Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 356 of the year.

Monday, December 22nd Daily Prep.

Today is National Short Person Day and Mathematics Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.
1989 – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate reopens after 30 years, symbolically ending the east-west division of Germany.
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate reopens after 30 years, symbolically ending the east-west division of Germany.
Today’s birthdays
1948 – Noel Edmonds (76), English television presenter (Deal or No Deal, Telly Addicts), radio DJ (Radio Luxembourg, BBC Radio 1), writer and producer, born in Ilford, East London.
1957 – Ricky Ross (68), Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Deacon Blue (“Dignity”, “Real Gone Kid”), born in Dundee, Scotland.
1962 – Ralph Fiennes (63), English actor (The Menu, Harry Potter, Schindler’s List, The English Patient), born in Ipswich, Suffolk.
1972 – Vanessa Paradis (53), French singer (“Joe le taxi”), model (Chanel) and actress (White Wedding), born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France.
1970 – Gary Anderson (55), Scottish professional darts player (two time World Champion winning the title in 2015 and 2016), born in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
1993 – Meghan Trainor (32), American singer-songwriter (“All About That Bass”, “Lips Are Movin”), born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States.
Famous deaths
1943 – Beatrix Potter (b. 1866), English writer and illustrator (The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck).

1989 – Samuel Beckett (b. 1906), Irish playwright, poet, novelist, and literary critic.

2014 – Joe Cocker (b. 1944), English singer (“Up Where We Belong”, “With A Little Help From My Friends”), known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances.

2018 – Paddy Ashdown (b. 1941), British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999.
The day today
1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signed the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon. It was the world’s first, long-range weapon and was developed specifically to target London and later Antwerp. Over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets against Allied targets during the war.
1956 – The first gorilla born in captivity, called Colo, was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Colo was a western gorilla and was the oldest known gorilla in the world. She died during her sleep at the age of 60, on January 17, 2017.
1965 – A temporary 70mph limit was introduced on all previously unrestricted roads (including motorways) for a four-month trial, but it was made permanent in 1967 due to evidence of reduced casualties. Later, different limits were set for other roads (60mph on dual carriageways, 50mph on single), and temporary limits (like 50mph during the 1973 oil crisis) were introduced.
1971 – Doctors Without Borders was founded in Paris by French doctors and journalists. Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the humanitarian non-governmental organization has since been one of the most active medical organizations across the world’s conflict zones.

1974 – The Provisional IRA threw a bomb onto the 1st floor balcony of the home of the Conservative leader and former Prime Minister Edward Heath. He arrived home 10 minutes after the bomb exploded.

1989 – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate reopens after 30 years, symbolically ending the east-west division of Germany. Its reopening paved the way for Germany’s official reunification on October 3, 1990, and it now stands as a global symbol of unity and freedom.
2014 – A grey seal was spotted in a farmer’s field in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, 20 miles inland. The disorientated animal was captured and transferred to a wildlife centre in Nantwich, Cheshire.
2018 – A tsunami caused by an eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia kills at least 430 people with more than 7,200 injured and thousands displaced.
2020 – Lionel Messi broke Pelé’s record for the most goals with one soccer club. Messi proved himself again when he scored the 644th goal for FC Barcelona, beating the record Pelé had held since retiring from the Brazilian team Santos back in 1974.
Today in music
1962 – Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore’ finally dropped off the UK charts after 55 weeks. That record would stand until 1968 when Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘Release Me’ stayed for 56. The current record is held by Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, which charted for 75 non-consecutive weeks.
1972 – Little Jimmy Osmond was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.’ At nine years eight months of age it made him the youngest person to have a No.1 record, also the biggest seller of 1972.
1973 – Elton John started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, it also had a eight week run at No.1 on the US chart. The album contains the Marilyn Monroe tribute, ‘Candle in the Wind’, as well as three successful singles: ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, and ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’.
1984 – Madonna started a six-week run at No.1 in the US charts with ‘Like A Virgin’, her first US No.1. Produced by Nile Rodgers, family groups sought to ban the song as they believed that the song promoted sex without marriage.
2000 – Madonna married British film maker Guy Ritchie at an exclusive ceremony in Skibo Castle near Dornoch in Sutherland, hours after their son was christened. Celebrities attending the wedding included Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Sting and fashion designers Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier and Stellla McCartney. The couple divorced in Nov 2008.
2010 – The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London, made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover was given Grade II listed status. The crossing, the first of its kind to be listed, was being recognised for its “cultural and historical importance” following advice from English Heritage. The Beatles were photographed on Abbey Road in Ian Macmillan’s iconic cover shot for the 1969 album Abbey Road.
2014 – Joe Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado aged 70. The Sheffield-born singer was known for his gritty voice, spasmodic body movement in performance and definitive versions of popular songs of varying genre. Cocker had a career lasting more than 40 years, with hits including his cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends, ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’.
2023 – Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ became this year’s Christmas UK No.1, 39 years after it was first released. making it the first time George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s song had been No.1 in Christmas week. First released in 1984, ‘Last Christmas’ was originally held off the top spot by Band Aid’s charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Today in history
1135 – The crowning of King Stephen. King Henry I left no legitimate heirs and named his eldest daughter, Matilda as his heir. When Henry died, Stephen of Blois (Matilda’s cousin) invaded England, and in a coup d’etat had himself crowned instead of Matilda. The period which followed is known as The Anarchy, as parties supporting each side fought in open warfare , both in Britain and on the continent for the better part of two decades.
1550 – The death of Richard Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell). Shortly before the Battle of Bosworth (Richard – then aged 16) was taken to see King Richard III at his encampment. The King informed the boy that he was his son, and told him to watch the battle from a safe vantage point, telling him that, if he won, he would acknowledge him as his son. If he lost, the boy was told that he had to forever conceal his identity. King Richard was killed in the battle, the boy fled to London and was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but kept up the Latin he had learned by reading during his work.
1715 – James Edward Stuart, son of James II, the deposed Catholic King of England, landed at Petershead in north-east Scotland, after his exile in France, to lead a Jacobite rebellion against England. The rebellion failed.
1716 – Lincoln’s Inn Theatre in London put on England’s first pantomime which included the characters Harlequin, Columbine and Pantaloon.
1880 – The death of George Eliot (real name Mary Anne Evans), English novelist and poet and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She visited Gainsborough in 1859 and renamed the town St. Oggs in her novel “The Mill on the Floss”.