On This Day

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05 JANUARY

1886 "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson published by Longmans, Green & Co.

1914 Ford Motor Co wages jump from $2.40/9-hr day to $5.00/8-hr day

1922 Sir Ernest Shackleton, British Antarctic explorer, died of a heart attack off South Georgia. At his wife's request he was buried there. It was his fourth expedition, aimed at circumnavigating the Antarctic in what he described as the one remaining object of Antarctic journeying; the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole.

1941 Amy Johnson, record-breaking English aviator, died whilst flying an aircraft from Blackpool to Kidlington (Oxfordshire) in foggy conditions as her role in the Air Transport Auxiliary that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK departments. Her plane was found, 100 miles off course, in the muddy water of the Thames, but her body was never recovered. Reportedly out of fuel she had been seen alive in the water, but a rescue attempt failed and the incident also led to the death of her would-be rescuer, Lt. Cmdr. Walter Fletcher. Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930 and she also set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s. She was born on 1st July 1903 at this house on St. Georges Road in Hull which has a commemorative blue plaque.

1959 Buddy Holly releases his last record "It Doesn't Matter"; he was killed in a plane crash 29 days later

1960 The last journey of the Mumbles Railway, the oldest in the world. It was set up in 1804 as a goods railway running from Swansea to Mumbles Head, Wales, and began carrying passengers in 1807. The railway still holds the record for the highest number of forms of traction of any railway in the world - horse-drawn, sail power, steam power, electric power, petrol and diesel.

1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival release their second album "Bayou Country", featuring singles "Good Golly, Miss Molly" and "Proud Mary"

1971 One-day cricket was born when 46,000 turned up to watch England play Australia at Melbourne. The test match had been rained off for several days previously. Australia won by 5 wickets (with 42 balls remaining)

1971 Body of US heavyweight Charles "Sonny" Liston (36) found; he had been dead for an estimated 6 days.

1981 Peter Sutcliffe, a 35-year-old lorry driver from Bradford, suspected of carrying out 13 murders across West Yorkshire over a period of five years, was formally charged in court.

1993 The oil tanker 'Braer' was wrecked in hurricane force winds off the Shetland Islands, discharging large amounts of crude oil.

1993 Brian Lara completes 277 v Australia at cricket SCG

2001 A report funded by The Department of Health found that the convicted serial killer, former GP Harold Shipman, may have killed in excess of 300 of his patients.

2013 The death in Wirksworth - Derbyshire, of Britain's oldest man, Reg Dean aged 110 years and 63 days. He was a former church minister and lived through two world wars and 24 British prime ministers.

Famous Birthday's

Konrad Adenauer
(1876 - 1967)



1855 King C. Gillette, American businessman and inventor of inexpensive and disposable safety razor blades, born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (d. 1932)

George Reeves
(1914 - 1959)

Chuck Noll
(1932 - 2014)

Robert Duvall
87th Birthday

1946 Diane Keaton, American actress (Annie Hall, Little Drummer Girl), born in Los Angeles, California
72nd Birthday

Famous Deaths

1922 Ernest Shackleton, British-Irish polar explorer (Endurance, Antarctica), dies of a heart attack at 47

Calvin Coolidge
(1872 - 1933)


Amelia Earhart
(1897 - 1939)



1941 Amy Johnson, British pilot who was the first female pilot to fly alone from Britain to Australia, dies during a ferry flight at 37

1994 Brian Johnston, cricketer (BBC radio commentator for 40 yrs), dies at 81

2003 Roy Jenkins, British politician (b. 1920)

Momo***u Ando
(1910 - 2007)


2014 Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, Portuguese footballer (top goalscorer-1966 World Cup), dies from heart failure at 71

Famous Weddings

1531 Pope Clemens VII forbids English King Henry VIII to re-marry

1808 Explorer William Clark (37) weds Julia Hancock in Fincastle, Virginia

1911 British PM Neville Chamberlain (41) weds Anne de Vere Cole

1985 Baseball player Darryl Strawberry (22) weds Lisa Andrews

1985 NFL football player Reggie White (23) weds Sara Copeland

Famous Divorces

1967 Actor Lee Marvin (42) divorces Elizabeth Ebeling after 14 years of marriage

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06 JANUARY

1412 The birth of St Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans. She was a great heroine of French history and believed that she had a divine mission to drive the British from France. She died at the stake after being captured by the Burgundians and sold to the British.

