On This Day

raveydavey · Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:43 pm Post subject:

September 14th:

1141: During the Anarchy, the Empress Matilda's army was routed at Winchester by troops loyal to King Stephen, led by his Queen, also named Matilda. They managed to capture the Earl of Gloucester, one of the Empress' key supporters, and used him to barter for the release of King Stephen himself, who had previously been captured at Lincoln.

1402: Archibald Douglas led a Scots army across the border on a raid which penetrated as far as Durham. However, returning north laden with booty, they were confronted near Milfield by the Earl of Northumberland, his son Henry "Hotspur", and the dissident Scots noble George Dunbar, Earl of March. The English took up a strong defensive position atop Homildon and Harehope Hills, and their longbowmen slaughtered the Scots before the English men-at-arms delivered the coup de grace. Another 500 Scots drowned in the Tweed trying to escape. Douglas was severely wounded by an arrow in the eye and captured, with significant numbers of other Scottish nobles and gentry. English losses were just five men killed.

1752 The 3rd of September became the 14th as the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain. Crowds of people rioted on the streets demanding, 'Give us back our 11 days.'

1759 The earliest dated board game in England was sold on this day by its inventor John Jeffreys, from his house in Chapel Street, Westminster. The game was called 'A Journey Through Europe', or 'The play of Geography'.

1852 The Duke of Wellington, victor at Waterloo, died aged 83.

1868 At the Open Championships at Prestwick, the legendary Scottish golfer Tom Morris scored the first recorded hole-in-one, on the 8th hole (166 yards).

1891 The first penalty kick in an English League football game was taken by Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington.

1909 Peter Scott, British artist and ornithologist was born.

1951 Prime Minister Clement Attlee opened the largest oil refinery in Europe, at Fawley on Southampton Water.

1964 The British daily newspaper, the Daily Herald, ceased publication and was replaced by the Sun.

1974 Two giant pandas, Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching, arrived at London Zoo.

1975: Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton became the first US saint, canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1981 A teenage boy who fired blank shots at the Queen in June 1980, pleaded guilty to a charge under the 1848 Treason Act.

1982: Hollywood princess dead. Princess Grace of Monaco has died of the injuries she sustained in a car crash near Monte Carlo yesterday.

1988 A London taxi reached New Delhi with the meter showing a fare of £13,200. It was part of a six-man expedition on the way to Sydney.

1997 Pete Townshend unveiled an English Heritage Blue Plaque at 23, Brook Street, Mayfair, London to mark where Jimi Hendrix had lived in 1968-69. He was the first pop star to be commemorated with the plaque.

2001 Offices, shops and factories across the UK fell silent for three minutes as the nation mourned the victims of the US terrorist attacks.

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raveydavey · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:50 pm Post subject:

September 15th: Battle of Britain day. This was the most active day of the battle, during which the RAF claimed to have shot down 185 German aircraft.

1066: A Viking invasion army under Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Tostig, the renegade brother of King Harold II Godwinson of England, burnt Scarborough. The invaders went on to defeat local troops at Fulford on 20 September, but were then wiped out by Harold on 25 September at Stamford Bridge.

1830 George Stephenson's Scumchester and Liverpool railway opened. During the ceremony, William Huskisson, MP, became the first person to be killed by a train when he crossed the track to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington.

1859 The death of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was involved in dock design, railway engineering and marine engineering, building the Great Western (1837), Great Britain (1843), and Great Eastern (1858), each the largest in the world at launch date.

1871 The first British-based international mail order business was begun by the Army and Navy Co-operative. They published their first catalogue in February 1872.

1890 Agatha Christie, English detective novelist was born.

1916 Military tanks, designed by Ernest Swinton, were first used by the British Army, in the Somme offensive.

1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered, by accident, a bacteria killing mould growing in his laboratory, that later became known as penicillin.

1928: Captain Rickards and A H Renfell demonstrated the first robot to be made in Britain, at the Model Engineering Exhibition in London.

1940 The tide turned in the Battle of Britain as the German air force sustained heavy losses inflicted by the Royal Air Force. The defeat was serious enough to convince Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to abandon his plans for an invasion of Britain. The day was chosen as "Battle of Britain Day".

1944: Bomber Command had dispatched Lancasters from 9 and 617 (the Dambusters) Squadrons to an airbase in northern Russia on 11 September, in preparation for an attack against the German battleship Tirpitz, anchored in Kaa Fjord in northern Norway. On 15 September, 28 Lancasters set off for the Fjord, loaded with 12,000lb (5,443kg) Tallboys and the unusual Johnny Walker bombs. The Tallboy, designed by Barnes Wallis, was an excellent weapon. The Johnny Walker proved far less successful: designed for anti-shipping attacks, it alternately rose and sank in the water, drifting across an anchorage in the hope of rising up beneath its target and inflicting critical underwater damage. One Tallboy hit Tirpitz in the bows, inflicting such heavy damage that the Germans gave up hopes of using her as anything other than a coastal battery. The extent of the damage was not appreciated by the allies, and 9 and 617 Squadrons were to revisit the battleship in due course.

1950: UN stages daring assault on Inchon. The United Nations lands thousands of troops on the Korean coast behind enemy lines, in the first counter-attack of the war.

1960 London introduced Traffic Wardens onto the streets of the capital. Evil or Very Mad

1966 HMS Resolution, Britain’s first nuclear submarine, was launched at Barrow.

1978: German terror suspect arrested in UK. One of the most wanted members of the West German Baader-Meinhof gang is detained in London. You couldn't move in the 70's for European terrorists - watch The Professionals and you'll soon see that they were everywhere. A bit like Big Issue sellers today.

1982: UEFA enforced disciplinary action against Aston Villa fans, with the result that there were no paying spectators at today’s European Cup match between Aston Villa and Beskitas of Turkey.

1984 Prince Harry, 3rd in succession to the throne, was born.

1985 Tony Jacklin's team of golfers beat the United States in the Ryder Cup for the first time in 28 years.

2000 The fuel protests which had paralysed Britain for seven days, ended.

2000 Home Secretary Jack Straw decided that parents would not be allowed access to the sex offenders' register.

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raveydavey · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:22 pm Post subject:

September 16th: National day of Mexico, marking the 1810 revolt against Spanish rule.

