This Day in History

[Dave]

Latest post of the previous page:

It's good job Donald Trump wasn't President when he was alive, then.

There's an entry coming up in a few days about Hadrian's Wall, perhaps in a few years there'll be one about Trump's Fence. If he's around long enough to complete it of course

I must try and remember that if I ever meet Richard Osman, who is an ardent Fulham fan.

I bet he's seen a few matches where Fulham finished pointless.

[boatbuilder]

I love the last comment there Dave.

[Dave]

January 22nd

1879 The Zulus massacred British troops at Isandlwana, the first major encounter in the Anglo–Zulu War. Later, at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, two British officers and 150 British and colonial troops defended their garrison from the attacks of between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.

1901 Queen Victoria died, aged 81, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. At the time, her reign was the longest in British history, spanned 63 years and saw the growth of 'an empire on which the sun never set'.

1920 The birth of Sir Alf Ramsey, football manager of England when they won the 1966 World Cup. He was knighted in 1967 in recognition of England's World Cup win the previous year.

1927 The first live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United, at Highbury.

1955 Joe Davis recorded the first official maximum snooker break of 147 in an exhibition match at Leicester Square Hall.

1959 Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver and one-time F1 world champion died, aged 29, in a road accident on the A3 bypass near Guildford driving his British Racing Green Jaguar 3.4-litre car. What happened on that day is still unknown.

1962 The ‘A6 Murder’ trial began, the longest murder trial in British legal history. James Hanratty was accused of murdering Michael Gregston at a lay-by near Bedford. The trial finally ended on 17th February 1962 with Hanratty sentenced to hang, despite his protests of innocence and disquiet amongst some observers of the trial.

2001 The government launched a £3m campaign to convince parents the controversial MMR triple vaccine is safe.

2009 One of President Barack Obama orders is to close the Guantanamo prison camp within 12 months and suspended several of the trials of suspects at Guantanamo so that the legal process can be reviewed.

And Finally.

2015 Survival expert Ray Mears, who was due to make at least £10,000 as a speaker at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show was sacked after he chose caravans as one of his pet hates on the TV show 'Room 101'.

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[Dave]

January 23rd

1570 James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, and regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, was fatally shot by James Hamilton, a supporter of Mary Queen of Scots. It was the first recorded assassination by a firearm.

1900 Second Boer War: The defeat of the British at the Battle of Spion Kop, 24 miles west-south-west of Ladysmith on a steep terraced hilltop. Many football grounds in the English Premier League and Football League, have one terrace or stand 'Spion Kop' or 'Kop' because of the steep nature of their terracing.

1961 Luxury Portuguese cruise liner Santa Maria was hijacked by a terrorists leftist rebel group who had boarded in Venezuela and Curacao led by Henrique Galvão. The terrorists took control of the ship after killing 1 crew member and injuring others.

1963 At 7.30 pm in Beirut, the American Eleanor Philby was waiting for her husband Kim, a Middle East correspondent for two London journals, to collect her. Instead, he was on his way to Moscow ‘the most damaging double agent in British history’.

1973 Nixon announces Vietnam peace deal. The US president, Richard Nixon, has appeared on national television to announce "peace with honour" in Vietnam.

1985 PC George Hammond was viciously stabbed while on the beat in London, and it took 120 pints of blood to save his life. He never fully recovered, and two years later he committed suicide.

1986 The first ten musicians were inducted into Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame including James Brown, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.

2001 A goal for Bournemouth against Cambridge United saw an 18-year-old Jermain Defoe set what was then a post war scoring record. The striker, on loan from West Ham United, had scored in 10 consecutive Football League matches.

2002 The treatment of a 94-year old woman patient set off a bitter political row between the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition.

And Finally.

1991 John Sebastian, owner and general manager of KLSK FM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, played Led Zeppelins 'Stairway To Heaven' for twenty-four solid hours to inaugurate a format change to Classic Rock. Police showed up with guns drawn: once after a listener reported that the DJ had apparently suffered a heart attack, and later because of suspicion that, this being eight days into the Gulf War, the radio station had been taken hostage by terrorists dispatched by Zeppelin freak Saddam Hussein.

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[Dave]

January 24th

76 The birth, in Spain, of Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), Roman Emperor whose defensive policies led to the building of Hadrian’s Wall on the border between Scotland and England.

1848 Gold was discovered on Sutter's Mill, by James Marshall, starting the California gold rush. Over 300,000 people, known as "forty-niners" (from year 1849), would go to California to seek their fortune.