1839 The most damaging storm in 300 years swept across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.

1916 World War I - The British Government introduced conscription, to replace the many thousands killed in the trenches in France.

1925 Mussolini forms a cabinet composed entirely of Fascists in Italy

1928 Four people were drowned, and many paintings in the basement of the Tate Gallery were severely damaged, when the Thames flooded. The water was deep enough to fill the moat of the Tower of London.

1930 Bradman scores 452* for NSW against Qld, 377 mins, 49 fours

1965 Geoff Boycott takes 3-47 against South Africa, his best Test bowling

1971 Neil Young returns to his homeland of Canada for his first concert there since his pre-stardom days

1975 1000 Led Zeppelin fans, waiting overnight inside the lobby of the Boston Garden for tickets to the group's February 4th gig to go on sale, cause a riot and an estimated $30,000 damage

1983 The Royal Navy arrested a Danish trawler captain (Kent Kirk) for illegally entering British waters in the first confrontation of the ' fish war'. The move followed Denmark's refusal to agree to proposals for a new EEC fishing regime.

1987 The first episode of TV's Inspector Morse was broadcast. It was based in Oxford.

2014 54 year old Stephen Gough, the so-called 'Naked Rambler' was jailed for 16 months after a jury took just two minutes to find him guilty of breaching an antisocial behaviour order designed to prevent him from appearing nude in public. Gough has been convicted for dozens of offences, mainly in Scotland, where he was repeatedly arrested during attempts to walk from Land's End to John o'Groats without clothes.

2015 The death was announced of D-Day veteran Bernard Jordan (aged 90). In June 2014 he sparked a police search when he left the care home in Hove to join fellow veterans and attended the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in France. His wife Irene (aged 88) died just days after her husband. They left their entire state, estimated at being worth around £600,000 to the RNLI.

Famous Birthday's

John Smith
(1580 - 1631)



Loretta Young
(1913 - 2000)



1946 Syd Barrett, English guitarist and early vocalist of the band Pink Floyd, born in Cambridge, England (d. 2006)

Terry Venables
74th Birthday

Rowan Atkinson
62nd Birthday

Nancy Lopez
61st Birthday

Famous Deaths

Louis Braille
(1809 - 1852)

Theodore Roosevelt
(1858 - 1919)

Victor Fleming
(1889 - 1949)

1934 Herbert Chapman, Legendary Manager of Arsenal and Huddersfield Town (b. 1878)



1989 Hirohito, Japan`s emperor (1922-89), dies at 87 after 62-year reign

1993 Rudolph Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (Kirov), dies of AIDS at 54



2012 Robert Holness, English radio and television presenter, dies at 83

2015 Lance Percival, English actor and comedian (That Was The Week That Was), dies at 81

Famous Weddings

1759 US 1st President George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis at White House Plantation

1836 Author Harriet Beecher (24) weds educator Calvin Ellis Stowe (33) in Cincinnati, Ohio

1903 Theoretical Physicist Albert Einstein (23) weds Mileva Maric

1945 Future US President George H. W. Bush marries Barbara Pierce at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye NY

1945 US First Lady Barbara Bush (19) weds 41st president George H. W. Bush (20) at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye, New York

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07 JANUARY

1536 Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England and mother of Mary I, died, at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire where she had lived since Henry annulled their marriage. The Pope had declined the request for an annulment, but Henry married his mistress Anne Boleyn regardless, a chain of events that led to England's break with the Roman Catholic Church.

1805 The famous pugilist Tom Cribb had his first public fight. It was against Tom Maddox at Wood Green. Cribb was declared the winner after an incredible 76 rounds.

1927 A telephone service began operating between London and New York. A three-minute call cost £15. Nevertheless 31 different people made a call on the first day.

1945 Second World War - General Montgomery held a press conference in which he claimed credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Ardennes Offensive). The defeat left many German units severely depleted of men and equipment. America suffered 89,000 casualties, their bloodiest battle of World War II

1965 Identical twin brothers Ronald and Reginald Kray were in custody, charged in connection with running a protection racket. When they died (1995 and 2000 respectively) their funerals were like those of royals, rather than those of notorious criminals.




