Tuesday, July 15th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 196, known as Saint Swithin’s Day, Gummi Worm Day, World Youth Skills Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1381 – Poll Tax Triggers the Peasants’ Revolt: John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England.
Todays birthdays
1946 – Linda Ronstadt (79), American singer (“Blue Bayou”, “Somewhere Out There”) and 11 time Grammy Award winner, born in Tucson, Arizona, United States.
1949 – Trevor Horn (76), English singer, musician with The Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star”) and producer of three UK No.1’s for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, ‘Relax’, ‘Two Tribes’, & ‘The Power Of Love’), born in Durham, County Durham.
1952 – Celia Imrie (73), English actress (Bridget Jones, Calendar Girls, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mamma Mia! and the TV series, Dinnerladies), born in Guildford, Surrey.
1961 – Forest Whitaker (64), American actor (Panic Room, The Last King of Scotland, Godfather of Harlem), born in Longview, Texas, United States.
1963 – Brigitte Nielsen (62), Danish actress (Red Sonja, Rocky IV, Creed II, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Cobra), born in Rødovre, Denmark.
1965 – David Milliband (60), former British Labour Party politician (Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010), born in London.
1975 – Jill Halfpenny (50), English actress (Coronation Street, Waterloo Road, Babylon), born in Gateshead in Tyne and Wear.
Famous deaths
2013 – Alan Whicker (b. 1921), Journalist and broadcaster who’s TV career stretched nearly six decades. He was best known for his documentary series, Whicker’s World.
The day today
1941 – The Holocaust: Nazi Germany begins the deportation of 100,000 Jews from the occupied Netherlands to extermination camps.
1953 – John Christie, English serial killer and alleged necrophiliac active during the 1940s and early 1950s was hanged for the murder of at least 8 people, including his wife, Ethel at HM Prison Pentonville.
1996 – Prince Charles and Princess Diana were granted a decree nisi. Princess Diana could no longer be addressed as Her Royal Highness but was to be known as Diana, Princess of Wales.
1997 – Fashion designer Gianni Versace is shot dead on the steps of his Miami mansion.
2000 – In a landmark legal case, two men who were caught on camera driving dangerously had their prosecutions dropped after it was determined that the police letter requesting information about who was driving violated their human rights. Specifically, the court found that the letter, which asked the men to identify the driver, essentially forced them to incriminate themselves, infringing upon their right to a fair trial under Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights.
2006 – Twitter was launched to the public.
It rapidly became one of the largest social media platforms in the world.
2018 – Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao stops WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse in seven rounds in Kuala Lumpur for his first knockout in nine years and 60th career victory. On the same day, France beat Croatia, 4-2 to win the FIFA World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
2018 – France defeated Croatia 4-2 to win their second FIFA World Cup. The 2018 FIFA World Cup occurred in Russia, with the final held at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. France’s first goal was an own-goal by the Croatian team, which was the first time this had ever happened in a World Cup Final.
Today in music
1956 – The Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’. A No.6 hit in the US. At 13, Lymon was the youngest performer to make No.1.
1972 – Elton John started a five week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his fifth studio album, “Honky Chateau.” The album, which marked the British artist’s first US chart topper, took inspiration for its title from the 18th-century French chateau (Château d’Hérouville) in which it was recorded.
1989 – Simply Red scored their second US No.1 single with ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’, a 1973 UK hit for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.
2000 – A Manchester judge reprimanded Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder after he turned up a day late in court to give evidence. Ryder told the court he had been on ‘a bender’. A man was cleared of dangerous driving and assaulting Ryder.
2007 – The UK music industry reacted angrily to a decision to give away Prince’s new album “Planet Earth” as a ‘covermount’ with the Mail on Sunday newspaper. The 10-track CD was not due to be released in stores until 24 July.
2012 – Queen were crowned top of the patriotic pops in a survey of 100,000 music fans. The band’s anthem ‘We Are The Champions’ was named number one by fans who were asked what song made them proud to be British.
2018 – ‘November Rain’ by Guns N’ Roses became the first ’90s video to pass a billion views on YouTube. The next closest ’90s video was ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, at 739 million.
2023 – Taylor Swift was at No.1 on the UK chart with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) the third re-recorded album. It was part of her re-recording projects following the 2019 dispute over the ownership of her back catalogue. Upon release the album broke the record for the most single-day streams for a country album on Spotify.
Today in history
971 AD – According to the legend of St. Swithin, if it rains today, it will be the start of forty days of rain. St Swithin was bishop of Winchester Cathedral and asked to be buried outside it so that he would be exposed to ‘the feet of passers-by and the drops falling from above’.
1207 – England’s King John expelled Canterbury monks for supporting the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton. Langton was a central figure in the dispute between King John and Pope Innocent III, which was a contributing factor to the crisis which led to the issuing of Magna Carta in 1215.
1381 – Poll Tax Triggers the Peasants’ Revolt: John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England.
1581 – English Jesuit priest Edmund Campion was captured by a spy named George Eliot and taken to London. A Jesuit was a member of the Society of Jesus who would preach and act as a missionary to share their beliefs. The England campaign began in 1580, and many were out to get Campion for this preaching.
1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign.
1815 – Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.