On This Day – The Diary of a Young Girl and the Iron Lady

The Man Who Would be King

1513 Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, was executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

The Iron Lady

1821 The first iron steamship, Aaron Manby, named after the proprietor of the Staffordshire ironworks at which she had been made, was completed. She weighed 116 tons and after trials on the River Thames made her maiden voyage across the Channel.

Footie on TV

1938 The FA Cup was televised on British TV in its entirety, for the first time. The TV audience was estimated as 10,000. Preston played Huddersfield Town and Preston won in the last minute of extra time.

War Games

1943 The body of a mystery man (planted with false invasion plans) was used by Britain to fool Nazi Germany into defending the ‘wrong’ regions of the Mediterranean, aiding a successful invasion of Sicily.

Grade II Listed

1944 The first of 500,000 prefab homes went on show in London. They were designed for demobilised servicemen and bombed-out families and consisted of 2 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and toilet and kitchen on one floor. They covered an area of 616 sq ft and were built by the motor industry.

The End of An Affair

1945 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Before beginning his assault on Europe, Hitler had assured his followers that the Third Reich would last for 1,000 years. His mistress, Eva Braun, whom he’d married the day before, died alongside him after taking a cyanide pill.

Dirty Den

1947 The birth of Leslie Grantham, English actor best known for his role as “Dirty” Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders.

Land Rover in Amsterdam

1948 The Land Rover was introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show.

The Diary of A Young Girl

1952 The British public got the chance to read ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’, written by Anne Frank who hid from the Nazis in Holland during the war.

The Sacking

1974 England’s football manager Sir Alf Ramsey, manager of the England team which won the World Cup in 1966 was sacked, after 11 years as manager.

The Siege

1980 Armed terrorists seized the Iranian Embassy in London taking 20 hostages and threatening to blow up the building.

Three Nail Bombs

1999 Two people were killed and at least 30 injured in the third nail-bomb attack in London in two weeks. The bomb went off in a public house in the heart of London’s gay community.

More Met Office Capers

2009 The Met. Office forecasted ‘odds on for a barbecue summer’, with no repeat of the washouts of the previous two years but ….. average rainfall for the summer was up 40%.

 

On This Day – Two Very Different Wedding Anniversaries

The Maiden of Orleans

1429 Joan of Arc arrived at the besieged city of Orleans to eventually lead her French forces to victory (on May 6th) over the English.

Many Lives of William III

1696 There were many attempts on the life of William III, King of England, who attracted opposition, in part because he was a foreigner. This day, three would-be assassins, Rookwood, Lowick and Cranbourne, were executed for an attempt that failed.

London Philharmonic

1879 Thomas Beecham, conductor and founder of the London Philharmonic was born. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras and was a major influence on the musical life of Britain.

Women at the Gate

1884 Oxford University agreed to admit female students to examinations. However, woman were not to be awarded degrees.

Supertax

1909 In a revolutionary budget called ‘The People’s Budget’, Chancellor David Lloyd George introduced a new ‘supertax’ of sixpence in the pound for anyone earning more than £5,000 a year (£387.000 in today’s money). The new high level of supertax was to pay for old age pensions and re-armament of the forces.

Cat’s Eyes

1935 Just one year after their invention by Percy Shaw of Yorkshire, ‘cats’ eyes’ were being inserted into British roads.

Fred The Steeplejack

1938 The birth, in Bolton, Lancashire of Fred Dibnah MBE, English steeplejack. He had a fascination for steam vehicles and mechanical engineering and became a cult television personality.

Il Duce

1945 The German army in Italy surrendered to the Allies under the British General Alexander. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, ‘Il Duce’, who, after a series of military misadventures, became unpopular even among his fellow Fascists, was captured while trying to flee Italy and was executed.

An Unhappy Couple

1945 Adolf Hitler married his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designated Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Both Hitler and Braun committed suicide the next day.

Never Too Slim or Too Rich

1986 The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, was laid to rest alongside her husband, the abdicated King Edward VIII, at Frogmore in Windsor.

Snookered

1990 Snooker player Stephen Hendry beat Jimmy White, to become the youngest ever world champion, aged 21 years and 106 days.