1970 Farmers sue Max Yasgur for $35,000 in damages caused by "Woodstock"

1990 Tower of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far

2000 Former Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken was released from jail after serving less than half of his 18-month sentence. He had been imprisoned for perjury and perverting the course of justice after his libel case against the Guardian Newspaper and Granada Television collapsed.

2014 Figures from 'Care for the Wild' showed that pilot culls of badgers in Somerset and Gloucestershire had cost more than £7m - equivalent to more than £4,000 per badger killed. The government scheme was to test how effective, humane and safe a cull could be in their attempt to stop the spread of bovine TB.

Famous Birthday's

Millard Fillmore
(1800 - 1874)

William Peter Blatty
(1928 - 2017)

Nicolas Cage
54th Birthday

Lewis Hamilton
33rd Birthday

Eden Hazard
27th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Catherine of Aragon
(1485 - 1536)



Nikola Tesla
(1856 - 1943)



1988 Trevor Howard, British actor (Brief Encounter, Superman, The Third Man), dies of bronchitis at 71



2015 Stéphane Charbonnier [Charb], French cartoonist and editor of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, dies in a terrorist attack at 47

2015 Rod Taylor, Australian actor (Time Machine, The Birds), dies at 84

Mário Soares
(1924 - 2017)

Famous Weddings

1630 Composer Pier Cavalli marries rich widow Maria Sosomeno

1879 Dutch King Willem II marries Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont

1880 Pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski (19) weds Antonina Korsak

1911 Actress Mary Pickford (19) weds actor Owen Moore (25)

1934 Princess Juliana marries German prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld

Famous Divorces

1985 Actress-singer Janet Jackson (18) divorces fellow R&B singer James DeBarge (21) only 4 months after getting married

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08 JANUARY

1800 London opened its first soup ******** for the poor.

1815 Britain lost the last battle it ever fought against the US in the War of 1812 when General Sir Edward Pakenham and his men were defeated at New Orleans.

1877 Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).

1942 The birth of Stephen Hawking, possibly the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Albert Einstein. He wrote A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. His book sold at least 25,000,000 copies, was no doubt read by many thousands but maybe understood by only hundreds! In 2014 the film 'The Theory of Everything' was released. It dealt with his former wife's relationship with her ex-husband, his diagnosis of motor neuron disease, and his success in physics.

1966 The Who & the Kinks perform on the last "Shindig" TV show on ABC

1979 512 die as oil tanker Bantry Bay blows up

1982 Spain reopened the frontier of the British colony of Gibraltar. In return, Britain agreed to open negotiations on Gibraltar’s future, and ended its opposition to Spain joining the EEC.

1989 47 people were killed and over 80 injured when a British Midland 737-400 jet crashed on the M1 motorway. Remarkably nobody travelling on the motorway was hurt. The plane had developed a problem in its left engine shortly after it took off from Heathrow. The pilots mistakenly believed that the fault was in the right hand engine which they shut down, leading to the crash, just yards from the runway of East Midlands Airport.

2001 The High Court ruled that the identities and whereabouts of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993 would be kept secret for the rest of their lives. Venables was subsequently returned to prison in March 2010 for other offences and it was decided that he would stay in prison 'for the foreseeable future', as he would be likely to reveal his identity if released. A mere 18 months later it was reported that the Parole Board for England and Wales had approved the release of Venables, who was subsequently released from prison on 3rd September 2013.

2015 Oldham Athletic abandoned a controversial attempt to sign the convicted rapist Ched Evans, claiming that a backlash from sponsors and death threats caused it to withdraw the offer.

Famous Birthday's

Elvis Presley
(1935 - 1977)

1941 Graham Chapman, English comedian (Monty Python's Flying Circus), born in Leicester, England (d. 1989)

Shirley Bassey
80th Birthday

Stephen Hawking
76th Birthday

Kim Jong-in
35th Birthday

David Bowie
(1947 - 2016)

Famous Deaths



Marco Polo
(1254 - 1324)



Galileo Galilei
(1564 - 1642)

Eli Whitney
(1765 - 1825)

1941 Robert Baden-Powell, British founder of the Boy Scout movement, dies at 83



2017 Peter Sarstedt, British musician (Where do you go to my lovely), dies at 75

Famous Weddings

1811 US Vice President John C. Calhoun (28) weds Floride Bonneau (19)

1930 Belgium Princess Marie-Jose marries Italian's crown prince Umberto

1951 Actor Burgess Meredith (43) weds ballerina Kaja Sundsten



1973 Actor Michael Caine (40) weds model Shakira Baksh (25) at Candlelight Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada

2005 Rapper and actor Nas (32) weds R&B singer Kelis (25) at Morningside Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia

Famous Divorces

1499 Louis XII of France after papal divorce marries Anne, Duchess of Brittany to keep duchy for the crown

1998 Roseanne files for divorce from 3rd husband Ben Thomas

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09 JANUARY

1799 Income tax was introduced into Britain by William Pitt the Younger, to raise funds for the Napoleonic War. The rate was two shillings in the pound.