1915 The First World War sea battle of Dogger Bank ended with a British victory when the superior speed and gunnery of the British fleet sank the German armoured cruiser Blucher. If it had not been for a British signalling mixup that enabled the German fleet to flee safely to port, German losses would have been considerably higher.

1965 Death of Sir Winston Churchill, aged 90, world famous soldier, politician, historian and Prime Minister of Britain. He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of the battle of Dogger Bank (see above). He had correctly predicted that he would die on the same date as his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, who had died exactly 70 years previously.

1972 Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi was found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II. He was among the last three Japanese hold-outs to surrender after the end of hostilities in 1945, almost 28 years after the island had been liberated by allied forces in 1944.

1976 Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, was dubbed 'The Iron Lady' in the Soviet newspaper 'Red Star' after her speech on the threat of Communism.

1986 The beginning of the end for London's Fleet Street, home to most of Britain's national newspapers, when staff of the 'Sun' and 'News of the World' were told that they were moving to new premises at Wapping, in London's Docklands.

1989 The American serial killer Ted Bundy was electrocuted for murdering a 12-year-old girl.

2001 Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson resigned from the Cabinet over a passports for cash scandal. It was the second time he had left the Cabinet in disgrace since Labour came to power in 1997.

And Finally.

2015 A racehorse named Sir Winston Churchill netted a win, on the 50th anniversary of the wartime leader's death, in the 3:25pm race at Uttoxeter racecourse.

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[Dave]

January 25th

1924 The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France. In all, 12 events featuring the play of six different sports were scheduled.

1934 Bank robber, John Dillinger, along with Pierpont, Makley, and Clark, was captured in Tuscon, Arizona. A few weeks later, he would escape from the "escape proof" Indiana Crown Point Maximum Security Prison. According to FBI files, he used a fake gun carved from a potato; however, he claimed it was carved out of wood and others say he had a real gun.

1947 Al Capone died of pneumonia and heart failure after fearing all his life he would suffer a gangsters death.

1971 Troops sealed off Entebbe airport as General Idi Amin seized power while Ugandan President Milton Obote was away on a foreign visit.

1971 Cult leader Charles Manson and three of his female followers were found guilty of the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and six others.

1981 Four senior Labour MP'S ( Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins, William Rodgers and David Owen ) announced they would breakaway from the Labour Party and set up their own political party. In March they formed the Social Democratic Party (SDP) under the leadership of Roy Jenkins.

1990 At least 39 people, some of them children, died in the worst weather to hit England and Wales since the 1987 storm.

1999 Six members of the International Olympic Committee faced expulsion following an inquiry into a corruption scandal which had deeply shaken the Olympic movement.

1999 At least 300 people were killed and 1,000 injured in an earthquake in Colombia, South America.

And Finally.

1890 New York World reporter Nellie Bly - in an effort to beat Philéas Fogg's time (from Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days) for a trip around the world - arrives back in New York City. She had made it with eight days to spare.


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[Dave]

January 26th

1823 The death of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccine. Sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Immunology'; it's been said that his work 'saved more lives than the work of any other man'.

1885 The British commander of Khartoum, General Charles Gordon, was killed during the attack on Khartoum by troops of the Mahdi following a 10 month siege.

1905 The world's largest diamond is found in South Africa. The Cullinan Diamond weighed 3106.75 carats (621.35 g or 1.37 lb) and has an estimated value of 2 billion USD.

1907 A riot broke out in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on the first night of J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World, when the audience took offence at the ‘foul language’. The riots continued for a week, but the show went on, heavily guarded by police.

1908 The 1st Glasgow Boy Scout group, the first Scout group ever, was registered. Today, there are nearly 32 million members in 218 countries and territories and the movement is still growing. In the UK, the total membership is over 500,000.

1926 John Logie Baird gave a special public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution in London. Baird's invention used mechanical rotating disks to scan moving images into electronic impulses.

1969 Police wielding truncheons and firing tear gas from pressure canisters broke up a march by hundreds of demonstrators in central Prague.

1982 Conservative Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979 on the slogan 'Labour isn't working', yet the number of people out of work in Britain rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s.

1994 A protester fired two blank shots from a starting pistol at Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, as he prepared to speak at an Australia Day rally in Sydney.

And Finally.

2014 The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was named Honorary Australian of the Year for displaying 'archetypal Aussie characteristics in abundance'.

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[Dave]

January 27th

1606 The trial of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators began. They were charged with treason for attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament in November 1605.

1757 The birth, in Richmond, of Henry Greathead, the pioneering lifeboat builder from South Shields. It took some years before his lifeboat became well known to the public. The first was purchased in 1798 by Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, for North Shields. By 1802 Greathead's work was "deemed a fit subject for national munificence" and, over a period of years, 30 more lifeboats followed. Greathead never took out a patent on his invention, and was always willing to share his plans with others for the public good.

1945 The Red Army liberated the Nazis' biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland.

1967 Three American astronauts die when fire engulfs the Apollo capsule on its launch pad at Cape Kennedy.

1981 Rupert Murdoch's bid to buy 'The Times' and 'Sunday Times' was given the go ahead, without the investigation usually required by the Monopolies Commission.

1984 Michael Jackson's hair catches on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1993 Veronica Bland became the first passive smoking worker in the UK to win compensation for damage to her health at work when she agreed to a settlement of £15,000 from Stockport Council in a personal injury claim.

1995 Manchester United's Eric Cantona was fined £20,000 and a football ban over his kung fu-style attack on a fan. Cantona was nicknamed 'King Eric' by Manchester United fans, and he was voted the club's greatest ever player by the Inside United magazine.

2009 Road Chef, the Watford Gap UK Motorway services operator, paid £1,000 at an auction for a collection of celebrity signatures, which were collected by former employee, Beatrice England.

And Finally.

2014 The National Governors' Association declared that many schools in England were finding it very difficult to recruit senior staff. According to the association, applications for head teacher posts were sometimes littered with basic grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

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[Dave]

January 28th

1596 Sir Francis Drake died from dysentery aboard his ship, off Porto Bello. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards. It's claimed that King Philip II of Spain offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, (equivalent to £4,000,000 in today's money) for Drake's life.

1829 The public hanging of Irish body-snatcher William Burke in Edinburgh. Burke and his accomplice William Hare, sold the corpses of their 17 victims to provide material for dissection to Doctor Robert Knox. Hare was offered immunity from prosecution if he confessed and if he testified against Burke. After Burke was hanged he was publicly dissected at the Edinburgh Medical College.

1918 The birth of Harry Corbett, the English puppeteer who created Sooty. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Sooty is the longest-running children's programme in the UK. The puppet was 60 years old on 19th July 2008 and, as this was close to Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, Sooty sent him a birthday message!

1953 19 year-old Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison. On 2nd November 1952, he and 16-year-old Christopher Craig were attempting to rob a confectioner’s warehouse in Croydon when they were caught by police. It was alleged that Bentley urged Craig to fire his gun, injuring one policeman and killing another. Both boys were found guilty of murder. Craig, too young to hang, was imprisoned, while Bentley was sentenced to death despite considerable public protest.

1968 A recovery team searches for wreckage from an American Air Force B-52 bomber armed with four hydrogen bombs.

1983 The death, aged 42, of Ronald William Wycherley, better known by his stage name Billy Fury. He equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s, and spent 332 weeks on the UK chart, without a chart-topping single or album.

1986 The space shuttle, Challenger, exploded 73 seconds after lift-off, killing the crew of seven, including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

1997 Four police officers, appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, admit to the 1977 killing of Stephen Biko, a leader of the South African Black consciousness movement.

2014 A report by the Commons public accounts committee found that the Queen’s advisers were failing to control her finances, while the royal palaces were 'crumbling'. MPs said that her advisers had overspent to such an extent that her reserve fund had fallen from £35 million in 2001 to just £1 million. The Queen's courtiers were advised to take money-saving tips from the Treasury.

And Finally.

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1896 Walter Arnold of Kent was the first British motorist to receive a speeding fine, for exceeding 2 mph in a built-up area. He was doing 8 mph as he passed the house of the local policeman. The constable gave chase on his bicycle and after a 5 mile chase Mr. Arnold was arrested. He was fined one shilling for his offence.

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[boatbuilder]

1986 The space shuttle, Challenger, exploded 73 seconds after lift-off, killing the crew of seven, including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

I watched the 'Seconds From Disaster' program about that a couple of nights ago. It was distressing to see Christa McAuliffe's parents being shown as they watched the tragedy happen with thousands of others on the Cape.

1896 Walter Arnold of Kent was the first British motorist to receive a speeding fine, for exceeding 2 mph in a built-up area. He was doing 8 mph as he passed the house of the local policeman. The constable gave chase on his bicycle and after a 5 mile chase Mr. Arnold was arrested. He was fined one shilling for his offence.

