Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 278 of the year.

Sunday, October 5th Daily Prep.

Known as National Cinnamon Roll Day, National Taco Day, National Vodka Day and World Animal Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1936 – The start of the ‘Jarrow March’. Around 200 unemployed shipyard workers from Jarrow in north east England began walking to London to protest about the lack of jobs. The protestors arrived on 31st October.
The start of the ‘Jarrow March’. Around 200 unemployed shipyard workers from Jarrow in north east England began walking to London to protest about the lack of jobs. The protestors arrived on 31st October.
Today’s birthdays

1947 – Brian Johnson (78), English singer and songwriter, currently the lead singer of the rock band AC/DC (Thunderstruck, Back in Black), born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

1948 – Russell Craig Mael (77), American singer and lead singer of the band Sparks (“This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us), born in Los Angeles, California, United States.
1951 – Bob Geldof (74), Irish singer-songwriter (Boomtown Rats – “I Don’t Like Mondays”) and political activist, born in Dunleary, Ireland.
1952 – Harold Faltemeyer (73), German musician, composer and record producer (Axel F – Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun theme, Running Man theme) born in Munich, Germany.
1967 – Guy Pearce (58), Australian actor (The Time Machine, The Hurt Locker, Memento), born in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
1975 – Kate Winslet (50), English actress (Titanic, Avatar: The Way of Water, Divergent) and the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, born in Reading, Berkshire.
1985 – Nicola Roberts (40), English pop singer with Girls Aloud (“Sound of the Underground”, “Can’t Speak French”), born in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
Famous deaths
1984 – Leonard Rossiter (b. 1926), English actor (Rising Damp, and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin).

2011 – Steve Jobs (b. 1955), American businessman, co-founder of Apple Inc.

The day today
1930 – The British airship R101 crashed at the edge of a wood near Beauvais in France en route to India on its maiden voyage, killing 48 of the 54 passengers, including the British Air Minister Lord Thompson who may well have contributed to the disaster. He brought luggage on board equivalent to the weight of about 24 people, and the crash of the 777 foot craft was thought to be a result of overloading.
1936 – The start of the ‘Jarrow March’. Around 200 unemployed shipyard workers from Jarrow in north east England began walking to London to protest about the lack of jobs. The protestors arrived on 31st October.

1962 – Dr No, the first James Bond film, was released. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name it starred Sean Connery as the secret agent 007. The film was produced with a low budget, the first of a successful series of 22 Bond films. A 23rd – ‘Skyfall’, with Daniel Craig as James Bond was premiered in London on 23rd October 2012, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the series.

1967 – For the first time in Britain, a court in Brighton accepted a ‘majority verdict’ from a jury instead of the usual ‘unanimous verdict’ required previously.
1969 – The first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired on BBC. In all, 45 episodes were created over four series, from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. The series’ theme song was the first segment of John Philip Sousa’s The Liberty Bell, chosen because it was in the public domain and was free to use without charge.
1984 – Police and Customs in Essex seized Britain’s biggest ever haul of cannabis made in a single raid, (4.3 tons), with an estimated street value of almost £11 million.
1999 – The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in West London, (also known as the Paddington train crash) killed 31 people and injured more than 520 when two trains collided after one driver passed signals that were showing red.
2015 – The government imposed a new law in England, which required that all supermarkets (or large businesses employing 250 or more full-time equivalent employees in total) must levy a charge of 5p per ‘single-use’ plastic carrier bag used by customers, including plastic bags used for deliveries.
2018 – Banksy’s famous “Girl With Balloon” was sold for £1 million at an auction, then the piece automatically self-destructed by running through a shredder fitted into the frame. Those attending the auction looked in horror. Banksy then posted the picture on Instagram with the caption, “Going, going, gone…”
Today in music
1962 – The Beatles debut single ‘Love Me Do’ was released in the UK. It spent 26 week’s on the chart peaking at No.17.
1973 – Elton John released his seventh studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The album has now sold over 30 million copies worldwide and is his best-selling studio album.

1974 – Mike Oldfields ‘Tubular Bells’ went to No.1 for the first time on the UK album chart 15 months after being released. It went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.

1984 – Queen played the first of nine concerts at the Sun City Super Bowl, Sun City, Republic of Bophuthatswana (integrated into South Africa’s North West Province in 1994). The 1984 ‘The Works’ tours saw the reintroduction of older material to Queen’s live set, including songs from the first three albums.
1996 – “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by American group Deep Blue Something was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. The song is a reference to the classic 1960 Audrey Hepburn film of the same name.
2000 – Top Of The Pops issued a Top 40 chart based on singles that had spent the longest time on the UK chart. No.3 was ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra, No.2 ‘She Loves You’, The Beatles and No.1 ‘Relax’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood’.
2003 – Beyoncé started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Baby Boy.’ The single stayed No.1 for a week longer than ‘Crazy in Love’ had, becoming Beyoncé’s longest-charting No.1 single at the time.
2006 – Reggae legend Bob Marley was honoured with a heritage plaque at his former north London home at 34 Ridgmount Gardens in Camden. The event was part of Black History Month, a season of events promoting the contribution of African-Caribbean communities in London.
2008 – Pink started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singels chart with “So What”, the singers third UK No.1 hit.
2024 – Sabrina Carpenter became the first woman in Billboard history to chart three of her singles in the Billboard Top 10 for five consecutive weeks with ‘Espresso’, ‘Please Please Please’ and ‘Taste.’ This accomplishment surpassed the previous record held by Cardi B, who had three top 10s for four weeks in 2018.
Today in history
1568 – The Conference of York began as a trial against Mary, Queen of Scots, and was intended to be a political exercise rather than a judicial one. The outcome of the conference was that neither Mary nor the Confederate lords were proven guilty, but Mary remained in custody while Moray returned to Scotland as regent.
1796 – Spain declared war on Britain in the Napoleonic Wars.
1864 – The Great Cyclone of Calcutta hit India and destroyed over half the city. As a result, 172 out of 195 ships were damaged or destroyed. Around 300,000 people died, thousands of homes were damaged, and even the city’s anemometer was blown away. This is known as the worst cyclone ever to hit Calcutta.
1895 – The first individual time trial for racing cyclists was held on a 50 mile course north of London.
1869 – A strong hurricane known as the Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Maritime Canada. Incredibly British naval officer Stephen Martin Saxby predicted the storm 10 months earlier in December 1868 via astronomy.