1806 Lord Nelson, naval commander and hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, was buried beneath the dome of St Paul's cathedral, in London, after a grand and solemn procession along the river to Whitehall and thence to the City. Nelson was born on this site - a former rectory :. A plaque on the wall on Creake Road.

1816 Sir Humphry Davy tested his Davy safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery. In January 1819, Davy was awarded a baronetcy, at the time the highest honour ever conferred on a man of science in Britain. A year later he became President of the Royal Society.

1854 Birth of Jenny, Lady Randolph Churchill, wife of Lord Randolph and mother of Winston.

1854 The first free lending Library opened, on Marylebone Road, London.

1888 The London Financial Guide was launched. It became The Financial Times on 13th February.

1898 The birth, in Rochdale, Lancashire, of Dame Gracie Fields, internationally famous singer. This statue of her was unveiled in her home town of Rochdale. on 18th September 2016 by Roy Hudd, President of the British Music Hall Society.

1909 Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, planted the British flag 112 miles from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time.

1929 Alexander Fleming successfully treated his assistant Stuart Craddick’s infection with a penicillin broth, at St Mary’s, Paddington.

1947 Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the black dahlia, is last seen alive.

1972 British miners began their first strike since 1926, campaigning for improved pay and conditions. A season of power cuts followed.

1997 The lone yachtsman, Tony Bullimore, feared drowned after his boat, (Exide Challenger) capsized in the Southern Ocean five days previously, was found safe and well.

2007 Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs announces the iPhone

2015 A New York judge sentenced the extradited radical preacher Abu Hamza to life in prison for supporting terrorist organisations. The Muslim cleric rose to prominence for his fiery sermons at a north London mosque prior to the protracted extradition battle. The US justice department and Theresa May, the UK home secretary, hailed the sentence.



2016 The Flying Scotsman, (engine no. 60103) and the first steam engine to be officially recorded at 100mph carried its first passengers, after a 10 year restoration that cost £4.2M. Test run services were carried out on the East Lancashire Railway, between Bury and Rawtenstall, for two successive weekends.

Famous Birthday's

Richard Nixon
(1913 - 1994)

1920 Clive Dunn, British actor, (d. 2012)



1925 Lee Van Cleef, NJ, actor (For a Few Dollars More, Escape from NY) (d. 1989)

Bob Denver
(1935 - 2005)



1939 Susannah York, English actress (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Superman), born in London, England (d. 2011)

Jimmy Page
74th Birthday

Joan Baez
77th Birthday

Catherine, Duchess of CambridgeCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge
36th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Victor Emmanuel II
(1820 - 1878)

Katherine Mansfield
(1888 - 1923)



Albert Stevens
( - 1966)

1995 Peter Cook, English comic/actor (Peter n' Dud, Bedazzled), dies at 57

2009 Dave Dee, British musician (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich), dies of cancer at 67

2016 Ed Stewart, British DJ and broadcaster (Crackerjack), dies of a stroke at 74

Famous Weddings

1428 Pope Martinus V declares Jacqueline, Countess of Haintaut's marriage to Humphrey Duke of Gloucester invalid

1987 Sir Rudolph Bing (of NY Met Opera) marries Lady Carroll Douglass

1988 English earl of St Andrews marries Sylvana Tomaselli

2005 "Motley Crue" lead singer Vince Neil (43) weds Lia Gerardini at the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas

2007 "Ugly Betty" actress Ashley Jensen (37) weds actor and writer Terence Beesley in a ceremony in the woods of Big Sur, California

50 Years Ago Album & Single # 1s

VAL DOONICAN ROCKS BUT GENTLY - VAL DOONICAN

HELLO GOODBYE - BEATLES

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[Altobelli]

10 JANUARY

1839 Indian tea was auctioned in Britain for the first time. Previously, only China tea had been available, at great expense. After the introduction of Indian tea, prices fell and tea became so affordable that it was soon the national drink.