1387 King Henry V was born. He went on to win the Battle of Agincourt against the French on St Crispin’s Day.

1485 The Yeoman of the Guard, the bodyguard of the English Crown - popularly known as 'Beefeaters' - was established by King Henry VII.

1620: Myles Standish led the Pilgrim Fathers on their journey from Plymouth on the Mayflower.

1785 Birth of Thomas Barnes, editor of The Times. Barnes took over the editorship in 1817 and did much to improve it. The newspaper was nicknamed ‘the Thunderer’ because of the forcefulness of its content.

1795: Troops under General Clarke and a naval squadron under Vice-Admiral Elphinstone captured the Cape of Good Hope.

1847 The United Shakespeare Company bought the house in which playwright William Shakespeare was born at Stratford Upon Avon in Warwickshire for £3,000. It became the first building in Britain to be officially preserved.

1861 The Post Office Savings Banks opened in Britain.

1859 British explorer Dr. David Livingstone discovered Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi) in central Africa.

1888 Walter Bentley, British car designer, was born.

1897: Brigadier-General Elles' Mohmand Field Force conducted operations on the North-West Frontier, following an attack on a police post by tribesmen the previous month. Some fierce fighting flared up during the night at Bilot, where Lieutenants Colvin and Watson, Royal Engineers, and Corporal Smith, East Kent Regiment, all won the Victoria Cross for their gallantry fighting amidst burning buildings.

1908: General Motors was formed in the US when Buick and Oldsmobile merged.

1940: Following its heavy losses the previous day, the Luftwaffe proved reluctant to make another attempt during daylight hours, instead switching to heavier activity at night, both against London and other targets throughout the country. The night raids saw the first use by the Germans of sea-mines as blast bombs. The mines, normally fitted with magnetic fuses for use against shipping in shallow waters, were designed for dropping into the sea by parachute. The Luftwaffe modified them for use as an area weapon against British cities - each contained 1,500lbs (680kg) of explosive. At least 25 were dropped on the first night: thanks to their parachute descent, 17 failed to explode. Since the mines required specialist defusing skills, 19 Royal Navy officers, who had been engaged on dealing with mines recovered from the sea, were diverted to augment the Army explosive ordnance teams working in the cities.

1943: Australian and US forces succeeded in eliminating the Japanese garrison at Lae in New Guinea.

1945 Japan surrendered Hong Kong to Britain.

1947 John Cobb set a world land speed record of 394.2mph.

1960 Donald Campbell destroyed Bluebird in a crash at 350mph. He was only slightly hurt.

1968 Britain introduced a 'two tier' postal system - First and Second Class. Letters and parcels bearing the more expensive 1st class stamps would be given priority of delivery.

1977: T-Rex singer killed in car smash. Pop star Marc Bolan is killed in a car crash in south-west London.

1981 Two British political parties - the SDP and the Liberals - voted for an alliance.

1988: The Elvis Presley credit card, with a limit of $3,500, was issued in the US by a Memphis finance house and Graceland, the Presley enterprise company. Thousands of people applied. More "Thankyou very much" than "That'll do nicely".... Wink

1992: UK crashes out of ERM. The government suspends Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

2000 Cyclist Jason Queally claimed Britain's first medal of the Sydney Olympics.

2002 The world's first self cleaning glass was launched after being developed by scientists at the leading glass company of Pilkington's in St Helens.

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raveydavey · Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:34 pm Post subject:

September 17th:

1701 King James II of England died whilst in exile in France.

1745 The Jacobite supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie occupied Edinburgh.

1827 'Wides' in cricket were first scored in the Sussex v Kent game at Brighton.

1877 William Henry Fox Talbot, English photographic pioneer, died. He made the earliest known surviving photographic negative in the late summer of 1835, with a photograph of the oriel window at his home at Lacock Abbey. Click here to see his famous picture of the window at Lacock Abbey, and my, (not quite so famous) picture, of the same window!

1901: Birth of Sir Francis Chichester, English yachtsman and aviator. He received his knighthood for his solo round-the-world trip in his yacht Gipsy Moth IV. He named all his yachts and planes Gipsy Moth. As an aviator, he was the first person to cross the Tasman Sea from east to west. He made a solo circumnavigation of the world at the age of 65 in his yacht Gipsy Moth IV.

1929 Stirling Moss, English racing driver, was born.

1931: RCA-Victor demonstrated the first 33 rpm long-playing records in New York. The record players were so expensive that the product flopped, and the first real records as we know them, did not come out until 1948.

1940: The Luftwaffe only launched one major operation during the day, but London continued the main target at night, although some raiders visited Wales, Liverpool, the Midlands and Glasgow. A London fireman, Mr Errington, won the George Cross (GC) for his rescue of two colleagues trapped when a bomb scored a direct hit on a fire service shelter.

1944: Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne battle in history, began in an attempt to punch a 100 km deep route through German positions in the Netherlands across the rivers Maas, Waal and Lower Rhine. The British XXX Corps launched an offensive, led by the Guards Armoured Division, to link up with the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions dropped at Eindhoven and Nijmegen, whilst the British 1st Airborne Division landed west of Arnhem, only to find two German SS Panzer Divisions regrouping in the area. Of the British troops, only the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel John Frost was able to reach the bridge at Arnhem and seize the northern end of it. Cut off, they held it for four days despite repeated armoured attacks.
Meanwhile in the Far East, the Royal Navy carriers Indomitable and Illustrious launched an air strike on Japanese facilities in Sumatra.

1944 Blackout regulations eased in Britain to allow lights on buses, trains and at railway stations for the first time since the beginning of World War II in 1939.

1956 Norman Buckley, a 48-year-old solicitor from Scumchester broke the one-hour world water speed record in his motorboat, Miss Windermere III when he averaged 79mph during his hour on the course on Lake Windermere.

1961 Police made 1,314 arrests during sit-down demonstrations by CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) members in Trafalgar Square, London.

1985 Laura Ashley, Welsh designer and fabric retailer, died.

1993 The British National Party won its first council seat in a by-election in East London, provoking fear in the local Asian community.

1998 There was chaos in Staffordshire, when animal rights activists release around 6,000 animals from a mink farm. Mink are now devastating British wildlife, so it was not a particularly wise or humanitarian move! The same thing happened in West Yorkshire a few years ago.

2000 Paula Yates, television personality and former wife of Bob Geldof, was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. She was 40 years old.

2001: Workers return to Wall Street. New Yorkers return to work six days after the terror attacks which devastated the heart of their city.