A Happy Couple

2011 The marriage of Prince William, 2nd in line to the throne, and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey. The day was declared a bank holiday in celebration.

 

On This Day – The Excitement at Wembley and the Travelling Goat

The House of York

1442 Edward IV, King of England and son of Richard, Duke of York, was born. He was the first king of the House of York.

Queen Bess’ Funeral

1603 Queen Elizabeth I’s funeral took place at Westminster Abbey.

Welcome to Botany Bay

1770 English navigator Captain James Cook and his crew, including the botanist Joseph Banks, landed in Australia, at Stingray Bay, which was later named Botany Bay.

The Travelling Goat

1772 The world’s most travelled goat died, in London. She had circumnavigated the world twice, first on Dolphin under Captain Wallis, then on Cook’s Endeavour. The Lord of the Admiralty even signed a document acknowledging her age and adventures.

Mutiny on the Bounty

1789 The crew of the Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied against the harsh life at sea under Captain Bligh. They were on the return journey from Tahiti where they had spent six months gathering breadfruit trees. Bligh and 17 others were cast adrift in a small boat without a chart. While the mutineers eventually colonized Pitcairn Island, Bligh managed to sail the small craft 3,618 miles to Timor, near Java, arriving there on 14th June.

The Coal Mines Act

1801 Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury was born. He was one of the most effective social and industrial reformers in 19th-century England. He introduced the Coal Mines Act in 1842 which prohibited the employment of women and children underground and was also the acknowledged leader of the evangelical movement within the Church of England.

All-Around Player

1888 The birth of Walter Tull, professional football for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. He was the first Afro-Caribbean / mixed heritage outfield player in the top division of English football, and the first to be commissioned as an infantry officer in the British Army. Northampton South MP Brian Binley has campaigned for Tull to be posthumously awarded the Military Cross for his ‘gallantry and coolness’ while leading his company of 26 men on a raiding party into enemy territory during World War I.

The First Air Race

1910 Frenchman Louis Paulhan won the London to Manchester air race and the £10,000 prize. It was the first long-distance aeroplane race in England and was first proposed by the Daily Mail newspaper in 1906.

The Excitement at Wembley

1923 The first FA Cup Final was held at Wembley Stadium. 200,000 people arrived at a stadium which was only designed to hold 125,000 and when 60,000 irate fans rushed the turnstiles a human torrent swept onto the pitch. Players were engulfed by the crowd and 1,000 men, women and children were injured. Finals were made ‘all ticket’ after that. The game began one hour late and Bolton beat West Ham 2-0.

Goodbye Alf Ramsey 

1999 The death of Sir Alfred Ernest “Alf” Ramsey, manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30th July 1966.

 

On This Day – Ladies Don’t Poke and the Flying Sheila

The Battle of Dunbar

1296 An English army, led by Edward I, defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. The English routed the disorganised Scots in a single charge, in action that was brief and probably not very bloody, since the only casualty of any note was a minor Lothian knight.

£10 of Paradise Lost 

1667 The blind, impoverished John Milton sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.

On Fire

1749 The first official performance of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks in Green Park, London. It finished early due to the outbreak of fire, but Handel stuck to his conducting, whilst the audience ran for their lives!

Ladies Don’t Poke

1828 The opening of the London Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, London. Lady visitors were politely requested to refrain from poking the beasts through the bars of the cages.

Foundations of a Parliament

1840 The foundation stone for the new Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace) was laid by the wife of the architect Sir Charles Barry.

The Flying Sheila

1927 The birth of Sheila (Christine) Scott, English aviator who broke 104 light aircraft records and was the first to fly solo over the North Pole. Despite this, she failed her driving test three times. Her flying endeavours were always under-financed and when funds ran out, she was left to a sad and lonely retirement.

Storm in a Teacup

1944 The birth of Michael Fish, British meteorologist. He became infamous in the wake of the Great Storm of 1987 when it was rumoured that there a hurricane on the way to which he commented ‘Well, if you’re watching, don’t worry, there isn’t!’ That evening, the worst storm to hit South East England since 1703 caused record damage and killed 18 people.