1840 Sir Rowland Hill introduced the Penny Post to Britain. Mail was delivered at a standard charge rather than being paid by the recipient. On its first day, 112,000 letters were posted in London alone. Additional note:- The Penny Black public house in Northwich, Cheshire - is a Grade II listed, Tudor style building that was formerly the district's post office.

1863 The first section of the London Underground railway was opened, by Prime Minister Gladstone. It ran from Paddington to Farringdon Street, stopping at seven stations. The trains ran every fifteen minutes.

1901 Oil discovered in Texas

1918 The House of Lords gave its approval to the Representation of the People Bill, which gave woman over the age of 30 the right to vote, as recognition of the contribution made by women defence workers during the First World War. However, women were still not politically equal to men, who could vote from the age of 21. Full electoral equality wouldn't occur until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act of 1928.

1947 Greek steamer "Himara" strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard

1949 RCA introduces 45 RPM record

1979 'Crisis? What Crisis?' Prime Minister James Callaghan flew back into strike-torn Britain denying allegations that the country was in chaos. Callaghan was the only Prime Minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions – Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, prior to becoming Prime Minister.

1985 Eight people died and dozens were injured when an explosion destroyed a block of exclusive flats in south-west London. The blast was compared to a 50lb bomb going off and caused an estimated £250m worth of damage in addition to the loss of life.



1999 "The Sopranos", starring James Gandolfini as mobster Tony Soprano, debuts on HBO

2015 The Falklands commemorated Margaret Thatcher by unveiling a statue of the late Prime Minister who led the 1982 war that kept the island British. (Note - 10th January is Margaret Thatcher Day on the Falklands.)

2016 The death, from liver cancer, of the English singer, songwriter David Bowie, aged 69.

Famous Birthday's

Frank James
(1843 - 1915)

1883 Aleksei Tolstoi, Russian poet/writer (Pjotr Peroyj) (d. 1945)



Gary Parkinson
50th Birthday

1948 Donald Fagen, rock vocalist/keyboardist (Steely Dan-Peg), born in Passaic, New Jersey
70th Birthday

Rod Stewart
73rd Birthday

George Foreman
69th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Samuel Colt
(1814 - 1862)

Roy DeMeo
(1942 - 1983)



1971 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (Chanel), dies at 87

David Bowie
(1947 - 2016)



2017 Clare Hollingworth, British war correspondent who was the first to report on the outbreak of WWII, dies at 105

2018 Tommy Lawrence, Liverpool goalkeeper with 3 Scotland caps, dies aged 77 (b. 1940)

Famous Weddings

1430 Duke Philip the Good marries Isabella of Portugal

1857 Novelist Jules Verne (28) weds Honorine de Viane Morel

1870 Deputy sheriff Wyatt Earp (21) weds Urilla Sutherland in Lamar, Texas

1898 Painter Henri Matisse (28) weds Amélie Noellie Parayre

1936 Actor Burgess Meredith (28) weds actress Margaret Perry (22)

Famous Divorces

1810 French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Empress Joséphine

1936 Actress Mary Pickford (44) divorces actor Douglas Fairbanks (52) after 15 years of marriage

1967 Actor Christopher Plummer (37) divorces columnist Patricia Lewis after nearly 5 years of marriage

1981 Singer James Brown (47) divorces Deidre Jenkins after 10 years of marriage

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11 JANUARY

1857 Jockey Fred Archer was born. He won his first race at the age of 12 and was a Champion Jockey for 13 consecutive years until 1886. He won 2748 races during his career, including five Derby winners. In 1885 he rode 246 winners, a record that wasn't broken until Gordon Richards' 1933 season. Archer committed suicide, aged 29, by shooting himself, following depression after the death of his wife.

1858 The birth of Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr., the American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. At the height of his success, Selfridge leased Highcliffe Castle in Hampshire. He is buried at St. Mark's Church in Highcliffe.

1954 George Cowling, a 34-year-old meteorologist, gave the first televised weather broadcast.

1973 The first 867 graduates from the Open University were awarded their degrees after two years studying from home.

1980 Nigel Short, age 14, from Bolton, Lancashire, became the youngest International Master in the history of chess. Participating in four World Junior Championships, from 1980–1983, Short achieved his best result during his first attempt, in which he was placed second to Garry Kasparov. He was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1984, aged nineteen, the world's youngest grandmaster at that time.