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raveydavey · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:48 pm Post subject:

September 18th:

1709 Dr Samuel Johnson, English writer and compiler of the first English dictionary was born. Published in 1755, Johnson’s dictionary was the definitive reference for over a century.

1759 Quebec surrendered to the British after a battle which saw the deaths of both James Wolfe and Louis Montcalm, the British and French commanders.

1879 The famous illuminations in Blackpool were switched on for the first time, a month before electricity was generally available in London.

1894 Blackpool Tower was officially opened.

1911 Britain's first twin-engined aeroplane, the Short S.39, was test flown.

1939 William Joyce, whose upper-class accent earned him the nickname Lord Haw-Haw, made his first Nazi propaganda broadcast from Germany to the UK.

1944: In Italy, Rifleman Sher Bahadur Thapa, 9th Gurkha Rifles, eliminated several German machine-gun posts and rescued two wounded men on an exposed ridge, before being killed. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
In Holland, XXX Corps, with the Guards Armoured Division in the lead, continued to push north reaching elements of the nearest of the three Allied airborne divisions dropped the previous day, the US 101st at Eindhoven.

1949 Peter Shilton, English footballer was born.

1949 The British pound was devalued by 30% by Chancellor Sir Stafford Cripps.

1949 Mo Mowlam, former Northern Ireland Secretary and Labour MP, was born.

1970: Rock legend Hendrix dies after party. Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix dies after collapsing at a party in London.

1972 The first Ugandan refugees fleeing the persecution of the country's military dictatorship arrived in Britain.

1981: The guillotine was abolished in France.

1994 Warwickshire became the first side to win the County Cricket Championship, the Benson and Hedges Cup and the Sunday League title in one season.

1995 A Carlisle motorist was fined £140 for throwing a doughnut at a traffic warden.

1997 In Britain, a controversial portrait of Moors murderer Myra Hindley at the Royal Academy in London was damaged by protesters.

2000 Survivors of the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail crashes accused Railtrack of putting costs before safety.

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raveydavey · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject:

September 19th:

1356: Edward, the Black Prince, secured a crushing victory over King Jean II of France at Poitiers. Based in Bordeaux, the Black Prince took perhaps 7,000 men on an extended raid into the Loire valley. Jean II led an army of at least twice as many men towards Poitiers in an attempt to cut Edward off. The English took up a defensive position behind a thorn hedge. Repeated French attacks, mainly on foot, were driven off, until only King Jean's division remained. At this point Edward decided to go over the attack, and led the English in a charge. The French broke when a small force of English troops under the Captal de Buch worked their way round to take the French in the rear Shocked

. The true prize was the capture of King Jean, which gave the English significant bargaining power.

1839 Birth of George Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer. A Quaker, he believed in taking care of the welfare of his workforce, and he created a model village for his employees at Bournville, Birmingham.

1846 Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning eloped together.

1851 Birth of William Hesketh Lever. He changed the process of soap manufacture by using vegetable oils instead of tallow. Like George Cadbury (above) he cared about the welfare of his workers, and established the new town of Port Sunlight, Merseyside, to house them.

1905 Thomas John Barnardo, British philanthropist (Barnardo's Children's Homes), died.

1917: Near Ypres, at the infamous Polygon Wood, Private Inwood, 10th Australian Battalion, went forward alone through the midst of an Allied artillery barrage, to surprise and capture a heavily defended strongpoint. On subsequent days, he secured invaluable intelligence during a patrol, then helped a comrade destroy a German machine-gun nest. He received the Victoria Cross (VC).

1944: At Arnhem, the pilot of an RAF Dakota transport, Flight Lieutenant David Lord, managed to keep control of his aircraft after an anti-aircraft hit. He kept the blazing Dakota on course to complete a supply drop to 1st Airborne Division, trapped at Arnhem, then held it level just long enough for his crew to bail out safely. He died in the crash. On the ground, Captain Queripel of the Royal Sussex Regiment distinguished himself in fierce fighting lasting many hours, then stayed behind to cover the withdrawal of his troops. His body was never found. Both Lord and Queripel were awarded posthumous Victoria Crosses.
A Bailey Bridge had been constructed overnight at Son in the Eindhoven area, allowing the Guards Armoured Division to resume XXX Corps' advance at first light. The Grenadier Guards took over the lead from the Irish Guards, who had led for the first two days, whilst the Welsh Guards attempted to open up a second route north via Helmond. During the morning, the Grenadier Guards reached the bridge at Grave, which had been secured by the US 504th Parachute Regiment of 82nd Airborne Division. The next major obstacle was the bridge at Nijmegen, which repeated attacks by US paratroopers had failed to seize.
At Arnhem itself, German reinforcements continued to arrive, including more heavy armour, but 2 PARA continued to hold the northern end of the bridge despite mounting losses, continual bombardment, and a lack of supplies. The bulk of 1st Airborne Division, off to the west, had to abandon its efforts to break through to the bridge as German counter-attacks took their toll.

1945 The Nazi propaganda broadcaster William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was sentenced to hang for treason.

1952 The United States prevented the English born film legend Charlie Chaplin from returning to his Hollywood home until he was investigated by the Immigration Services.

1960 The new traffic wardens issued the first 344 parking tickets in London. Britain's first parking ticket was issued to Dr. Thomas Creighton, who had parked his car outside a London hotel while treating a patient.

1975 The first episode of comedy show Fawlty Towers was broadcast by the BBC.

1986 Two passenger trains crashed in Staffordshire, killing two people and injuring almost a hundred more.

1989: A teddy bear broke a record when it fetched a price of £55,000 at Sotheby’s in London.

1997 An Intercity 125 ploughed into a freight train in Southall, west London, killing six and injuring more than 150.

1998 mr and mrs ravey were married at St James' Church on Seacroft Village Green. The reception was held at the Village Hall.

1998 Robbie Williams scored his first solo UK No.1 single with Millennium. I'm not sure about this "fact". I know for a fact 19/09/98 was a Saturday and charts come out on a Sunday, therefore it is wrong.

2000 Chancellor Gordon Brown rejected a 60-day deadline to reduce petrol tax set by fuel price protesters. What was it Clarkson called him again?

