January 19th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 19, known as Good Memory Day, National Popcorn Day, Tenderness Towards Existence Day, Tin Can Day. Your star sign is Capricorn and your birthstone is Garnet.
1955 – The popular board game Scrabble went on sale in the UK. Originally called Criss Cross in 1931, it was redesigned, renamed as Scrabble, and marketed in the US by James Brunot in 1948.
Todays birthdays
1942 – Michael Crawford (83), English actor, comedian (Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em) and singer (“The Music of the Night”), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
1946 – Dolly Parton (79), American singer-songwriter (“Jolene”, “9 to 5”) and actress (9 to 5, Steel Magnolias), born in Pittman Center, Tennessee, United States.
1949 – Dennis Taylor, (76), Northern Irish former professional snooker player and current commentator, born in Coalisland, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
1963 – Caron Wheeler (62), English singer-songwriter and musician (Soul II Soul – “Back to Life”, “Keep On Movin’”) born in Acton, London.
1980 – Jenson Button (45), British racing driver (Formula 1 world champion 2009) currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota, born in Frome, Somerset.
Famous deaths
2015 – Anne Kirkbride (b. 1954), English actress, best known for her role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap Coronation Street, which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthumously received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 British Soap Awards.
The day today
1915 – More than 20 people were killed when German zeppelins bombed England for the first time. The bombs were dropped on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn.
1937 – The first play written for British television, The Underground Murder Mystery by J. Bissell Thomas, was broadcast by the BBC.
1973 – The Statesman, an unarmed ocean going tug, was sent to protect British trawlers from Icelandic patrol boats as the dispute over cod fishing rights intensified.
1988 – Christopher Nolan, a 22-year-old Irish writer, won the £20,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award for his autobiography, Under the Eye of the Clock. Completely paralysed, Nolan used a ‘unicorn’ attachment on his forehead to write the novel at a painfully slow speed.
1990 – Police in Johannesburg, armed with batons and dogs, broke up a demonstration against English cricketers who had defied a ban on playing in segregated South Africa.
Today in music
1967 – The Monkees were at No.1 on the UK singles with ‘I’m A Believer’, the group’s only UK No.1. The song composed by Neil Diamond had 1,051,280 advance orders, and went gold within two days of release. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.
1980 – The Pretenders scored their first UK No.1 hit with their third single ‘Brass In Pocket’. The bands self-titled debut album started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK chart also on this day. Singer Chrissie Hynde got the idea for the song’s title when, during an after-show dinner, she overheard someone enquiring if anyone had, “Picked up dry cleaning? Any brass in pocket?”
2001 – It was reported that Paul McCartney was set to become the world’s first pop star billionaire. McCartney was said to be worth £725 million and was expected to become a billionaire after huge sales from The Beatles compilation hits album. His company MPL Collections owns the copyright to more than 25,000 songs and his fortune made him the 11th richest person in the UK, motor racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone was the richest with a reported £3.2bn.
2014 – Bruce Springsteen scored his 10th UK No.1 album with High Hopes, putting him ahead of the likes of Abba, David Bowie and Michael Jackson. The achievement puts him on level pegging with The Rolling Stones and U2, who also have 10 UK No.1’s. The Beatles lead the way, with 15, followed by Madonna on 12, while Elvis Presley and Robbie Williams both had 11 each.
2017 – The former business manager of Alanis Morissette admitted stealing over $7m (£5.7m) from the singer and other celebrities. Jonathan Schwartz was charged with fraud over claims he transferred the singer’s money into his own accounts. When initially confronted about the theft, Mr Schwartz lied and said he had invested the money in an illegal marijuana growing business.
Today in history
1419 – The city of Rouen in northern France surrendered to Henry V in the Hundred Years’ War, completing Henry’s reconquest of Normandy.
1649 – The Puritan parliament began the trial of Charles I for treason. Charles refused to plead, saying that he did not recognise the legality of the High Court.
1661 – Thomas Venner was hanged, drawn and quartered in London. Venner was a cooper by trade but also a rebel, the last leader of the Fifth Monarchy Men, who had tried, unsuccessfully, to overthrow Oliver Cromwell. He subsequently led a coup in London against the newly-restored government of Charles II. The coup lasted lasted four days before the Royal authorities captured the rebels.
1736 – The birth, in Greenock, of James Watt, the Scottish inventor who developed Newcomen’s steam engine and gave his name to a unit of power. On 29th May 2009 the Bank of England announced that Watt and his business partner Matthew Boulton would appear on a new £50 note.
1746 – Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops occupied Stirling.