Why would you need a car with a speed limit of 2-mph? You can walk faster. Also, the policeman couldn't have been very fit if it took him 5 miles to catch him at that speed. Then again, how fast would bikes go in 1896?

[Dave]

Why would you need a car with a speed limit of 2-mph? You can walk faster.

On a good day, boatbuilder.

Did you see the Billy Fury video, I thought you'd like that one?

[boatbuilder]

Why would you need a car with a speed limit of 2-mph? You can walk faster.

On a good day, boatbuilder.

Surely it can't be that bad - can it Dave?

Did you see the Billy Fury video, I thought you'd like that one?

Yes thanks. I think I might have seen that one before.

[Dave]

January 29th

1817 Birth of John Callcott Horsley. He designed the first commercial Christmas cards in 1843.

1856 Queen Victoria instituted Britain’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross (VC). The medal is awarded to British and Commonwealth armed forces for outstanding bravery ‘on the field of battle’. The medal was originally made from the metal of cannon captured from the Russians at Sevastopol, until the supply came to an end in 1942.

1888 The death of Edward Lear, English artist, illustrator, author and poet, renowned today primarily for his limericks and his literary nonsense poems such as The Owl and the Pussycat.

1949 One of the greatest giant killing acts in FA Cup history - mid-table Southern League side Yeovil Town beat mighty Sunderland 2-1 on the famous sloping Huish pitch. More amazingly still they effectively did it with only 10 fit players when winger Jack Hargreaves was injured after only 10 minutes and was only a passenger after that - no subs in those days. A crowd of 17,000 saw Yeovil score through player-manager Alec Stock and Eric Bryant with Jackie Robinson scoring for Sunderland.

1958 Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were wed on this day. They are known to be one of the longest-lasting Hollywood couples in recent history. He has had so far a very successful career in both acting and politics.

1976 A series of bombs exploded in the West End of London during the night - one person, believed to be a taxi driver, has been hurt.

1985 Oxford University delivered a stunning snub to the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by refusing her an honorary degree.

2003 Solicitor Sally Clark was cleared by the Court of Appeal of murdering her two sons after serving more than three years of a life sentence. Sadly, she never fully recovered from the effects of the appalling miscarriage of justice and was found dead at her home on 16th March 2007.

2015 Lt. Danielle Welch was presented with her 'wings' by The Duke of York. She was the first and also the last woman to become a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter pilot, as the aircraft is due to be replaced in 2017.

And Finally.

2015 There were tears of joy for widower Stan Beaton as he heard again the answerphone message of his late wife Ruby. The message had been accidentally deleted during an upgrade by Virgin Media, but engineers searched through thousands of recordings and eventually managed to restore the message, which he had kept on his phone for 14 years.

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[Dave]

January 30th

1826 The opening of the Menai Bridge, the world's first modern suspension bridge. It was designed by Thomas Telford and links North Wales to the island of Anglesey.

1835 First U.S. Presidential Assassination Attempt. Richard Lawrence tried to shoot President Andrew Jackson, but his gun misfired. Jackson beat him with his cane until Lawrence was subdued. Lawrence was found to be insane and spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.

1915 The birth of John Profumo, British politician. He is best remembered today for his involvement in a 1963 scandal involving the 'call-girl' Christine Keeler. After his resignation, Profumo began to work as a volunteer, cleaning toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End of London with a focus on working towards a future without poverty. Eventually Profumo volunteered as the charity's chief fundraiser and was awarded a CBE in 1975 for his charitable activities.

1937 Birth of the actress Vanessa Redgrave. She remains the only British actress ever to win the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards. She was also the recipient of the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship 'in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film'.

1948 After angering Hindu extremists with his effort to bring peace to his beloved India by going on hunger strike to stop the fighting by his own countrymen and nearly dying from his fast Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi by a terrorist sponsored by a right-wing Hindu militia group.

1965 The state funeral, in London, of Sir Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Britain. It was the biggest state funeral of its kind since the burial of the Duke of Wellington in 1852.

1972 ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. British paratroopers, believing they were under fire from Catholic protesters on a banned march which had become a violent riot, opened fire, killing 13 people.

1973 Watergate - G. Gordan Liddy and James McCord are convicted of breaking into and wiretapping the Democratic Party headquarters.

2003 British-born Richard Reid was sentenced to life in jail for trying to bomb an American Airlines flight carrying 197 people.

