December 19th

National Day

• Today is National Emo Day and Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.
• Your star sign is Sagittarius and your birthstone is Blue Topaz.

Birthdays

• 1946 – Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author and broadcaster on diet and fitness (The Hip and Thigh Diet), born in Leicester.
• 1958 – Limahl Chris Hamill, English pop singer (“Never Ending Story”) and the lead singer in the pop group Kajagoogoo (“Too Shy”), born in Pemberton, Greater Manchester.
• 1969 – Richard Hammond, English motoring journalist and television presenter (Top Gear, The Grand Tour, Total Wipeout), born in Solihull, West Midlands.
• 1971 – Karen Pickering, English former freestyle Olympic swimmer and four-time Commonwealth Games champion, born in Brighton, Brighton and Hove.
• 1972 – Alyssa Milano, American actress (Commando) best known for her role as Phoebe Halliwell in Charmed, born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
• 1974 – Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player making his Test debut on 8th December 1995 v Sri Lanka, born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
• 1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor (Brokeback Mountain, The Day After Tomorrow, Jarhead), born in Los Angeles, California, United States.

On This Day

• 1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold, in London. The Silver Ghost is considered one of the most valuable cars in the world. In 2005 its insured value was placed at more than £22 million. By 2011 it was valued at almost £37 million.
• 1972 – Frank O’Farrell lost his job as manger of Manchester United, following a 5–0 defeat to Crystal Palace. George Best, once again, announced his retirement, on the same day. Not a good week for United.
• 1974 – The Man with the Golden Gun, the 9th James Bond film starring Roger Moore, Britt Ekland, and Christopher Lee, had its Royal Premiere in London at the Odeon Leicester Square, with general release in the UK the next day.
• 1980 – The comedy film 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, was released in the United States. The film became a major commercial and critical success, tackling issues of gender inequality and workplace harassment with a blend of humor and social commentary. Dolly Parton not only made her film debut in 9 to 5 but also wrote and performed the iconic theme song, which became a number one hit and an anthem for working women.
• 1981 – The tragic Penlee Lifeboat Disaster saw the eight-man crew of the RNLI “Solomon Browne” lost while attempting to rescue the crew of the coaster “Union Star” in hurricane-force winds off Cornwall, resulting in 16 deaths total.
• 1984 – Britain and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing, formally agreeing to transfer full sovereignty of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, establishing the “One Country, Two Systems” principle ensuring Hong Kong’s capitalist system and autonomy for 50 years.
• 2006 – Steve Wright, was arrested, charged and remanded in custody, accused of murdering five prostitutes over a six week period. The bodies of all five women were found dumped in remote locations around Ipswich in Suffolk, sparking a massive police investigation. Wright was found guilty of all five murders and is currently serving a whole-life prison sentence.
• 2012 – The verdict of accidental death of the 96 victims who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium football disaster was quashed in the High Court, clearing the way for a new inquest into the deaths. New medical evidence commissioned by the attorney general revealed that 58 victims “definitely or probably” had the capacity to survive beyond the 3.15pm cut-off point imposed by the original coroner. In a further 12 cases, the cause of death remained unclear. The Chair of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, Anne Williams (who died of cancer on 18th April 2013) and whose 15-year-old son Kevin died in the tragedy was at the hearing.
• 2013 – Ornate plasterwork at the Apollo Theatre in London fell from the ceiling during a performance and after a flash flood thunderstorm. The collapse brought down a lighting rig and a section of balcony, trapping 2 people and injuring around 88, including 7 with serious injuries.
• 2013 – Michael Adebolajo (29) and Michael Adebowale (22) were found guilty of murdering soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks in south-east London in May. Fusilier Rigby was struck with a car before hacked to death. Adebolajo had claimed he was a ‘soldier of Allah’ and the killing was an act of war. Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years.

Music

• 1957 – Elvis Presley had his draft notice served on him for the US Army. He went on to join the 32nd Tank Battalion third Armor Corps based in Germany.
• 1958 – Conway Twitty was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘It’s Only Make Believe’. The song became the first to reach the UK Top 10 in four different years by different artists: Billy Fury (1964), Glen Campbell (1970) and Child (1978).
• 1981 – ABBA scored their seventh UK No.1 album with The Visitors, the Swedish pop group’s eighth and final studio album. It was one of the first records to be recorded and mixed digitally, and was the first in history to be manufactured on the new CD format in 1982 on Atlantic.
• 1987 – The Pet Shop Boys had their third UK No.1 single with their version of ‘Always On My Mind. The duo had performed a version of ‘Always on My Mind’ on Love Me Tender, an TV special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, their performance was so well-received that the group decided to record the song and release it as a single.
• 1994 – The Manic Street Preachers played the first of three nights at The Astoria, London, the last shows Richey Edwards made with the band before disappearing. Edwards vanished on February 1st 1995 leaving no clues to his whereabouts and has never been seen since.
• 1999 – Irish boyband Westlife started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their versions of the ABBA song ‘I Have A Dream’ and the Terry Jacks hit (written in French by Belgian, Jacques Brel and English lyrics by poet Rod McKuen), ‘Seasons In The Sun’. It gave the group the Christmas No.1 and the last No.1 of the century.
• 2005 – Elton John turned down £5.7m for the exclusive rights to his civil union to his partner David Furnish. The couple had considered the offer from a US television channel, putting the money in the Elton John Aids Foundation, but they told Attitude magazine they had decided to keep the day private.
• 2012 – Madonna’s MDNA World Tour made more money than any other during 2012. The tour grossed £141m, after more than 1.6 million fans paid to see her perform in 65 cities worldwide since June 2011. She beat Bruce Springsteen into first place on the highest-grossing tour list, who earned £123 million. Also in the top 25 were Coldplay, who took fifth place, and Lady Gaga at number six, who attracted audiences reaching 1.1 million people in comparison.

History

• 1154 – Henry II was crowned at Westminster Abbey alongside his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, becoming the first Plantagenet King of England and beginning a reign that would transform the kingdom.
• 1606 – English entrepreneurs set sail in the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery to establish a colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
• 1783 – William Pitt the Younger became the youngest British Prime Minister, at the age of 24 years, 6 months and 21 days.
• 1843 – English author Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, which became one of the outstanding Christmas stories of modern literature. This popular novella sold out by Christmas Eve, selling 6,000 copies. Since then, “A Christmas Carol” has never gone out of print.
• 1848 – Emily Brontë, English author of Wuthering Heights, died of tuberculosis at the tender age of 30. Emily is buried in the Bronte family vault at the St Michael and All Angels church in Haworth, West Yorkshire.
• 1851 – The renowned artist, Joseph Turner, died. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner was also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting.