April 23rd "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 114, known as International English Language Day, Saint George’s Day. If you were born on this day, you were likely conceived the week of July 31st in the previous year. Your star sign is Taurus and your birthstone is Diamond.
1982 – The launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer. The entry level model had 16 kB RAM and an external tape recorder was needed to load the majority of software.
Todays birthdays
1962 – John Hannah (62), Scottish film and television actor (The Mummy, Sliding Doors, Four Weddings and a Funeral), born in East Kilbride.
1979 – Barry Hawkins (45), English professional snooker player, born in Ditton, Kent.
1988 – Alistair Brownlee (36), English triathlete (gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics), born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
1995 – Gigi Hadid (29), American fashion model and television personality, born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
2018 – Prince Louis of Wales (6), member of the British royal family and currently fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, born in St Mary’s Hospital, London.
Famous deaths
1616 – William Shakespeare (b. 1564), English playwright and poet (MacBeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet).
2005 – John Mills (b. 1908), English actor with more than 120 films (Ryan’s Daughter, The Family Way, Tunes of Glory) in a career spanning seven decades.
The day today
1968 – The first decimal coins appeared in Britain – the 5p and 10p pieces which replaced the 1 shilling and 2 shilling coins.
1982 – The launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer. The entry level model had 16 kB RAM and an external tape recorder was needed to load the majority of software. It was ‘a computer for the masses’ and much cheaper than its rivals – the Commodore 64 and the BBC Microcomputer.
1983 – Canadian snooker player Cliff Thorburn completed the first televised maximum break of 147 during the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield.
2005 – The first video was uploaded to YouTube. The video was uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim and was titled “Me at the zoo.”
2023 – The first test of the government’s new phone alert system at 3pm. The system has been 10 years in the making and will send an emergency alert to mobile phones when there is an imminent threat to people’s lives.
Today in music
1971 – The Rolling Stones released their classic album Sticky Fingers in the UK. The band’s first release on their own label via Atlantic Records, the cover was designed by Andy Warhol, who was paid $15,000 for his efforts.
1988 – Iron Maiden went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’, their second No.1 LP.
1994 – Pink Floyd were at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth UK No.1 album.
2008 – Amy Winehouse went out on a drink and drug-fuelled spree and hit and head-butted two men. After drinking all day, Amy visited the Good Mixer pub in Camden, London with Babyshambles guitarist Mik Whitnall. Inside she allegedly punched Mustapha el Mounmi in the face after he refused to give way to her at the pool table. The singer then left to visit Bar Tok in the early hours and once at the bar shouted “I am a legend get these people out. I want to take drugs.” After leaving the bar a good Samaritan tried to get her a cab, but she reportedly thought he was trying to molest her and allegedly head-butted him in the face.
2019 – Ed Sheeran was forced to knock down an outdoor sauna and ditch a huge pub sign at his £1.5 million Suffolk mansion after he failed to get planning permission. He had named his home pub after his wife Cherry Lancaster Seaborn, calling it The Lancaster Lock – but council officers weren’t happy. They demanded he take down the 16ft sign after finding he’d broken planning rules during a site visit.
Today in history
871 AD – The death of Æthelred I (sometimes rendered as Ethelred) king of Wessex from 865 to 871.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred II (Ethelred the Unready) as king of England. Unready, meaning ‘poorly advised’ was a play on his name, which means ‘well advised’.
1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III. It is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron saint. Membership to the order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four ‘members, or companions.’
1516 – Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria enacted The German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot), strictly regulating beer making. The law meant that only three ingredients were permitted in Bavaria beer; water, barley, and hops.
1661 – Charles II was crowned King of England, completing the restoration of the monarchy. His father, Charles I, had been beheaded by Oliver Cromwell following the Civil War.