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 279 of the year.

Monday, October 6th Daily Prep.

Known as National Badger Day, Mad Hatter Day, World Cerebral Palsy Day, National Noodle Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Pink Tourmaline.
1997 – British astronaut, Michael Foale, returned safely to earth aboard the space shuttle ‘Atlantis’ after four and a half months on ‘MIR’, the Russian space station.
British astronaut, Michael Foale, returned safely to earth aboard the space shuttle 'Atlantis' after four and a half months on 'MIR', the Russian space station.
Today’s birthdays
1939 – Melvyn Bragg (86), English broadcaster (The South Bank Show), author and parliamentarian, born in Carlisle, Cumbria.

1942 – Britt Ekland (83), Swedish actress (The Man with the Golden Gun, The Wicker Man, Get Carter), model and singer, born in Stockholm, Sweden.

1957 – Bruce Grobbelaar (68), Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper (Liverpool, Zimbabwean national team), born in Durban, South Africa.
1966 – Niall Quinn (59), Irish former professional footballer (92 caps, Rep of Ireland; Manchester City, Sunderland) and sports television pundit, born in Dublin, Ireland.
1972 – Daniel Cavanagh (53), English singer-songwriter, musician and co-founder of the band Anathema (“One Last Goodbye”), born in Liverpool, Merseyside.

1973 – Ioan Gruffudd (52), Welsh actor (Titanic, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hornblower), born in Llwydcoed, Wales.

Famous deaths
1892 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (b. 1809), English poet (The Charge of the Light Brigade) and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria’s reign.
1980 – Hattie Jacques (b. 1922), English actress and producer. She is best known as a regular of the Carry On films.
2020 – Eddie Van Halen (b. 1955), Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (“Jump”).
The day today
1952 – ‘The Mousetrap’, a murder-mystery written by the novelist and playwright Agatha Christie, opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The crowd-pleasing whodunit would go on to become the longest continuously running play in history, with more than 10 million people to date attending its more than 20,000 performances in London’s West End.
1956 – Bobby Charlton makes his League debut for Manchester United against Charlton Athletic, scoring twice in United’s 4-2 victory at Old Trafford.
1956 – Polish-American medical researcher, Albert Bruce Sabin announced his oral vaccine against polio was ready to test. The treatment could make a person immune for life and came in a sugar cube form that was cherry flavoured.
1968 – The first three places in the US Grand Prix were taken by British drivers: Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees.
1978 – Anni-Frid Lyngstad marries fellow ABBA member Benny Andersson. However, after only two years of marriage, they separated on 26 November 1980, and were divorced in 1981.
1985 – Police officer Keith Blakelock is hacked to death by a mob during riots at the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham, North London against a backdrop of unrest between the police and local black communities.
1985 – French McLaren driver Alain Prost clinches his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship with a 4th placing in the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.
1997 – British astronaut, Michael Foale, returned safely to earth aboard the space shuttle ‘Atlantis’ after four and a half months on ‘MIR’, the Russian space station. The touchdown was Atlantis’ final mission before she was taken out of service for another ‘Orbiter Modification Down Period’. Atlantis did not fly again until May 2000 when she made her first trip to the International Space Station.
2001 – David Beckham scores a magnificent 30-yard free kick against Greece in the 93rd minute to ensure England’s qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
Today in music
1964 – The Beatles spent the afternoon recording ‘Eight Days A Week’ at Abbey Road studios in London. Late evening was spent at The Ad Lib Club, London, partying with The Ronettes and Mick Jagger.

1972 – During sessions at RCA Studios, New York City, David Bowie recorded ‘The Jean Genie’, which became the lead single from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. The track spent 13 weeks in the UK charts, peaking at No.2, making it Bowie’s biggest hit to date. The line “He’s so simple minded, he can’t drive his module” would later give the Scottish band Simple Minds their name.

1982 – Madonna released her debut single ‘Everybody’ on Sire Records. The track failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it did however, appear on the dance charts and the song helped Madonna achieve her first appearance in a dance magazine.
1991 – Michael Jackson gave away the bride at Elizabeth Taylor’s seventh wedding, held at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The Groom was construction worker Larry Fortensky, whom Taylor would divorce in 1997.
1999 – Winners at The Mobo Awards included Kele Le Roc, for best newcomer and best single. Shanks & Bigfoot (Sweet Like Chocolate) won best dance act. TLC won best video for ‘No Scrubs’. Lauryn Hill, won best International act and Tina Turner won a Lifetime Achievement Award.
2007 – Queen’s groundbreaking promo for their 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody was named the UK’s best music video in a survey of music fans. Out of 1,051 adults polled by O2, 30% named the six-minute video, (which took only three hours to shoot and cost a mere £3,500 to make), their favourite.
2011 – Starship’s “We Built This City” was named ‘the worst song of the 1980s’ in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine. ‘The Final Countdown’ by the Swedish band Europe came in second and ‘Lady in Red’ by Chris de Burgh was third.
2020 – Eddie Van Halen, the revered guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen died at the age of 65, the Dutch-American musician had been receiving treatment for throat cancer. Halen, whose full name was Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, and his brother Alex Van Halen began performing together as teens, but formed the core of what would later become Van Halen after meeting David Lee Roth in the early seventies.
Today in history
1536 – William Tyndale, English religious reformer and translator of the Bible’s New Testament, was strangled and burned at the stake, for heresy.
1769 – English explorer Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, discovered New Zealand. Cook and a landing party arrived onshore on 8 October at Poverty Bay in the north-east of the North Island.
1829 – Locomotive trials began at Rainhill near Liverpool to find an engine for use on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. On trial were Cycloped, Perseverance, Sans Pareil, Novelty and the winner, Rocket, designed by George and Robert Stephenson and built by Robert Stephenson and Company. A replica of the Rocket is at York’s railway museum.
1854 – The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead started shortly after midnight, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured in a series of fires and an explosion. The initial fire started in a mill and large quantities of oil in the premises added fuel to the fire. The explosion, which could be heard 10 miles away, was thought to be the result of storing 2800 tons of sulphur and 128 tons of nitrate of soda in one of the warehouses.
1889 – The Moulin Rouge (In English: The Red Mill), opened in the Jardin de Paris at the foot of the Montmartre hill.
1895 – Conductor Sir Henry Wood instituted the Promenade Concerts; known worldwide as ‘The Proms’, at the Queen’s Hall in London.