Madam Speaker

1992 The House of Commons elected a woman to the post of Speaker for the first time. She was Betty Boothroyd, the 62-year-old Labour MP for West Bromwich.

 

On This Day – Pocahontas and the Pig Race

Watch Out, Pocahontas

1607 Captain John Smith landed at Cape Henry, in Virginia with the first group of colonists who established a permanent English settlement in America.

Love That Doesn’t Dare Speak Its Name

1895 The start of the trial of playwright Oscar Wilde who was charged with homosexuality.

Victoria Cross

1915 2nd Lt. Rhodes-Moorhouse of the Special Reserve Flying Corps became the first airman to win the Victoria Cross

No Publicity

1923 The marriage of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later ‘the Queen Mother’) to the Duke of York (later King George VI) at Westminster Abbey in London. It was the first royal wedding at the abbey since 1383. The newly formed British Broadcasting Company wanted to record and broadcast the event on radio, but the Abbey Chapter vetoed the idea.

 If We Don’t Succeed We Run The Risk of Failure

1926 The birth, in Alderley Edge, Cheshire of David Coleman, former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement.

Sky at Night

1957 English astronomer Patrick Moore presented the first broadcast of The Sky at Night, on BBC television.

The Turn of the Tide

1975 Labour Party members voted by almost 2-1 to leave the EEC, underlining the deep divisions over the issue of Europe. But on 6th June in the same year British voters backed the UK’s continued membership by a large majority in the country’s first nationwide referendum.

Carry On, Sid

1976 The death of Sid James, British based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock’s co-star in Hancock’s Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films.

The Pig Race

1989 Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland held their first annual pig race watched by over 7,000 people. One punter won £200 on the favourite, Porky’s Revenge, and the bookies handed the remainder of their money to the charity People in Need.

The Last Straw

2000 The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, witnessed nine people being caught attempting to illegally enter the UK as he inspected immigration procedures in Dover.

 

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On This Day – Lord Haw Haw and the Cry Baby

Sweet Sixteen

1558 Mary Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, married the French Dauphin at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

The Power Loom

1743 Edmund Cartwright, the inventor of the cotton spinning power loom, was born. In 1809 Cartwright obtained a grant of £10,000 from parliament for his invention and in May 1821 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Battle of Britain

1882 Lord Dowding, air force commander who directed the 1940 Battle of Britain, was born.

Daily Express

1900 The first issue of the newspaper the Daily Express. It was founded by Arthur Pearson.

Lord Haw-Haw

1906 William Joyce, British traitor and Nazi propagandist (‘Lord Haw-Haw’) was born.

The Eastern Rebellion

1916 In Dublin, Irish nationalists, led by Patrick Pearse, launched the Easter Rebellion against British rule.

The Ramblers’ Trespass

1932 A mass trespass by thousands of ramblers, led by Benny Rothman, took place on Kinder Scout in the Peak District. Their aim was to establish public right of access on the moors and mountains that were privately owned for grouse shooting.The mass trespass had a far-reaching impact that culminated in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which gave people ‘the right to roam’ on mapped access land.

The Pennine Way

1965 The official opening of the Pennine Way, a 250 mile path along the Pennine Hills from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish border. The opening ceremony was held at Malham Moor, North Yorkshire.

The London Bombing

1993 A massive bomb ripped through the the City of London, killing one and injuring more than 40.

Cry, Billy No-Mate, Cry

2003 Britain’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest failed to score a single point, a fact later blamed on the UK’s stance during the Iraq conflict.

 

On This Day – Happy St George’s Day

Happy St. George’s Day

The National Day of England.

Not Just Another Piece of Underwear

1348 The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III. It is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron saint. Membership to the order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four ‘members, or companions.’

Birth and Death of the Bard

1564 The birth of poet & playwright William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He died on his 52nd birthday in 1616

Return of the King

1661 Charles II was crowned King of England, completing the restoration of the monarchy. His father, Charles I, had been beheaded by Oliver Cromwell following the Civil War.

Wreckers Coast

1775 J M W Turner, English painter was born. He was one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting.

No More Daffodils

1850 William Wordsworth, English poet, died. For almost 9 years he lived and wrote at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, Cumbria.

