September 25th "2024" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 269 of the year! Known as National Comic Book Day, National Food Service Workers Day, National One-Hit Wonder Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Sapphire.
1977 – Independent airline owner Freddie Laker took on the main commercial airlines with his first ‘Skytrain’ service between London and New York… Look how comefy those seats look!
Todays birthdays
1946 – Felicity Kendal (78), English actress (The Good Life, Rosemary and Thyme), born in Olton, Solihull, West Midlands.
1951 – Mark Hamill (73), American actor (Luke Skywalker – Original Star Wars franchise), voice artist and writer, born in Oakland, California, United States.
1968 – Will Smith (56), American actor (Independance Day, I Am Legend, Men In Black), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
1969 – Catherine Zeta Jones (55), Welsh actress (Darling Buds of May, Entrapment, The Mask of Zorro), born in Swansea, Wales.
1975 – Declan Donnelly (49), British television presenter (Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent), actor (Byker Grove) and former singer (PJ and Duncan – “Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble”), born in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Famous deaths
2004 – Brian Clough (b. 1935), English footballer (Sunderland, England) and manager (Derby County, Nottingham Forest).
The day today
1956 – A Transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated. It consisted of 4,500 miles of cable, laid in waters up to 2.5 miles deep between Gallanach Bay, near Oban in Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland and initially carried 36 telephone channels.
1967 – Britain, France and West Germany signed an agreement to co-operate on an ‘airbus’ airliner, intended to rival American production.
1983 – Thirty eight republican prisoners, armed with 6 handguns, hijacked a prison meals’ lorry and smashed their way out of the Maze prison in County Down, Northern Ireland, considered one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. The escape was the biggest in British history, and the biggest in Europe since World War II when 76 Allied POW’s managed to escape from German Stalag Luft III.
1977 – The British Thrust SCC car, driven by RAF pilot Andy Green, set a new world record land speed record of 714.44 mph at Black Rock Desert in Nevada. On October 15th in the same year, Thrust SSC became the first land vehicle to exceed the speed of sound when it achieved 763 mph (Mach 1.020), also at Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Thrust SSC remains the world’s first and only supersonic car.
2012 – In what was claimed to be a world first, the Tullibardine whisky distillery in Perthshire signed a deal to turn by-products from their distillery into butanol to power cars.
Today in music
1968 – Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Those Were The Days’. Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.
1993 – Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince started a two week run at No.1 in the UK with the single ‘Boom! Shake The Room’. Featuring Will Smith who was a rapper and actor starring in TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993.
2000 – Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”
2006 – ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ by the Scissor Sisters was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, ‘Sexyback’ by Justin Timberlake was at No.1 on the US charts and Sandi Thom had the Australian No.1 single with ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair).
2007 – Foo Fighters released their sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Album, and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
Today in history
1066 – England’s King Harold II defeated the King of Norway (Harald Hardrada), at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. After a horrific battle, Hardrada and most of the Norwegians were killed. Although Harold repelled the Norwegian invaders, his victory was short-lived and he was defeated and killed by the Normans at the Battle of Hastings less than three weeks later.
1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crosses the Panama Isthmus becoming first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
1660 – Samuel Pepys drank his first cuppa, after reading that tea made the body active and lusty.
1687 – Sir Isaac Newton published his theories on gravitation. Newton was born at Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham, Lincolnshire and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
1818 – The first blood transfusion using human blood (as opposed to earlier attempts with animal blood) took place at Guy’s Hospital in London.