2012 London City trader Kweku Adoboli appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court accused of fraudulently gambling away a record £1.5bn whilst working for Swiss bank UBS. He was subsequently jailed for seven years after being found guilty of two counts of fraud.

And Finally.

2015 Sir Jay Tidmarsh, Lord-Lieutenant of Bristol between 1996 and 2007, found an old school library book as he cleared his shelves. He decided to return the book to Taunton School, in Somerset, and made a £1,500 donation to the library in lieu of a fine for not returning the book for 65 years.

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[Dave]

January 31st

1858 The Great Eastern, the five-funnelled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Scott Russell, was launched at Millwall. At the time, it was the world's largest ship.

1910 American-born murderer Dr. Hawley Crippen poisoned his wife before cutting her into small pieces and burying her in the cellar of his home in London. He was later executed at Pentonville Prison.

1918 A series of accidental collisions on a misty night, off the Isle of May at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, led to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines and damage to another five British warships. In all 270 people lost their lives.

1919 The Battle of George Square took place in Glasgow. Known as Bloody Friday and Black Friday, it was one of the most intense riots in the history of Glasgow. The dispute revolved around a campaign for shorter working hours, backed by widespread strike action. Clashes between the City of Glasgow Police and protesters broke out, leading to the British government sending soldiers and tanks to the city to prevent any further gatherings.

1950 U.S. President Truman announced that he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.

1953 307 people were killed when the Thames estuary broke its banks, flooding large areas of Kent and Essex. A car ferry also sank in the Irish Sea, in one of the worst gales in living memory, claiming the lives of more than 130 passengers and crew.

1953 When League champions Manchester United hosted Isthmian League Walthamstow Avenue there was only one expected winner - but the unexpected happened. In front of a 34,748 Old Trafford crowd the non-leaguers held their own and came away with a 1-1 draw. The replay the following Thursday attracted a crowd of 49,119 - it was played at Highbury - but the dream ended for the non-leaguers with United winning 5-2.

1983 It became compulsory in Britain to wear car seat belts.

2016 The death of the radio and TV brodcaster Terry Wogan, aged 77. He presented Children in Need, Wake Up to Wogan, Come Dancing, the game show Blankety Blank and he was the BBC's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest from 1971 to 2008. His weekday radio programme on BBC Radio 2, 'Wake Up to Wogan', had eight million regular listeners, making him the most listened to radio broadcaster in Europe. He was granted a knighthood in 2005 and was entitled to use 'Sir' in front of his name as he held dual British and Irish citizenship.

And Finally.

2014 A flamingo named "Greater" died at the age of eighty-three in the Adelaide Zoo in Australia. The flamingo was believed to be the oldest of its kind still alive on Earth. Greater had been put to sleep after suffering complications from old age. Greater the flamingo was a member of the greater flamingo species, Phoenicopterus roseus.

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[Dave]

February 1st

1709 Scotsman Alexander Selkirk was rescued from an uninhabited desert island (Mas à Tierra, off the coast of Chile), inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

1915 Sir Stanley Matthews, often regarded as one of the greatest English football players, was born. He is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. He kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old, was also the oldest player ever to play in England's top football division and the oldest player ever to represent his country. He played his final competitive game in 1985, at the age of 70.

1940 Frank Sinatra sings the hits "Too Romantic" and "The Sky Fell Down" during his debut recording session with the popular Tommy Dorsey Band. This was his first recording with the band since replacing its previous singer - Jack Leonard.

1952 The first TV detector van was demonstrated. It enabled the BBC to track down users of unlicensed television sets in Britain.

1965 P.J. Proby, the US rock singer, was banned by ABC Theatres and the BBC after he had deliberately split his trousers during his act. The mainly female audience and the tabloids, who claimed Proby’s act was obscene, went wild. It was the beginning of the end for the flamboyant performer.

1968 Eddie Adams takes one of the Vietnam War's best-known pictures. The image of the execution of a Vietcong officer in Saigon helped build opposition to the war.

1984 Nigel Lawson announced that the half penny coin would cease to be legal tender. Many believed this would lead to inflationary pressure as even government sales like stamps would increase from 12 1/2p to 13p.

2003 The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. During the launch a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle's external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter. When Columbia re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, the damage caused hot atmospheric gases to destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart.

2004 Janet Jackson's breast is briefly exposed by Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl half time show. Timberlake later referred to the incident as a "wardrobe malfunction."

And Finally.

1524 London astrologers predicted the world would end beginning with a massive flood in London on this day. 20,000 Londoners fled their homes in anticipation of the event.

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