Wednesday, July 9th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 190, known as Fashion Day, National Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Omelet Day. Your star sign is Cancer and your birthstone is Ruby.
1984 – A significant fire, initiated by a lightning strike, caused substantial damage to York Minster, with estimated repair costs exceeding £2.25 million. The fire, which began in the early hours of July 9th, ravaged the south transept, requiring over four years for restoration.
Todays birthdays
1956 – Tom Hanks (69), American actor (Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, The DaVinci Code), born in Concord, California, United States.
1957 – Marc Almond (68), English singer best known from the synth-pop/new wave duo Soft Cell (“Tainted Love”), born in Southport, Merseyside.
1957 – Paul Merton (68), English comedian (Have I Got News For You, Room 101), born in Parsons Green, London.
1959 – Jim Kerr (66), Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds (“Don’t You”, “Belfast Child”), born in Toryglen, Glasgow, Scotland.
1971 – Kelvin Grant (54), English reggae musician, backing vocalist and a founding member of Musical Youth (“Pass the Dutchie”), born in Birmingham, West Midlands.
1995 – Georgie Henley (30), English actress known for starring as Lucy Pevensie in the fantasy film series The Chronicles of Narnia (from 2005), born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
Famous deaths
2016 – Caroline Aherne (b. 1963), English actress and comedian (The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, The Fast Show).
The day today
1917 – The loss, at Scapa Flow, of the British battleship Vanguard. It was one of the most tragic accidents in the history of the Royal Navy and was caused by an internal explosion of cordite. All but two of the 845 men on board at the time were killed. The bodies that could be recovered now lie in Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery, Hoy and the wreck itself is afforded statutory protection as a designated war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
1938 – In anticipation of World War II, 35 million gas masks were issued to Britain’s civilian population. People were instructed to carry their gas masks at all times in case of attack. Adults had masks that looked like a pig-snout and the children’s were soon given nicknames such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
1973 – Prince Charles enjoyed the Bahamas’ last day as a British colony. He had hosted a formal reception at Government House, Nassau, the previous night for dignitaries from 52 countries overseeing the end of over 300 years of British sovereignty.
1982 – Queen Elizabeth II woke to find an intruder (Michael Fagan) sitting at the end of her bed, raising further concerns about poor Palace security.
1984 – A significant fire, initiated by a lightning strike, caused substantial damage to York Minster, with estimated repair costs exceeding £2.25 million. The fire, which began in the early hours of July 9th, ravaged the south transept, requiring over four years for restoration.
2001 – The British TV series “The Office”, starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman, first aired on the BBC.
2008 – A teenager, who thought movement in her underwear was caused by her vibrating mobile phone found a bat curled up asleep in her bra. Abbie Hawkins, aged 19, had been wearing the bra for five hours when she plucked up the courage to investigate. – ‘I put my hand down my bra and pulled out a cuddly little bat. I felt quite sorry for it. Perhaps I should have left it there and given it a good home.’
2017 – The Lake District became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The national park is the first in the UK to get the honour, a status it had been trying to attain since 1986.
Today in music
1955 – Bill Haley & His Comets went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Rock Around the Clock (reaching number 17 in the UK), staying at No.1 for eight weeks and becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time.
1972 – Paul McCartney and Wings kicked off their first European tour in the small French town of Ollioules. The band included Denny Laine, Denny Seiwell, Henry McCullough and Paul’s wife, Linda. It was McCartney’s first time on the road since The Beatles quit touring in 1966. The band travelled on a double Decker London bus with a psychedelic interior.
1977 – Elvis Costello, born Declan Patrick MacManuson 25 August 1954, quit his day job as a computer programmer at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to become a full-time musician.
1983 – The Police started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Every Breath You Take’ also No.1 in the UK. Taken from the bands album Synchronicity, Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance for the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards.
1983 – Wham! went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release ‘Fantastic!’, which went on to spend 116 weeks on the chart.
1988 – Glenn Medeiros was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You’. The 18 year old from Hawaii was one of the youngest males to reach the top of the charts.
2006 – Lily Allen scored her first UK No.1 single with ‘Smile’. The organ riff is a sample of Jackie Mittoo playing keyboards on ‘Free Soul’ by The Soul Brothers. Lily’s actor dad, Keith Allen, was part of the Fat Les band who had a hit with ‘Vindaloo’ in 1998.
2006 – Muse started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Black Holes & Revelations’, the bands fifth album release and second No.1. The album featured Supermassive Black Hole, which got to No.4 on the singles chart.
2007 – Happy Mondays’ frontman Shaun Ryder was in trouble after he smoked several cigarettes on stage during a concert at The Ritz in Manchester. Smoking had been banned in all enclosed public places in England on 1 July of this year, and anyone flouting the law faced a £50 fine. Performers were only exempt from the smoking ban if the “artistic integrity” of their act required it.
Today in history
1540 – England’s King Henry VIII had his six-month marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, annulled.
1553 – The Duke of Northumberland announced to Lady Jane Grey that Edward VI had died and that she was queen of England. The proclamation was made the next day, but her reign lasted for only nine days. Her successor was Mary I.
1572 – Nineteen Dutch Catholic clerics, secular and religious people, known as the Martyrs of Gorkum, were hanged in Brielle, the Netherlands, by militant Dutch Calvinists.
This occurred during the Dutch War of Independence; this was aside from the 16th-century religious wars which happened in the Netherlands.
1811 – Explorer David Thompson posted a sign at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern Washington state, America), claiming the land for Britain. Thompson was a British-Canadian fur trader, surveyor and map-maker, who, over his career mapped more than 3.9 million square kilometres of North America and for this has been described as the ‘greatest land geographer who ever lived.’
1887 – The first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis championship was held at its original site at Worple Road. The men’s singles title was won by Spencer Gore – beating fellow British player W.C. Marshall in three sets.
1900 – Queen Victoria gave the Royal Assent to the Australian Federation Bill which set up of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.