Friday, July 4th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 185, known as American Independence Day, National Caesar Salad Day, Alice in Wonderland Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1990 – Paul Gascoigne collected a booking against West Germany, which would have ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup final if England got there. This resulted in the famous on pitch crying scenes.
Todays birthdays
1948 – Jeremy Spencer (77), English musician from the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac (1967 – 1971), born in Hartlepool, County Durham.
1950 – David Allan “Kid” Jensen (75), Canadian-born British radio DJ (Radio Luxembourg) and television presenter (Top of the Pops from 1977 to 1984), born in Victoria, Canada.
1962 – Neil Morrissey (63), English actor (Love Rat, Men Behaving Badly, Line of Duty) and narrator (Bob the Builder), born in Stafford, Staffordshire.
1965 – Jo Whiley (60), English radio DJ (Radio 2), the main presenter for the BBC’s Glastonbury Festival and former Top of the Pops presenter (1995 to 1998), born in Northampton.
1995 – Post Malone (30) born Austin Richard Post, American singer and songwriter (Stoney), born in Syracuse, New York, United States.
Famous deaths
2016 – Caroline Aherne (b. 1963), English actress and comedian (The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, The Fast Show).
The day today
1903 – Dorothy Levitt became the first English woman in the world to compete in a ‘motor-race’. She was the most successful female competitor in Great Britain, also a victorious speedboat driver, holder of the Water Speed record and holder of the Ladies World Land speed record. She even instructed Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses on how to drive.
1947 – The ‘Indian Independence Bill’ was presented before the House of Commons, proposing the partition of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries – India and Pakistan.
1968 – Round-the-world yachtsman Alec Rose received a hero’s welcome as he sailed into Portsmouth in his boat Lively Lady, after his 354-day trip.
1969 – British tennis player Ann Jones won the Wimbledon women’s singles title, beating American Billie Jean King in the final.
1985 – Ruth Lawrence achieved the best first-class mathematics degree at the University of Oxford, at the age of 13.
1990 – Paul Gascoigne collected a booking against West Germany, which would have ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup final if England got there. This resulted in the famous on pitch crying scenes. Paul Gascoigne’s tears became one of the defining images of Italy 1990. Along with his exhilarating performances, they also made him a hero and household name, as England ended that FIFA World Cup gripped by ‘Gazzamania’.
2004 – Greece won its first UEFA Euro Cup after beating Portugal in the final 1-0.
2007 – BBC correspondent, 45 year old Alan Johnston, was released by kidnappers in the Gaza Strip after 114 days in captivity. An online petition had been signed by some 200,000 people demanding his release.
2012 – ‘The Lock’ a work by the English romantic painter John Constable was sold for £22,441,250 – a world record price at auction for the artist.
2014 – The 84 year old TV entertainer Rolf Harris was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison after being found guilty of indecently assaulting four girls in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Today in music
1958 – The Everly Brothers held the UK No.1 position with ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream.’ The Duo’s first No.1 single was recorded in just two takes and features Chet Atkins on guitar. The song was written by the husband and wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.
1964 – The Beach Boys started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Get Around’, the group’s first No.1, which was a No.7 hit in the UK.
1976 – The Clash made their live debut supporting the Sex Pistols at the Black Swan, Sheffield, England.
1982 – Ozzy Osbourne married his manager Sharon Arden the daughter of music mogul Don Arden. Ozzy later confessed that the well-known “Fourth of July” Independence Day date was chosen so that he would never forget his anniversary.
1986 – Run-DMC released their rap version of ‘Walk This Way’ featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, the group that released the original version in 1975. At shows, Run-DMC had freestyled over the first few seconds of the song on a loop, not knowing what the full song sounded like, or even hearing the lyrics. After recording with Tyler and Perry, Run-DMC did not want the record to be released as a single and were shocked when it was played on both urban and rock radio stations. Both groups got a huge boost when the song became a hit and for Aerosmith, it launched a comeback.
1999 – Victoria ‘Posh Spice’ Adams married footballer David Beckham at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland. The couple had signed a deal worth £1million for OK magazine to have the exclusive picture rights.
2010 – George Michael was arrested after he crashed his car into the front of a Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead, North London. The singer was returning home from a Gay Pride parade when the incident was spotted on CCTV. He was arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive and charged with possession of cannabis and with driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
Today in history
1776 – The American Congress voted for independence from Britain.
1729 – Britain’s first regular scheduled bus service began running, between Marylebone Road and the Bank of England, in London.
1838 – 26 children were drowned when the Huskar Pit in Silkstone, South Yorkshire, flooded. The report on the accident highlighted the conditions in which children worked in mines, and the public outcry that followed caused parliament to prohibit boys under 10, and all girls, from working underground.
1840 – The Cunard Line’s 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end.
1862 – Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known under his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, told Alice Liddell a story as they were rowing on the Isis through Oxford, that, three years later, would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
1879 – In the Anglo-Zulu War, the Zululand capital of Ulundi was captured by British troops and burnt to the ground, thus, ending the war.