September 7th "2024" Daily Prep

Welcome to day 251 of the year! Known as World Beard Day, National Beer Lovers Day, Buy A Book Day. If you were born today you were likely conceived the week of December 15th in the previous year. Your star sign is Virgo and your birthstone is Sapphire.
Germany began regular bombing of London (and other British cities) commonly known as ‘The Blitz’ beginning with the London Docks. The bombing continued until May and was a response to a British nighttime air raid on Berlin. The campaign was named after the German word blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war".
1940 – Germany began regular bombing of London (and other British cities) commonly known as ‘The Blitz’ beginning with the London Docks. The bombing continued until May and was a response to a British nighttime air raid on Berlin. The campaign was named after the German word blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war”.
Todays birthdays
1943 – Gloria Gaynor (81), American singer-songwriter, (“I Will Survive”, “I Am What I Am”, “Never Can Say Goodbye”), born in Newark, New Jersey, United States.
1951 – Chrissie Hynde (73), American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Pretenders – “Brass In Pocket”), born in Akron, United States.
1966 – Toby Jones (58), English actor (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), born in Hammersmith, London.
1968 – Marcel Desailly (56), Ghanaian former professional footballer (Marseille, AC Milan, Chelsea, French national team), born in Accra, Ghana.
1973 – Shannon Elizabeth (51), American actress (American Pie, Thirteen Ghosts, Scary Movie, Love Actually), born in Houston, Texas, United States.
Famous deaths
2021 – Sarah Harding (b. 1981), English singer who was a member of the girl group, Girls Aloud (“Sound of the Underground”). The group achieved twenty consecutive top ten singles (including four number ones) in the UK.
The day today
1907 – The Lusitania set sail from Liverpool for New York on her maiden voyage. She set a record, crossing the Atlantic in five days at an average speed of 23 knots (26 miles per hour).
1973 – Jackie Stewart became world champion racing driver for the third consecutive year.
1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated by a Bulgarian secret police agent using a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
2009 – Sir Terry Wogan announced that he was to step down as presenter of BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show. The veteran broadcaster first hosted the breakfast show in 1972, returning to the role in 1993. Wake Up to Wogan was the UK’s most popular breakfast radio show with 7.93 million listeners each week.
2019 – One of the British Army’s oldest regiments (41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot) will celebrate its 300th anniversary with an event at Cardiff Castle. The regiment continued in service until 1881, when it was amalgamated into The Welsh Regiment. Raised in March 1719 by Edmund Fielding, it drew its troops from independent companies of invalids – those otherwise considered too ill, old or injured for active service. He also recruited Chelsea out-pensioners, men who received a pension from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, but lived in their own homes.
Today in music
1976 – ABBA were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dancing Queen’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and their only US No.1 chart topper. The song was a No.1 hit in over a dozen countries and stayed at the top of the Swedish charts for 14 weeks.
1985 – David Bowie and Mick Jagger were at No.1 on the UK singes chart with their version of the Martha Reeves and The Vandellas 1964 hit ‘Dancing In The Street.’ The song had been recorded as part of the Live Aid charity appeal. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realised that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.
1996 – Rapper Tupac Shakur was shot four times in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. Tupac was just 25 years old at the time and was shot twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the thigh. He died in hospital from his wounds on September 13.
2003 – Black Eyed Peas started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Where Is The Love.” The best selling single of 2003.
2010 – Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was voted the greatest ‘lighter in the air song of all time’ by lighter company Zippo. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’, was voted in at No. 2 and Meat Loaf’s ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ was at No. 3 in the survey.
Today in history
1533 – The birth of Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. She was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603 and was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married, being too shrewd to share power with a foreign monarch.
1548 – Catherine Parr, 6th wife of Henry VIII, died in childbirth.
1571 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was arrested for his role in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. He was executed for treason in 1572 and is buried within the walls of the Tower of London.
1665 – The death of George Viccars, the first plague victim to die in the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. The plague raged for 14 months. Out of a population of 350 people, only 80 survived.
1838 – Grace Darling and her father rescued the crew of the Forfarshire, a steamer wrecked off the Northumberland coast, close to the Longstone Lighthouse. She became a national heroine.