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raveydavey · Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:11 pm Post subject:

September 20th:

1066: English troops under Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, and Edwin, Earl of Mercia, attempted at Fulford Gate, a mile (1.6km) south of York, to stop the Viking invasion army under Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Tostig, the renegade brother of King Harold II Godwinson of England, which had previously burnt Scarborough. The two Earls were short of men - the local population had a great deal of Viking blood and heritage, and were not keen to fight. But those troops they did raise put up a tough fight against the Vikings and it was only the tactical skill and personal bravery of Hardrada that allowed the Norwegians to break them. York immediately surrendered, but retribution was marching north in the shape of Harold and his huscarls.

1258 The consecration of Salisbury Cathedral.

1854 The Russian army was defeated by the British and French at the Battle of Alma in the Crimean War. The first six Victoria Crosses to be awarded to the British Army for acts of bravery during the fighting were won at this battle.

1860 The Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) became the first British royal to visit the USA.

1917 The first RSPCA animal clinic was opened, in Liverpool.

1930 Edward Elgar's Fifth Pomp and Circumstance March was performed for the first time.

1931 Devaluation set in when Britain came off the gold standard to prevent foreign speculation against the pound. It sparked off strikes, and in Scotland the crews of 15 navy ships nearly mutinied.

1932 Four branches of Methodism in England united to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain and Ireland. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, the United Methodist Free Churches and the United Methodists.

1944: Sergeant Baskeyfield of the 2nd Battalion South Staffords (part of 1st Airborne Division) was killed whilst conducting a lone anti-tank defence at Arnhem despite already being wounded. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Lieutenant Grayburn, 2 PARA, who had repeatedly distinguished himself in the fighting at Arnhem Bridge, finally succumbed to fatal wounds. He too received a posthumous Victoria Cross.
1st Airborne pulled back to a final defensive position around Oosterbeek. At Arnhem bridge, the Parachute Regiment's 2nd Battalion endured a fourth day cut off, withstanding determined German assaults using artillery and flamethrowers. A brief truce was called to allow over 200 badly wounded men from both sides, including Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, to be evacuated by German medics. Frost received the Distinguished Service Order for his gallant command of the defence.
To the south, the US 504th Parachute Regiment made a gallant river assault across the Waal which helped finally secure the bridge at Nijmegen. German demolition charges failed to detonate, and the Guards Armoured Division duly crossed the bridge. However, the advance now fell victim to the huge succession of bottlenecks back down a single precariously held road which prevented adequate supplies and reinforcements reaching the lead troops.

1964 The Beatles' first US tour ended with a charity concert in New York.

1967 The liner Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) was launched at Clydebank, Scotland by ...... Queen Elizabeth II.

1978 Police launched a massive manhunt for the killers of 13 year paperboy Carl Bridgewater. He had been shot in the head at close range at an isolated farmhouse near Stourbridge in Staffordshire.

1997 Elton John started a six week run at No.1 in the UK singles chart with "Candle in the Wind '97'' as a tribute to Princess Diana. It became the best-selling single of all time.

2001 The Government was considering 'targeted support' for airlines after British Airways axed 7,000 jobs in the wake of the US terrorist attacks.

2004 Legendary former Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Derby County boss Brian Clough died from stomach cancer at the age of 69.

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raveydavey · Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject:

September 21st: National day of Malta, celebrating its independence in 1964 from 164 years of British rule.

1327 Deposed King Edward II of England was murdered, with a red hot poker in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire by order of his wife, to ensure the succession of his son Edward III.

1745 Bonnie Prince Charles and his Jacobite army defeated the English at the Battle of Prestonpans, in Scotland.

1746 After a short siege the French, under Admiral La Bourdonnais, captured Madras, India, from the English.

1756 John Loudon McAdam, the engineer who invented and gave his name to macadamised (tarmac) roads, was born in Ayr, Scotland.

1866 H G Wells, English writer, was born. His books included The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds.

1915 Stonehenge was sold at auction to Mr C H Chubb for £6,600 as a present for his wife. Mr Chubb presented it to the nation three years later as his wife didn't think it suited her.

1916: For ten days, Captain White, Yorkshire Regiment, commanded a redoubt on the Western Front. His stirling defence against repeated German attacks earned him the Victoria Cross.

1944: After 88 hours of action holding the northern end of Arnhem Bridge, and with all ammunition exhausted, the last few remaining paratroopers of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and its attached specialists, commanded now by Major Gough of the Airlanding Reconnaissance Unit since Lieutenant Colonel Frost had been wounded, either surrendered or dispersed to evade capture. The first German troops were finally able to cross the bridge at midday, although it was littered with destroyed vehicles. The bridge was renamed after the war "The John Frost Bridge" by the Dutch authorities.
Sufficient supplies had reached the Guards Armoured Division to permit the advance from Nijmegen to resume. The Irish Guards once more took the lead, but had to halt at Elst, where the terrain became suicidal for tanks, to await adequate infantry support. Major General Sosabowski's 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, repeatedly delayed by bad weather, was finally dropped on the southern bank of the Lower Rhine at Driel, opposite 1st Airborne Division's position, suffering severe casualties from German fighters and ground defences in the process. Sosabowski began planning a crossing of the Rhine to reach 1st Airborne.

1949 The Republic of Ireland beat England 2-0 at Goodison Park - England's first home defeat by a foreign football team.

1955 The Admiralty announced that Britain had formally claimed uninhabited Rockall, a rocky islet 300 miles west of Scotland, to stop the Soviets spying on missile tests.

1962 Bamber Gascoigne's University Challenge was screened for the first time.

1965 BP found oil in the North Sea.

1979 An RAF Harrier plane crashed onto houses in a Cambridgeshire town, killing two men and a young boy.

1984 Police and miners clashed at a pit in Maltby, South Yorkshire, in one of the biggest pickets since the miners' strike began.

1985 Madonna scored her first UK No.1 album with Like A Virgin, ten months after its release. I've got this album on vinyl somewhere.

1986 Prince Charles admitted that he talked to his plants.

1998: Clinton's Grand Jury testimony released. Bill Clinton's testimony about his relationship with a young female assistant is released to the United States public.

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raveydavey · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject:

September 22nd:

1515 Anne of Cleves, 4th wife of Henry VIII, was born.

1735 Sir Robert Walpole became the first prime minister to occupy 10 Downing Street.

1791 Michael Faraday, English chemist and physicist, was born. He was the inventor of the dynamo, the transformer and the electric motor. The Unit of capacitance - Farad - was named after him.

