Monday, July 7th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 188, known as World Chocolate Day, National Koi Day, National Macaroni Day, Tell The Truth Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
2013 – Andy Murray won his first Wimbledon title and ended Britain’s 77 year wait for a men’s champion with a victory over world number one Novak Djokovic. The Scot won 6-4, 7-5 and 6-4.
Todays birthdays
1940 – Ringo Starr (85), English drummer, vocalist (The Beatles – “Yellow Submarine”), songwriter (“Early 1970”; “Photograph”), actor (Caveman), born in Dingle, Liverpool.
1941 – Bill Oddie (84), English actor (member of comedy trio The Goodies), writer and conservationist (Springwatch) and ornithologist, born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
1944 – Tony Jacklin (81), English golfer (winner of the British Open 1969 and US Open 1970), born in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire.
1961 – Clive Jackson (64), English singer and lead vocalist with Doctor and the Medics (“Spirit in the Sky”, “Happy But Twisted”), born in Knotty Ash, Liverpool.
1965 – Jeremy Kyle (60), English broadcaster and writer (The Jeremy Kyle Show), born in Reading, Berkshire.
1988 – Jack Whitehall (37), actor (Bad Education, Fresh Meat), comedian, writer, and television personality, born in London.
Famous deaths
2016 – Caroline Aherne (b. 1963), English actress and comedian (The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, The Fast Show).
The day today
1955 – Dixon Of Dock Green began on BBC TV with Jack Warner as George Dixon. The programme ran for 367 episodes over 21 years.
1967 – England’s round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. For the ceremony, the Queen used a sword that had originally belonged to Sir Francis Drake.
1981 – The Church of England decided that divorcees would be allowed to re-marry in a church ceremony.
1984 – Georgina Clark became the first woman to umpire a Wimbledon final when she presided over the Martina Navratilova victory against Chris Evert.
1985 – German tennis player Boris Becker, an unseeded 17 year old, became the youngest player to win the men’s singles championship at Wimbledon.
1990 – England goalkeeper Peter Shilton played the last of his 125 games for his country in the World Cup third-place play-off against Italy in Bari.
2004 – Fred Dibnah, Bolton born steeplejack, steam enthusiast and later TV presenter, went to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE from the Queen. He initially planned to drive his beloved traction engine into the palace grounds, but was refused, as the Royal Parks Agency feared that its weight would damage the surface of The Mall.
2005 – A series of four co-ordinated explosions occurs on the London transport system, killing 56 people, including four suicide bombers, and injuring over 700 others.
2010 – Marksmen searched empty buildings, woods and fields in and around the town of Rothbury in Northumberland in the hunt for suspected gunman Raoul Moat, wanted over the shooting of three people the previous weekend. The manhunt concluded when Moat died by suicide having shot himself near the town of Rothbury, Northumberland, following a six-hour standoff with armed police officers.
Today in music
1963 – The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars.’ Also appearing on the show was, Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The group made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966.
1966 – The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Sunny Afternoon”, the group’s third and last UK No.1.
1971 – 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 ABBA fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her slight injury.
1984 – Prince started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “When Doves Cry”, his first US No.1 which went on to sell over 2 million copies, it made No. 4 in the UK.
1999 – It was reported that to attract young people to their mobile vans UK ice cream sellers would start to play pop hits as music instead of the traditional chimes. Spice Girls and Oasis hits would be the first to be played.
2003 – Darkness released their debut studio album Permission To Land which topped the UK chart for four weeks. Five singles were released from the album including ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’, the most successful, reaching No.2 on the UK Singles Chart. The band won three BRIT Awards in 2004 in response to the album, Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards in 2004 for Best Live Act and Best British Band.
2007 – Ozzy Osbourne became the first artist to be honoured on Birmingham’s own Hollywood-style Walk of Fame. The singer, from Aston, told more than 1,000 fans on Broad Street that the brass paving star meant more to him that than any Hollywood accolade.
2007 – The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organised by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to “heal the planet”. Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London’s Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.
Today in history
1307 – England’s King Edward I, conqueror of Wales and ‘Hammer of the Scots’ died on the Solway Burgh Marshes on the way to Scotland to fight Robert the Bruce. He was succeeded by Edward II.
1575 – The Raid of the Redeswire took place at Redesdale in Northumberland. It was the last major battle between England and Scotland.
1667 – An English fleet completes the destruction of a French merchant fleet off Fort St Pierre, Martinique during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1668 – Sir Isaac Newton gained a master’s degree from Trinity College, Cambridge.
1865 – Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt are executed for their role in the conspiracy to assassinate US President Abraham Lincoln