1984 French farmers hijacked British lorries in a dispute against meat imports.

1993 British Airways was forced into an embarrassing climb-down in relation to a campaign of 'dirty tricks' it had launched against rival airline Virgin Atlantic. BA was forced to pay damages to both Virgin Atlantic and its boss Richard Branson.

2015 The Muslim Charities Forum, that was given a £250,000 taxpayer-funded contract to run a major faith project, was stripped of state funding after links were uncovered to a group alleged to fund Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood political movement.

Famous Birthday's

Alexander Hamilton
(1755 - 1804)

John A. Macdonald
(1815 - 1891)

Alice Paul
(1885 - 1977)

1930 Rod Taylor, Australian actor (The Birds, Time Machine), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 2015)

Arthur Scargill, Socialist Labour Party (UK) leader.
80th Birthday

Gérson
77th Birthday

Tony Kaye, rocker (Yes)
72nd Birthday

Bryan Robson
61st Birthday

Mary J. Blige
47th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Ambrose Bierce
(1842 - 1914)



Edmund Hillary
(1919 - 2008)



1928 Thomas Hardy, English novelist (Far from the Madding Crowd) and poet, dies near Dorchester at 87



1978 Michael Bates, English actor (Clockwork Orange, Salt & Pepper), dies of Cancer at 57

2003 Mickey Finn, English drummer (T. Rex) (b. 1947)

2009 David Vine, British sports broadcaster (b. 1936)



Anita Ekberg
(1931 - 2015)

Famous Weddings

1892 Painter Paul Gauguin marries Teha'amana, a 13-year-old Tahitian girl

1911 Actress Hattie McDaniel (16) weds pianist Howard Hickman (30)

1924 Novelist Hermann Hesse (36) weds singer Ruth Wenger

1941 Comedian Stan Laurel and actress Virginia Ruth Rogers remarry for the 2nd time

1976 NBA player Pete Maravich (27) weds college sweetheart Jackie Elliser in Metairie, Louisiana

Famous Divorces

1971 1st "Quickie" Divorce granted in UK

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12 JANUARY

1899 Unable to launch their lifeboat at Lynmouth because of heavy storms, the crew, horses and helpers dragged their 10 ton lifeboat Louisa and carriage, in the dark, the 15 miles overland to Porlock Weir. The 11 hour journey across Exmoor included a haul over Countisbury Hill (gradient 25% : 1 in 4) followed by descending another 1 in 4 hill down into Porlock where the corner of a househad to be demolished to gain access. Their rescue of the 18 crew from Forrest Hall was successful. The journey was re-enacted in daylight on 12th January 1999.

1903 Harry Houdini performs at Rembrandt theater, Amsterdam

1950 The British submarine Truculent collided with a Swedish oil tanker Divina, in the Thames. The two vessels remained locked together for a few seconds before the submarine sank, resulting in the deaths of 64 people. An inquiry attributed 75% of the blame to Truculent and 25% to Divina. Truculent was sold and broken up for scrap in May 1950.

1959 Henry Cooper defeated Brian London on points over 15 rounds, becoming British and European heavyweight boxing champion. Cooper was the first to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award twice (in 1967 and 1970). He is the only British boxer to win three Lonsdale Belts outright and he was knighted in 2000.

1967 Louisville, Kentucky, draft board refuses exemption for boxer Muhammad Ali

1970 The Boeing 747 completed its first transatlantic flight, from New York to Heathrow. It is still often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. The 747 was the first 'wide-body' ever produced. It held the passenger capacity record of 660 (in single class layout) for 37 years until October 2007 when the Airbus A380 took to the skies, with a maximum passenger capacity of 850.

1971 Two bombs exploded at the home of Employment Secretary Robert Carr, in outer London. He was unhurt. The bombs had been planted by the Angry Brigade, protesting against a new controversial industrial relations bill that Mr. Carr was proposing.

1976 Crime writer Dame Agatha Christie died, leaving a final book waiting to be published. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is the best selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly four billion copies, and her estate claims that her works rank third, after those of William Shakespeare and the Bible, as the most widely published books.


1978 The executors of Lady Churchill’s estate admitted that she had burnt Graham Sutherland’s portrait of Sir Winston 18 months after the House of Commons had presented it to him in 1954. Sir Winston ironically described it as ‘a remarkable example of modern art’.