1888: The units ‘ohm’, ‘volt’ and ‘ampere’ were made official at the Electrical Conference in Paris.

1914: The Royal Navy suffered its first disastrous attack from a U-boat, when U-9 torpedoed three armoured cruisers, HM Ships Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue, with heavy loss of life in the North Sea. Aboukir was the first to be hit, and her sisters stopped to pick up survivors, only to fall victim themselves.

1920: The motorized ‘Flying Squad’ was formed as part of the Metropolitan Police in London. The Sweeney was born!

1934 The worst pit disaster in Britain for 21 years killed more than 260 miners in an explosion and fire at the Gresford Mine in Wales.

1943: Royal Navy midget submarines of the X-class attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in Altenfjord, Norway. Six X-boats were towed to the area by conventional submarines. Two were lost en route, and a third had to be scuttled after failing to penetrate the defences. X-6, commanded by Lieutenant Cameron, suffered damage to her periscope, which left her blind, but nevertheless managed to lay her two mines under the Tirpitz. X-7, commanded by Lieutenant Place, managed to work her way free after being caught in defensive nets and also laid her charges under the Tirpitz. X-10, commanded by Lieutenant Hudspeth,was sunk with the loss of all four crew whilst making her attack. Both X-6 and X-7 had to be scuttled, and six of their eight crew survived to be taken prisoner.
The charges exploded and caused severe damage to the Tirpitz, disabling her for at least six months. Lieutenants Cameron and Place were awarded the Victoria Cross.

1944: North of Nijmegen, Allied forces continued their efforts to push north to reach the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade at Driel, and, across the Rhine, 1st British Airborne Division at Oosterbeek. At dawn, armoured cars from the Household Cavalry made contact with the Poles, but the main thrusts by 43rdand Guards Armoured Divisions at Oosterhout and Elst struggled to make progress in the face of German defences reinforced by SS panzer units. Oosterhout finally fell in the late afternoon, and the 5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, supported by tanks of the Dragoon Guards, broke through to Driel. However, improvised attempts to ferry supplies across the Rhine failed when the Germans detected the operation and brought machine-guns and mortars to bear.

1955 Independent Television (ITV) began operating. Only six minutes of advertisements were allowed each hour and there was no Sunday morning TV permitted. The first advertisement screened was for Gibbs SR toothpaste.

1967 The liner Queen Mary began her 1000th and last Atlantic crossing. A New York docks strike meant that passengers had to carry their own luggage aboard.

1980: War breaks out between Iran and Iraq. Iraq bombs several Iranian air and military supply bases, including Tehran's international airport, at the start of what appears to be all-out war.

1986 Surgeons at Harefield Hospital performed a heart & lung transplant operation on the world's youngest patient - a baby just 10 weeks old.

1989 An IRA bomb attack on the Royal Marines School of Music killed 11 people, (10 of them young soldiers) and injured twelve of the bandsmen.

1991 Bryan Adams made chart history when his song - Everything I Do, I Do It For You, had its twelfth consecutive week as the UK No.1.

1999 Screaming Lord Sutch's Official Monster Raving Loony Party honoured his memory with a two minute scream at a pub in Ashburton, Devon. The singer, born David Sutch, hanged himself on 16th June 1999.

1999 Singer Diana Ross was arrested on Concorde after an incident at Heathrow Airport. The singer claimed that a female security guard had touched her breasts when being frisked, and she retaliated by rubbing her hands down the security guard.

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raveydavey · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:27 pm Post subject:

September 23rd:

63 BC: Birth of Gaius Octavius Caesar, the first Roman emperor, adopted son and heir of his great-uncle Julius Caesar. He defeated Julius’ killers at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. He established an autocracy while making it appear that the Senate had more power than it did, and through his autocratic rule he stablized the empire.

1459 In the first major 'Wars of the Roses' battle, the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Blore Heath.

1779: The Scottish-born American, John Paul Jones, commanded the Bonhomme Richard to a dramatic victory against the British Serapis and Countess of Scarborough in a battle in the North Sea off Flamborough Head. Jones declared ‘I have not yet begun to fight!’

1817 Spain signed a treaty with Britain to end slave trade.

1940 The George Cross and the George Medal for civilian acts of courage were instituted.

1944: Heavy German attacks continued to punish 1st Airborne Division, still holding its position at Oosterbeek, whilst other attacks sought to cut the precarious line of communication for XXX Corps to the south. Improved weather allowed reinforcements for the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to be flown into the territory seized south of the Rhine. 43rd Wessex Division meanwhile continued its efforts to secure the route from Nijmegen to Driel, held by the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade.

1950: During heavy fighting at Songju in Korea, Major Muir, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, organised a determined defence to cover the withdrawal of casualties in the face of overwhelming Communist attackers. He finally fell mortally wounded. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1951 Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace for news of King George VI following an operation to remove part of his lung.

1952 The star of the silent movies, Charlie Chaplin, returned to his native England after 21 years in the US.

1955 Quizmaster Michael Miles first invited contestants to 'Open the box' in the long running show Take Your Pick.

1961 The Shadows debut album 'Shadows' started a four week run at No.1 on the UK charts.

1974 The world's first Ceefax teletext service was begun by the BBC. Page 302 is still in use every weekend...

1976 A fire on one of the Royal Navy's latest guided missile destroyers (HMS Glasgow) killed eight men.

1986 England and Yorkshire batsman Geoff Boycott was controversially sacked from Yorkshire Cricket Club after playing for the county side for 24 years.

1987 An Australian court lifted the ban on the publication of Peter Wright's autobiography, Spycatcher.

1987 Britain ended arms sales to Iran. To think we used to be such good friends...

1996 London police raided several suspected IRA hideouts across the city, seizing around 10 tons of homemade explosives and killing one suspected IRA member. You mean there were home grown terrorists who wanted to kill us before 7/7..?

2000 British rower Steve Redgrave made Olympic history at the Sydney Games by winning his fifth consecutive gold medal.

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raveydavey · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:42 pm Post subject:

September 24th:

1776 The oldest of the British classic horse races, the St Leger, was run for the first time at Doncaster Racecourse, Yorkshire.

1842 Bramwell Bronte, brother of the Bronte sisters from Haworth, Yorkshire, died of drugs and drink. He was the model for the drunkard Hindley Earnshaw in Wuthering Weights.

