ON THIS DAY
DURAN DURAN were at the top of the UK music charts with their first number one hit – Is There Something I Should Know?
Russell Mulcahy, who was also responsible for the Rio and Wild Boys videos, directed the music video for Is There Something I Should Know and it went on to become one of MTV’s most popular music clips of the year. ELVIS PRESLEY got a regulation short-back-andsides haircut from barber James “Pete” Peterson at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, after joining the army.
Reporters and photographers turned up to see the famous Presley quiff replaced by a GI buzz cut and he later completed his basic training in Texas.
Three teenage fans wrote President Eisenhower beforehand swearing they would die if the army cut off Elvis’s famous sideburns. ACTRESS Jennifer Aniston officially for divorce from Brad Pitt after just under five years of marriage and seven years together. It later transpired that Brad had fallen in love with his Mr and Mrs co-star Angelina Jolie while he was still married to Jennifer. QUEEN of Soul Aretha Franklin turns 75 today. The singer of hits like Respect, Natural Woman and I Say A Little Prayer is a multiple Grammy winner and appeared in the 1980 film 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
She once said: “Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I’m happy with that.” JOHN LENNON and Yoko Ono began their week-long “bed-in” peace protest at the honeymoon suite at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
They gave interviews from their bed as part of a protest against world violence and war. John said: “There is an alternative to war. It’s staying in bed and growing your hair.” OXFORD won the famous university boat race in 18 minutes and 58 seconds after the Cambridge team sank a mile from home.
Cambridge got that sinking feeling as their boat started to take in water on the River Thames. The bad weather and choppy water added to their problems. THE Thames Tunnel, designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened to the public.
Pedestrians could pay one penny to walk between Rotherhithe and Wapping in London through the world’s first tunnel under a river.
Fifty thousand people paid the entrance fee on the opening day and it was described as the eighth wonder of the world.