1982 Mark Thatcher, son of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, went missing in the Sahara while taking part in the Paris-Dakar Rally. He was rescued two days later, and it turned out that he had lost his way. The incident provoked a tidal wave of jokes and cartoons making fun of his sense of direction.

1989 Ex-dictator of Uganda Idi Amin expelled from Zaire

1995 Murder trial against O.J. Simpson, begins in LA

2001 Sven Goran Eriksson became the first foreign coach of the England football team. In 2006, he was recorded as saying that he would be willing to leave England to manage Aston Villa if England won the World Cup, after being duped into believing that a wealthy Arab would buy the club and wanted him as manager. The wealthy Arab was in fact a 'Fake Sheikh', an undercover News of the World reporter. On 4th May 2006 the FA announced that Steve McClaren, Eriksson's assistant, would take over after the World Cup.

Famous Birthday's

Hermann Goering
(1893 - 1946)

Tim Horton
(1930 - 1974)

1941 Long John Baldry, England, blues vocalist (Don't try to Lay No Boogie) (d. 2005)

Joe Frazier
(1944 - 2011)

1932 Des O'Connor, British television presenter
86th Birthday

1933 Michael Aspel, British talk show host
85th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Marguerite Bourgeoys
(1620 - 1700)



Agatha Christie
(1890 - 1976)



Maurice Gibb
(1949 - 2003)

Famous Weddings

1684 French King Louis XIV marries Madame Maintenon

1901 Tennis champ Charlotte Cooper (30) weds solicitor Alfred Sterry




1957 Aviator Howard Hughes marries 2nd wife actress Jean Peters

1963 Country singer Willie Nelson (29) weds singer Shirley Collie (31) in Las Vegas

1963 Actor and comedian Bob Newhart (33) weds Virginia "Ginnie" Quinn

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13 JANUARY

1832 The death of Thomas Lord, English professional cricketer and founder of Lord's Cricket Ground in 1787. He is buried in the churchyard of St. John's Church at West Meon in Hampshire.

1926 The birth of Michael Bond, English children’s writer and creator of ‘Paddington Bear’. Whilst working as a BBC television cameraman Bond had his first book published, 'A Bear Called Paddington'. It was the start of Bond's most famous series of books, telling the tales of a bear from 'Darkest Peru', whose Aunt Lucy sent him to England, carrying a jar of marmalade. He also wrote the children's books about the adventures of a guinea pig named Olga da Polga, as well as the animated BBC TV series The Herbs.

1958 In Scotland, the serial killer Peter Manuel was arrested after a series of attacks over a two year period that left nine people dead, although he is suspected of having killed as many as eighteen. Manuel was hanged in Barlinnie prison on 11th July 1958. He was one of the last prisoners to die on the Barlinnie gallows.

1964 Capital Records grudgingly released the first Beatles record, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, in the US to, as they said 'see how it goes’. It became their fastest selling single ever. Within only three weeks, a million copies had been sold.

2004 Dr. Harold Shipman, who is believed to have killed more than 200 of his patients, was found hanged in his prison cell. To date Shipman is the only British doctor to have been proved guilty of murdering his patients, in addition to being one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history.

2016 Record Powerball lottery held in America - $1.6 billion, (3 winning tickets)

2017 The death (aged 86) of the photographer and film maker Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, commonly known as Lord Snowdon. He was married to Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, from 1960 - 1978.

Famous Birthday's



1919 Robert Stack, actor (Eliot Ness-Untouchables, Airplane), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2003)



1931 Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)

John Lees, English rock guitarist and vocalist (Barclay James Harvest), born in Oldham
70th Birthday

Fred White, rocker (Earth Wind & Fire-Shining Star, Easy Lover)
62nd Birthday

Suggs [Graham McPherson], English singer-songwriter (Madness), born in Hastings, England
57th Birthday

Julia Louis-Dreyfus
57th Birthday

Patrick Dempsey
52nd Birthday

Orlando Bloom
41st Birthday

Famous Deaths

Stephen Foster
(1826 - 1864)

Wyatt Earp
(1848 - 1929)

James Joyce
(1882 - 1941)

