Tuesday, July 1st "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 182, known as International Joke Day, International Reggae Day, Ice Cream Lovers Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.

1916 – The Battle of Somme began. The British Empire and France went to war against the German Empire during World War I. The battle lasted until November 18, 1916 and up to 1.3 million people died.
Todays birthdays
1945 – Deborah Harry (80), American singer, songwriter (Blondie – “Heart of Glass”, “One Way Or Another”, “Atomic”), born in Miami, Florida, United States.
1952 – Dan Ackroyd (73), Canadian-American comedian, screenwriter and actor (Ghostbusters, The Blue Brothers, Trading Places), born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
1960 – Ted Key (65), English musician and original bassist with The Housemartins before he was replaced in 1985 by Norman Cook, born in Kingston upon Hull.
1965 – Carl Fogarty (60), English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful World Superbike racers of all time, born in Blackburn, Lancashire.
1967 – Pamela Anderson (58), Canadian-American actress (Baywatch, Barb Wire), model (Playboy) and media personality, born in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
1971 – Missy Elliott (54), American rapper, songwriter and producer (“Get Ur Freak On”, “Gossip Folks”), born in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States.
1976 – Ruud van Nistelrooy (49), Dutch professional football coach (PSV Eindhoven) and former player (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Netherlands), born in Geffen, Netherlands.
1977 – Liv Tyler (48), American actress (Armageddon, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Strangers) and daughter of Aerosmith front man, Steve Tyler, born in New York, United States.
Famous deaths
2006 – Fred Trueman (b. 1931), English cricketer and sportscaster (Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team).
2009 – Mollie Sugden (b. 1922), English actress and comedian. She was best known for being an original cast member in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? as senior saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe and it’s spin off, Grace & Favour.
The day today
1911 – The introduction of the British Copyright Act – protecting an author’s works for 50 years after their death.
1916 – World War I: Almost 20,000 British soldiers were killed and a further 57,500 were injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It was the greatest number of British casualties in a single day’s fighting in modern history. British casualties on day one were greater than the total combined British casualties in the Crimean, Boer, and Korean wars.
1960 – Ghana became a Republic and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be its Head of state.
1961 – The birth in Sandringham, Norfolk of Diana Frances Spencer. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Diana died on 31 August 1997 due to injuries resulting from a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris while her driver was fleeing the paparazzi.
1967 – Colour television came to Europe with a seven hour transmission on BBC 2 from the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.
1977 – British tennis player Virginia Wade won the Women’s Singles Championship at Wimbledon in its Centenary Year and during Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee year.
1997 – The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841 (except for four years of Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945).
2007 – A smoking ban came into force in England, making it illegal for anyone to smoke in an enclosed public place and within the workplace.
2014 – Tracey Emin’s modern artwork ‘My Bed’ was sold at auction by Christie’s in London for £2.2m. The work features an unmade bed surrounded by a floor littered by empty vodka bottles, cigarette butts and condoms. It was put up for sale by the art collector Charles Saatchi with a guide price of between £800,000 and £1.2m.
2015 – The death (aged 106) of Sir Nicholas George Winton MBE. He was a British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the 9 months before war broke out in 1939. The operation was later known as the Czech Kindertransport.
Today in music
1967 – The Beatles started a 15 week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the group’s 10th US No.1 album. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning in December 1966, the album widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, includes songs such as ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and ‘A Day in the Life’.
1972 – Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Take Me Bak ‘Ome’, the group’s second No.1. The song was produced by the bands manager Chas Chandler.
1975 – 10cc were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I’m Not In Love’. Known for its innovative and distinctive backing track, composed mostly of the band’s multitracked vocals, it became the second of the group’s three No.1 singles in the UK and reached No.2 on the US chart.
1979 – Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple’s iPod and other new digital devices.
1983 – A New Jersey-based quintet calling themselves Bon Jovi signed to Phonogram’s Mercury records, although they had also been considering the name Johnny Electric. The group have since sold over 130 million records worldwide, and performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans.
2000 – Kylie Minogue was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Spinning Around’, the singers fifth No.1 was co-written by Paula Abdul, (it was originally intended for Abdul’s “comeback” album). ‘Spinning Around’ gave Minogue the honor of being one of three artists (the others being Madonna and U2) to have a No.1 in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
2005 – American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer Luther Vandross died at the age of 54 at the JFK Medical Centre in New Jersey, two years after suffering a major stroke. His ‘Never Too Much’, was a No.1 R&B hit, worked with Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey and David Bowie. Vandross had won four Grammys for his final album ‘Dance With My Father.’
2009 – Sir Cliff Richard was ordered to demolish a £30,000 conservatory at his home in Surrey after the local council ruled that the conservatory should never have been built. The planning committee said the building contravened policy on green belt areas because it added more than 30% extra floor space.
2017 – Ed Sheeran returned to No.1 for the forth time with his third studio album ÷ (pronounced ‘divide’). The album also topped the charts in 14 other countries and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
Today in history
1690 – The Battle of the Boyne was fought on the east coast of Ireland, between the Catholic King James and the Protestant King William. The battle, won by William, ultimately helped ensure the continuation of Protestant supremacy in Ireland.
1837 – Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths came into effect in England and Wales.
1862 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, second daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Louis of Hesse, the future Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
1867 – The British North America Act takes effect as the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join into confederation to create the modern nation of Canada. Scottish born John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada. This date is commemorated annually in Canada as Canada Day, a national holiday.
1899 – The birth, in Scarborough, Yorkshire of the stage and film actor Charles Laughton. His biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Jamaica Inn and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.