A Birthday Present

1879 The first Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in Stratford-upon-Avon, and in 1932 the New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was opened by the Prince of Wales.

Going Decimal

1968 The first decimal coins appeared in Britain – the 5p and 10p pieces which replaced the 1 shilling and 2 shilling coins

Our Man in Riyadh

1980 The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia was expelled from the country following the broadcast on British TV of the documentary ‘Death of a Princess’. It depicted the life and execution of a Saudi Arabian Princess found guilty of committing adultery.

Only Fools and Horses

2011 The death of John Sullivan, the television scriptwriter responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.

 

On This Day – A Spy for A Spy and the Spinning Jenny

Royal Charter

1662 King Charles II granted a charter to the Royal Society of London, which became an important centre of scientific activity in England.

Spinning Jenny

1778 James Hargreaves, the English inventor of the spinning jenny died. After he had begun to sell the machines to help support his large family, hand spinners, fearing unemployment, broke into his house and destroyed a number of jennies, causing Hargreaves to move from Blackburn to Nottingham in 1768.

St Helena

1834 The South Atlantic island of St Helena was declared a British crown colony.

Steamed Up

1838 The British steamer Sirius became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean from England to New York. The voyage took 18 days and 10 hours.

Chemical Warfare

1915 The second battle of Ypres started when German troops released clouds of deadly chlorine gas on British troops. It was the first major gas attack of World War I.

Bring Out the Violins

1916 The birth of Yehudi Menuhin, the US born violinist. In 1965 he was granted.a knighthood, but did not receive the title until 1985, when he became a British citizen.

The Last Stand

1945 World War II – After learning that Soviet forces had taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admitted defeat in his underground bunker and stated that suicide was his only recourse.

Small Change

1943 Britain discontinued printing £1,000 notes.

 A Spy for a Spy

1964 British businessman Greville Wynne, imprisoned by the Russians for spying, was swapped for the Russian spy Gordon Lonsdale, who was jailed by the British for his role in an espionage ring in 1961.

Around the World in 312 Days

1969 British yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston sailed into Falmouth Harbour, completing the first non-stop solo voyage around the world. He was at sea for 312 days. His yacht was named Suhaili which means “good wind”.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

1972 Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax became the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean (the world’s largest ocean). They arrived in Australia in their boat Britannia after being at sea for 362 days.

The Big Number Change

2000 The Big Number Change took place. It was an update of telephone dialling codes in Britain in response to the rapid growth of telecommunications and the impending exhaustion of numbers.

 

On This Day – Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

1926 Queen Elizabeth II was born.

Lock Up Your Daughters Henry

1509 Henry VIII became King of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.

Joint Account

1689 William III and Mary II were crowned joint king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Ah, Mr. Rochester!

1816 Charlotte Bronte, eldest of the three literary sisters, was born. Her publisher rejected her first novel, ‘The Professor,’ but she went on to write her masterpiece, ‘Jane Eyre’.

The Merger

1907 Political clubs in Ireland merged to form the Sinn Fein League.

I’m Ready for My Close-Up

1934 The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, was published in the Daily Mail. (In 1999, it was revealed to be a hoax.)

The Rebellion

1916 Roger Casement, the Irish-born British consular official, landed in Ireland from a German submarine prepared to lead the Sinn Fein rebellion, but was arrested as the ‘Easter Uprising’ took place. The rebellion against the British in Dublin reached its worst level as Irish republicans took over sections of the city, while a Royal Navy gunboat bombarded them from the River Liffey.

The Red Barron

1918 Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary German ace pilot who had destroyed 80 Allied aircraft, was shot down by an RAF fighter and died from the crash behind British lines. He was known as the ‘Red Baron’ because of his distinctive red Fokker tri-plane.

The Trouble in Panama

1959 English ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn was jailed for a day in Panama while the police looked for her Panamanian husband, accused of plotting a coup.

Through the Round Window

1964 BBC television launched Playschool as the opening programme of their second channel. BBC2 actually opened a day late due to a major power failure the previous day.

Quid’s Out

1983 One pound coins replaced notes in England and Wales.