1853 Liverpools' Northern Daily Times became England's first provincial daily newspaper.

1916 A local policeman rounded up and took into custody the crew of the German Zeppelin LZ-76 that had been forced down near Colchester.

1942 The birth of Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers. In 1963 he reached the UK No.1 with his record 'You'll Never Walk Alone', now the anthem of Liverpool Football Club.

1944: The beleaguered 1st Airborne Division continued to hold its position at Oosterbeek, west of Arnhem. However, the Germans received a vital reinforcement in the form of a heavy tank battalion. In the afternoon, a two-hour partial truce was negotiated by the medical officers of 1st Airborne and their SS opponents to allow large numbers of British wounded to be evacuated to German hospitals. Across the Rhine, XXX Corps finally established a secure link with 1st Polish Parachute Brigade at Driel.

1957 BBC Television for schools began.

1967 The two 'Queens' of the Cunard Line, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, passed each other in the Atlantic for the last time.

1971 Over 100 Russian diplomats were expelled from Britain for spying, following revelations made by a Soviet defector.

1975 The world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, was successfully scaled for the first time via its southwest face by British climbers Dougal Haston and Doug Scott.

1976 The Rhodesian Government agreed to introduce black majority rule to the country within two years. Prime Minister Ian Smith was not happy with the conditions.

1988: Gold for Johnson in 100m sprint. Canadian Ben Johnson wins the 100m gold at the Seoul Olympics and reaffirms his position as the world's fastest man. However, he tested positive for anabolic steroids after the race. The result was confirmed to the public two days later.
The International Olympics Committee stripped him of his gold medal and sent him home in disgrace.

1991 In Beirut, the British hostage Jackie Mann was freed by the Shi'ite Muslim Revolutionary Justice Organisation after spending more than two years in captivity. He had been kidnapped in May 1989.

1992 David Mellor resigned as heritage minister, blaming his departure on a constant barrage of hostile stories in the tabloid press.

1993 America & the Commonwealth lifted trade sanctions against South Africa.

* I'm unlikely to get to post tomorrow, so if anyone else wants to have a go feel free!

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30 Mill · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:26 pm Post subject:

raveydavey · Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:01 pm Post subject:

September 25th: Only 3 months 'til Christmas!

Posted a day late as I wasn't here yesterday and no-one else bothered...

1690: Publication in Boston of Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic, the US’s first newspaper.

1818: Guy’s Hospital, London, saw the first transfusion of human blood. Previous attempts had used animal blood.

1852: Birth of Field Marshal Sir John (Denton Pinkstone) French, first Earl of Ypres. From 1914-15 he was the supreme commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France; after that, of the Home Forces.

1897: Start of Britain’s first motorized (as opposed to horse-drawn) bus service, in Bradford.

1921: Birth of Sir Robert (David) Muldoon, who in 1975 became Prime Minister of New Zealand. He held office until 1984.

1932: Catalonia in Spain became autonomous, with its own parliament, flag and language.

1933: Birth of Adolfo Suarez, who in 1976 became Prime Minister of Spain. During his first term of office he expedited reforms, and was re-elected in 1977 and 1979.

1954: Dr François Duvalier (‘Papa’ Doc) was elected President of Haiti.

1957: Over 1000 National Guardsmen escorted nine black children into Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation. The children had been turned away from the previously all-white school.

1987: A Nigerian herdsman was sent to prison for life because he had chopped off the legs of his 12-year-old wife, who kept running away.

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raveydavey · Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:09 pm Post subject:

September 26th:

1580: Sir Francis Drake completed his round-the-world journey after 33 months as he sailed the Golden Hind into Plymouth. Drake plundered a few Spanish ships en-route to keep morale high!

1687: During a siege by the Venetian army against the Turks who were holding the Acropolis, a mortar bomb went off. The bomb set off the gunpowder supplies, and blew off the roof of the Parthenon, causing extensive damage to its walls. This was what turned the Parthenon into a ruin.

1769: The first cremation ever recorded in Britain took place at St George’s Burial Ground, Hanover Square, London, in an open grave at the funeral of Honoretta Pratt.

1861: The first British Open was held at Prestwick. The winner was Tom Morris.

1879 The world's first railway dining car was introduced in Britain on the line between London and Leeds.

1887: The Gramophone was patented by Emile Berliner.

1897: Birth of Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini).

1907: New Zealand became a Dominion.

1917: The start of the Battle of Polygon Wood, during Third Ypres or Passchendaele. The ANZACs attacked the wood, a key position defended by numerous pillboxes, after a massive artillery barrage, and successfully took it, but suffered heavy casualties. Sergeant Dwyer, Australian Machine-Gun Corps, man-handled his heavy Vickers machine-gun through the mud and enemy fire to set it up just yards from a key German machine-gun nest, which he wiped out. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1927: At Venice, Flight Lieutenant Webster won the Schneider Trophy in a Supermarine S5 seaplane.

1929: The first goal direct from a corner was scored by Alex Cheyne of Aberdeen during the Scotland-England international at Hampden Park.

1934: At John Brown’s Yard, Clydebank, Scotland, Queen Mary launched the Cunard-White Star liner Queen Mary. It was the biggest and most powerful ship at that time.

1938 Concerned about the prospect of war with Germany (which turned out to be a year away) British civilians were issued with gas masks.

1939: Fleet Air Arm Skua aircraft from 803 Naval Air Squadron achieved the first British air-to-air victory in the Second World War, downing a German Dornier flying boat.

1944: After nine days holding out against relentless German attacks, 1st Airborne Division was evacuated across the Lower Rhine to Driel during the night. British and Canadian engineers from XXX Corps organised a successful ferry operation which smuggled some 2,600 troops through a 700 metre gap in the German encirclement and across the river. Those too wounded to be moved remained behind with volunteers, including medical staff and chaplains, and were taken prisoner the following morning. A further 240 soldiers later returned to Allied lines with the aid of the Dutch Resistance.

1955 Frozen Birdseye fish fingers first went on sale in Britain.

1957: Premiere in New York of Bernstein and Sondheim’s West Side Story.

1961: Bob Dylan made his debut at Gerde’s Folk City, Greenwich Village, New York.

1968: Jaguar unveiled the XJ-6 luxury saloon.

1973 Concorde made its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time cutting the previous record in half, and flying at an average speed of 954 mph.

