December 10th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 345 of the “leap” year! Known as Human Rights Day, National Lager Day and Nobel Prize Day. Your star sign is Sagittarius and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
1979 – Twenty year old stuntman Eddie Kidd accomplished a “death-defying” motorcycle leap when he crossed an 80ft gap over a 50ft sheer drop above a viaduct at Maldon, Essex.
Todays birthdays
1952 – Clive Anderson (72), English television (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) and radio presenter, comedian, writer, and former barrister, born in Stanmore, Greater London.
1960 – Kenneth Branagh (64), Northern Irish actor and filmmaker (Murder on the Orient Express, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dunkirk), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1970 – Susannah Reid (54), English television presenter and journalist (Good Morning Britain, Death Row: Countdown to Execution), born in Croydon, South London.
1972 – Brian Molko (52), Belgian-born British singer and songwriter with Placebo (“Nancy Boy”, “Special K”), born in Brussels, Belgium.
1985 – Grace Chatto (39), English musician, singer, cellist and backing vocalist for the electronic music band Clean Bandit (“Rockabye”, “Symphony”), born in London.
Famous deaths
2005 – Richard Pryor (b. 1940), American comedian, actor (See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Superman III), producer, and screenwriter.
2020 – Barbara Windsor (b. 1937), English actress known for her roles in the Carry On films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.
The day today
1907 – Author Rudyard Kipling (Jungle Book, The Man Who Would Be King) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was the first time it had been bestowed on an English writer.
1936 – Edward VIII signed to abdicate the British throne.
Edward VIII signed his Declaration of Abdication so that he could marry Wallis Simpson – an American divorcee, a marriage which was opposed by the United Kingdom government.
1979 – Twenty year old stuntman Eddie Kidd accomplished a “death-defying” motorcycle leap when he crossed an 80ft gap over a 50ft sheer drop above a viaduct at Maldon, Essex. He jumped the Great Wall of China in 1993, but his career ended after he suffered serious head injuries in 1996 at a Hell’s Angels rally in Warwickshire.
1990 – The first of the hostages held in the Gulf for four and a half months arrived in Britain, after their release by Saddam Hussein. A total of 100 British hostages were freed and landed at Heathrow airport, with the promise of a further 400 to follow.
2003 – The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Angela Cannings, jailed for life for the murder of her two baby sons. She had always maintained that the two boys died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death.
Today in music
1975 – ABBA released ‘Fernando’. The song is one of ABBA’s best-selling singles of all time, with six million copies sold in 1976 alone and is one of fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. The song was written for group member Anni-Frid Lyngstad and was included on her debut 1975 album Frida ensam.
1999 – A war of words broke out between Cliff Richard and George Michael after George branded Cliff Richards hit ‘Millennium Prayer’ as ‘vile’. Cliff hit back by saying that his single was a Christian celebration.
2000 – Eminem went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Stan’ featuring British singer Dido. ‘Stan’ was No.1 in eleven countries. Dido’s lyrics are actually a sample of the opening lines from her song ‘Thank You’.
2005 – Queen overtook The Beatles to become the third most successful act of all time. Sales in 2005 showed that Queen had now overtaken The Beatles to make it into third place, spending 1,755 weeks on the British singles and album charts. The Beatles slipped to fourth place, with 1,749 weeks. Elvis had spent 2,574 weeks on the singles and album charts, making him number one in the Top 100 most successful acts of all time. Sir Cliff Richard remained in second place, clinching 1,982 weeks.
2009 – In an interview with Q magazine, Paul McCartney was asked if his marriage to Heather Mills was the worst mistake of his life. He replied “OK, yeah. I suppose that has to be the prime contender.” The divorce settlement had cost McCartney £24m, plus annual payments for his daughter, Beatrice.
Today in history
1394 – The birth in Edinburgh Castle of King James I of Scotland. He reigned from 1406-1437 and was murdered at Perth in February 1437. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband, Lord Darnley.
1541 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
1684 – Isaac Newton’s calculations and theories based on Kepler’s laws were read to the Royal Society in London. Newton’s manuscript, called “De motu corporum in gyrum,” was read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley (“Halley’s Comet”) after visiting Newton earlier that year. Halley encouraged Newton to continue his calculations and refine his theories, through which Newton developed many theories of physics we still use today.
1786 – The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1845 – The Scottish civil engineer, Robert Thompson, patented pneumatic tyres. He was one of Scotland’s most prolific, but now largely forgotten inventors. Tyre manufacture had to be by hand and they proved too expensive to be economically viable until Dunlop developed the process in 1888.