 – Gene Parsons (81), American musician, singer and former member of the Byrds (“Turn! Turn! Turn!”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”), born in Morongo Valley, California, United States.
1968 – John DiMaggio (57), American voice actor who’s roles include Bender on Futurama, Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War game series (for which he won Best Male Voice Over in a Video Game) and various characters in the Transformers film franchise, born in North Plainfield, New Jersey, United States.
1975 – Mark Ronson (50), English musician, DJ and record producer, best known for his collaborations with artists such as Amy Winehouse (Valerie) and Bruno Mars (Uptown Funk), born in St John’s Wood, London.
1981 – Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (44), American singer (Halo, Beautiful Liar, Single Ladies, Crazy in Love) and songwriter, born in Houston, Texas, United States.
1982 – Mark Lewis-Francis (43), retired British track and field athlete (Gold medalist in the 4x100m relay sprint at the 2004 Athens Olympics), born in Birmingham.
1990 – James Bay (35), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (“Hold Back the River”), born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
Famous deaths
2006 – Steve Irwin (b. 1962), Australian zoologist and television host (The Crocodile Hunter Diaries).
2014 – Joan Rivers (b. 1933), American comedian, television host and author known for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona.
The day today
1909 – The first Boy Scout rally was held at Crystal Palace, near London.
1939 – A Bristol Blenheim bomber became the first British aircraft to cross the German coast following the declaration of war. German ships were bombed but the aircraft stood little chance against the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 during daylight operations, although it proved successful as a night fighter.
1955 – British TV newsreaders were seen in vision for the first time. The first was the BBC’s Kenneth Kendall.
1981 – The start of the Greenham Common peace protest (a series of protest camps established to protest against nuclear weapons) outside the US Air Force base in Berkshire. The protest lasted for 19 years.
1985 – The wreck of the Titanic was photographed for the first time, 73 years after it sank with the loss of 1,500 lives.
1988 – British customs officers intercepted a helicopter landing on its way in from Holland. It was the first helicopter known to have been used in an attempt to smuggle drugs into Britain.
1998 – International TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” was shown for the first time in the UK, with Chris Tarrant as the host.
It wasn’t long before the US caught on to the game, and they released their own version on ABC on August 16, 1999.
2016 – Mother Teresa was declared a saint by Pope Francis during a ceremony at the Vatican.
2018 – A 400-year-old shipwreck was discovered just 15 miles off the coast of Portugal. Among the debris, pieces of Chinese porcelain, bronze cannon, and even peppercorns were found. It is thought the vessel was a trade ship between Europe and Asia.
2018 – Amazon became the second company in the world to be worth over $1 trillion.
This came just five short weeks after Apple was the first company to reach the same value.
Today in music
1964 – The Who had their van stolen containing over £5000 worth of equipment outside the Battersea Dogs Home. The band were inside the home at the time buying a guard dog. The van was later recovered in Clapham, missing a door, and most of the gear was gone, though about half was eventually recovered from a raid on a house in Morden a fortnight later.
1968 – The Bee Gees had their second UK No.1 single with ‘I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You’. The song is about a man who, awaiting his execution in the electric chair, begs the prison chaplain to pass a final message on to his wife.
1976 – The Bee Gees went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘You Should Be Dancing’, the group’s third US No.1, a No.5 hit n the UK. It was this song that launched the trio into Disco stardom and is the first chart-topper in which Barry Gibb used his now-trademark falsetto.
1976 – The Sex Pistols made their television debut when they appeared on the Manchester based Granada TV program ‘So It Goes’.
1982 – Survivor were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the theme from the film Rocky III ‘Eye Of The Tiger’, their only chart topper. Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for the song.
1995 – Blur, Oasis, Radiohead, Paul Weller, Manic St Preachers and The Stone Roses all recorded tracks for the ‘War Child’ charity album, which was released five days later. All profits went to children caught up in the current war in former Yugoslavia.
1996 – Oasis created outrage at the MTV awards held at New York’s Radio City Hall. During the bands performance of ‘Champagne Supernova’ singer Liam spat on stage and threw a beer into the crowd.
2007 – The Police played the first UK date on their Reunion tour when they played two nights at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
Today in history
925 AD – Æthelstan was crowned king of the Anglo Saxons by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Kingston upon Thames, perhaps due to its symbolic location on the border between Wessex and Mercia. The reign of Æthelstan has been overshadowed by the achievements of his grandfather, Alfred the Great.
1588 – The death of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a favourite and possible lover of Queen Elizabeth I. When his wife Amy died after falling down the stairs, it was widely rumoured that Dudley had murdered her in order to marry Elizabeth. The Queen rejected him, even proposing that he wed Mary, Queen of Scots.
1609 – English navigator Henry Hudson, working for the Dutch East India Company, arrived at the island of Manhattan, before sailing up the river that now bears his name.
1739 – At Curry’s Point in Whitley Bay (Tyne and Wear), Michael Curry was executed for the murder of the landlord at the Three Horseshoes Inn, Hartley. His body was afterwards hung in chains from a gibbit at this spot within sight of the scene of his crime.
1884 – Britain stopped sending convicts to New South Wales in Australia.