1977: Genuinely cheap flights began when Freddie Laker’s Skytrain took off from Gatwick for New York. The tickets cost £59, not including food.

1979 Compulsory metrication in Britain was abandoned. Although you wouldn't necessarily think so now...

1983: Alan Bond became the first non-US winner of the America’s Cup for 132 years with his Australia II.

1984: China and Britain agreed that Hong Kong would once again be governed by China in 1997.

1987: A doctor was fined nearly £2000 and banned from driving for two years, when he was caught on the M3 going 149 mph in his sportscar, which had two faulty tyres. He was the fastest speeder ever to be caught on that motorway.

1988: Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal after he failed a drugs test. The Canadian sprinter had won the medal at the 100 metres in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

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raveydavey · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:53 pm Post subject:

September 27th:

1825 The world’s first public railway service began with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Built by George Stephenson, the track was 27 miles long, and the steam locomotive Active pulled 32 passenger wagons at ten miles per hour.

1888 The first use of the name, 'Jack the Ripper' in an anonymous letter to the Central News Agency. He went on to kill five women, and it's believed he may have been responsible for the deaths of four more.

1888 The first vessel to enter Milford Docks was the S.T. Sybil and her catch, sent to London, laid the foundation of the Milford Haven Fishing Industry.

1938 The 83,000 ton liner 'Queen Elizabeth' was launched at John Brown's Yard on Clydebank in Scotland by the Queen Mother.

1943: British and Australian commando forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Lyons, Gordon Highlanders, mounted Operation Jaywick, a canoe attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore harbour. Their limpet mines sank three ships and left several others damaged. The assault team escaped in their fishing boat, HMAS Krait, which has been preserved as part of the Australian War Memorial collection.

1960 Bank Underground Station in London opened Europe's first 'moving pavement' .

1967 The Queen Mary arrived in Southampton at the end of its last transatlantic voyage.

1968 The musical Hair, (which took advantage of the end of British stage censorship by including a scene cast in the nude), had its first London performance.

1979 Gracie Fields, the English wartime singer, died.

1979 The BBC's Question Time aired for the first time, chaired by Robin Day, who stayed with the programme for ten years.

1987 Tony Jacklin led a team of 12 golfers, including Sevvy Ballesteros, Sam Torrance, Howard Clark, Eamonn Darcy and Bernhard Langer, on behalf of Great Britain and Europe to win the Ryder Cup. It was the first time the US team had been defeated on their home ground.

1991 The first Scrabble Championship was held in London, with 20 countries competing.

1993 The Government announced its plans to privatise the Post Office.

1995 There was anger within the Government when a European Court of Human Rights ruling condemned the killing, by the British SAS, of three IRA terrorists in Gibraltar in 1988.

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raveydavey · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject:

September 28th: Feast day of Wenceslaus, patron saint of Czechoslovakia. As Prince of Bohemia, he promoted Christianity in his country. He was murdered by his brother, but is remembered even today in the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’.

1066 Claiming his right to the English throne, William, Duke of Normandy began his invasion of England, landing at Pevensey (East Sussex).

1106: Suitably enough on the anniversary of William the Conqueror's invasion, Henry I of England defeated his brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, at Tinchebrai, and took possession of Normandy.

1745 At the Drury Lane Theatre, London, God Save the King, the national anthem, was sung for the first time. The score used was prepared by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778) leader of the orchestra and composer of Rule Britannia.

1864 'The First International' was founded in London, when Karl Marx proposed the formation of an International Working Men's Association.

1865 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first qualified woman physician in Britain. Along with Benjamin Britten, artist J.M.W. Turner and the poet George Crabbe, she had connections with Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

1894 Simon Marks, a Polish immigrant, and Yorkshireman Tom Spencer opened their Penny Bazaar in Kirkgate Market, Leeds, setting the foundations for the Marks and Spencer chain.

1912 Thousands of Unionists in Northern Ireland signed the Solemn League and Covenant, pledging resistance to Home Rule for Ireland.

1918: The final offensive was launched in Flanders, where so many British casualties had previously been suffered. This time, the results were very different. British, Commonwealth and Belgian troops under King Albert of Belgium successfully pushed back the Army Group commanded by Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in the Ypres area. Sergeant McGuffie, King's Own Scottish Borderers, particularly distinguished himself in the dangerous task of clearing enemy dug-outs, then managed to rescue some British soldiers who had been taken prisoner. Private Tandey, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, first knocked out a machine-gun nest, then rebuilt a plank bridge under heavy fire, and ended the day leading eight men in a bayonet charge that secured 37 prisoners. Tandey and McGuffie were both awarded the Victoria Cross.

1923 The Radio Times was first published.

1946 Future England football captain Billy Wright played in his first England international.

1946 Singer Helen Shapiro, (UK No.1 single - Walking Back To Happiness), was born.

1984 A high court judge ruled that the miners' strike was unlawful because a union ballot was never held.

1985 Riots broke out on the streets of south London after a woman was shot and seriously injured in a house search. Local people had already been very critical of police tactics in Brixton and a mood of tension exploded into violence as night fell.

1986 British boxer Lloyd "Honey" Honeyghan won the world welterweight title.

1996 At Ascot, Frankie Dettori became the first jockey to win all seven races at a meeting. The odds on this happening were 25,095 to 1. Bookmakers lost over £18 million pounds as a result.

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raveydavey · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject:

September 29th:

106 BC: Birth of Pompey the Great, Roman statesman and general. Pompey supported Julius Caesar at first, but became worried by his ever-increasing ambition. In 61 BC, on his birthday, Pompey captured Jerusalem and Syria became a province of Rome.

1399 The first English monarch to abdicate, Richard II, was replaced by Bolingbroke, who ascended the throne as Henry IV.

1650 Henry Robinson opened the first marriage bureau, in England.

1755 Robert Lord Clive, (Clive of India), founder of the British empire in India, was born.

1758 Lord Horatio Nelson was born, in the village of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. He defeated the French and her allies on numerous occasions during the age of Napoleon Bonaparte and was naval hero at the Battle of Trafalgar. A remarkable set of achievments for anyone, let alone a turnip muncher.

1793 Tennis was mentioned for the first time in an English sporting magazine.

1829 The first regular police force in London was inaugurated. The officers became known as 'bobbies' after Robert Peel, the home secretary who founded the modern police force.