2004 Harold Shipman, British general practitioner and prolific serial killer, commits suicide at 57



2009 Patrick McGoohan, American actor (b. 1928)



2010 Teddy Pendergrass, American R&B singer (b. 1950)

2017 Anthony Armstrong-Jones [Lord Snowdon], British photographer and ex-husband of Princess Margaret, dies at 86

Famous Weddings

1992 MLB baseball right fielder Sammy Sosa (23) weds Sonia Rodriguez

2006 "The Diary of Anne Frank" actress Shelley Winters (85) weds Gerry DeFord a few hours before her death

[Altobelli]

14 JANUARY

1690 Clarinet invented, in Nurnberg, Germany

1904 The birth of Sir Cecil Beaton, fashion and portrait photographer, writer and theatrical designer. He was a photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines, often photographed the Royal Family for official publications and was a major influence on the work of photographer David Bailey.

1937 The first Gallup Opinion Poll was conducted in Britain. It was the invention of the American George Horace Gallup who founded the Gallup Institute in 1935.

1960 US Army promoted Elvis Presley to Sergeant

1966 David Bowie releases his 1st single "Can't Help Thinking About Me"

1969 Football legend Sir Matt Busby announced that he would retire as manager of Manchester United at the end of the season. Formerly a Scottish football player and manager he was most noted for his time as managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969. His manager records and longevity at the helm of Manchester United are only surpassed by Sir Alex Ferguson.

1974 World Football League founded

1975 A 17-year-old heiress, Lesley Whittle, was kidnapped from her home in Shropshire. Her body was found on 7th March, 1975, hanging from a wire at the bottom of a drain shaft in Bathpool Park, Staffordshire. Donald Neilson, also known as the Black Panther, was convicted of her murder (and three others) in July 1976.

1989 Muslims in Bradford ritually burned a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses in the first serious protest in Britain. The book had been banned in some Muslim countries.

2002 After three months of no cases being reported, the United Kingdom was finally declared free from the 'Foot and Mouth' infection, after a crisis that started in 2001 in which millions of cows and sheep were destroyed.

2013 Music and DVD chain HMV appointed an administrator, making it the latest casualty on the High Street and putting 4,350 jobs at risk. Quote from retail analyst Neil Saunders - "In the digital era, where 73.4% of music and film are online .... there is no real future for physical retail in the music sector."

2014 Monkeys at Paignton Zoo in Devon were banned from eating bananas. Keepers said - "Giving monkeys bananas that have been cultivated for humans is like giving them cake and chocolate. Reducing the sugar in their diets has calmed them down and made their group more settled."

Famous Birthday's

Mark Antony
(83 BC - 30 BC)

Benedict Arnold
(1741 - 1801)



1926 Warren Mitchell, English actor (Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part), born in London (d. 2015)

1934 Richard Briers, English actor, (d. 2013)

1937 Billie Jo Spears, country singer (d. 2011)

Faye Dunaway
77th Birthday

Famous Weddings

1236 English King Henry III marries Eleonora of Provence

1914 Danish "Out of Africa" author Karen Blixen (28), pen name Isak Dinesen marries her 2nd cousin Baron Hans von Blixen-Finecke

1930 Author John Steinbeck (27) weds Carol Henning in Los Angeles, California

1954 NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio weds actress Marilyn Monroe (27) in her 2nd marraige at San Francisco City Hall

1958 Human rights activist Malcolm X marries fellow activist Betty Shabazz in Lansing, Michigan

Famous Divorces

1994 Kathleen Kinmont files for divorce from Lorenzo Lamas

2010 "Easy Rider" director and actor Dennis Hopper (73) divorces his fifth wife Victoria Duffy due to irreconcilable differences and out-of-control spending

Famous Deaths

Edmond Halley
(1656 - 1742)

1898 Lewis Carroll, English writer (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), dies at 65



1957 Humphrey Bogart, American actor (Casablanca, Caine Mutiny), dies of cancer of the esophagus at 57

1977 Anthony Eden, British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1955-57) and Foreign Secretary, dies of liver cancer at 79

1977 Peter Finch, actor (Network, The Nun's Story, Judith), dies at 60



1984 Ray Kroc, American fast food entrepreneur (McDonald's) and owner of baseball's San Diego Padres, dies of heart failure at 81

2006 Shelley Winters, American actress (Lolita, A Place in the Sun, A Patch of Blue & Poseidon Adventure), dies at 85



Alan Rickman
(1946 - 2016)