1885 Britain’s first electric trams began running, in Blackpool. They are still running...

1899: Birth in South Africa of Sir (William Edmund) Billy Butlin. He conceived the idea of the holiday camp, and started his first in 1936 in Skegness.

1916 Trevor Howard, actor, (Mutiny on the Bounty - Ryan's Daughter), was born.

1916: John D Rockefeller was the first person in the world to make a billion dollars, profiting from the US share boom.

1931: Flight Lieutenant Stainforth set a new aircraft world speed record of 407mph at Lee-on-Solent, flying a Supermarine S6B seaplane.

1938 England, France, Germany and Italy signed the Munich Pact, under which the Sudetenland was given to Nazi Germany. In return, Hitler promised not to make any further territorial demands in Europe. World War II began the following year!

1943: Birth of Lech Walesa, leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement.

1944: Corporal Harper, York & Lancaster Regiment, led an assault on a German position in Belgium through very heavy fire, including a barrage of mortar bombs. The attack cost him his life, but his men managed to take the position. His outstanding courage and leadership were recognised with the award of a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1946 BBC launched the 'Third Programme', later to become Radio 3.

1952 British and world water speed record holder John Cobb was killed on Loch Ness in Scotland when his craft 'Crusader' broke up after hitting waves at 240 mph.

1956 Sebastian Coe was born. As a 1500m runner he won Olympic gold in 1980 & 1984.

1963 The Rolling Stones started their first tour, as the opening act for Bo Diddley and the Everly Brothers.

1987: An Australian federal judge rejected the British government’s plea to extend the ban on Peter Wright’s Spycatcher, which had been blocked from publication for almost two years.

1988: Shuttle blasts US back into space. The United States successfully launches its first manned space mission since the Challenger disaster two and a half years ago.

1997 British scientists said they had established a link between a human brain disease - vCJD - and one found in cows - BSE.

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raveydavey · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject:

September 30th:

1146 A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that by banning the weapon, wars would eventually end. Despite the prohibition, crossbows continued to be used until the 16th century, when they were replaced by firearms.

1342: During the struggle between England and France for control of Brittany in the Hundred Years War, Charles de Blois led his field forces in an attempt to relieve the port of Morlaix, besieged for a month by the Earl of Northampton and Robert of Artois. When the French advance was reported, Northampton broke off the siege and took up a strong defensive position a few miles away near Lanmeur. The French and Breton knights led the attack on the English position, but suffered appalling casualties, not least from concealed pits into which their charge floundered. Some 200 knights were killed or captured, but the English army chose to retire with their captives, rather than tackle the French infantry which had taken no significant part in the fighting.

1682 William Penn sailed from England. He later established the colony of Pennsylvania. A statue of him now stands on top of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1791 The British Ordnance Survey (mapping agency) was founded.

1860 The first British tramway, operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway, was inaugurated by an American, George Francis Train.

1871 The birthday of Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford, British experimental physicist who was the first to split an atom.

1901 Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner.

1917 Lord Dennis Healey, Labour politician & former Chancellor was born.

1926 Jack Hobbs scored 316 at Lords, the highest individual score recorded at the ground.

1928 Indian politician Jawahrlal founded the Independence of India League to campaign for freedom from British rule.

1930 Morris Cars announced the arrival of the Morris Major costing £215.

1936 The record for crossing the Atlantic was gained by the liner 'Queen Mary', winning the 'Blue Riband'.

1936: Pinewood Studios opened in Iver, Buckinghamshire. They were the first film studios in Britain to compete with those in Hollywood.

1938: 'Peace for our time' - Chamberlain. The British Prime Minister is hailed as bringing "peace to Europe" after signing a pact with Germany.

1951: Festival closes to applause. Big crowds have attended the final ceremonies which marked the offical end of the Festival of Britain.

1955: James Dean killed in car smash. Hollywood actor James Dean is killed when his sports car is involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle.

1967: Tony Blackburn opened BBC’s Radio 1 programmes with ‘Flowers in the Rain’.

1976 More than 100 police officers were taken to hospital after clashes at the Notting Hill Carnival in west London.

1988: 'SAS killed lawfully' - Gibraltar jury. The killing of three unarmed IRA suspects by British soldiers was lawful, a Gibraltar court finds.

1996 Former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno announced his retirement.

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raveydavey · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject:

October 1st: The Feast Day of Agnes of Lisieux, patron saint of florists.

1207 King Henry III was born.

1843 The News of the World, Britain's most popular Sunday newspaper, was first published.

1869 The Midland Railway opened St Pancras station in London.

1870 The first British halfpenny postage stamp, in lilac, was issued.

1880: The Edison Lamp Works began operations in New Jersey to manufacture the first electric light bulbs. No doubt they started global warming...

1890 Stanley Holloway, actor, was born.

1906 The first hot-air balloon race was staged at Whitley, Yorkshire and was won by US Army Lieutenant Frank Lahm.

1908: Henry Ford introduced the Model T, the world’s most popular low-priced car until the arrival of the Volkswagen Beetle. It was also the first left-hand drive vehicle.

1918: The Arab forces of Emir Faisal with British officer T E Lawrence captured Damascus from the Turks. An Australian Mounted division followed them in.

1933 Richard Harris, actor, was born.

1935 Julie Andrews, English actress and singer was born.

1936 The BBC began regular TV broadcasts from Alexandra Palace, north London.

1946 Germany's Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolph Hess - captured in Scotland after mysteriously parachuting from a plane during World War II - was sentenced to life imprisonment.

1954 The UK Top 12 Pop Chart became a Top 20.

1957 A vaccine against the strain of influenza that had been sweeping around the world was made available to the British public.

1974 The first McDonalds restaurant opened in London. Restaurant being used in it's loosest possible terms there, methinks...

1974 British boxer John Conteh became Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.

1975: Muhammad Ali wins 'Thrilla in Manila'. Muhammad Ali retains the world heavyweight boxing championship after defeating Joe Frazier in their third and arguably greatest fight.

1985 Police closed off areas of Liverpool & London after outbreaks of violence & vandalism.

1993 RAC patrolman Mervyn Jacobs was called out to jump start a minesweeper. It was not a problem for him. He just ran a 50 foot lead from his van!

2005: Bombs rip through Bali restaurants. At least 26 people die and more than 50 are injured as the Indonesian resort island of Bali is hit by bomb blasts.

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30 Mill · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:51 pm Post subject:

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