Rebellion of the Barons
1215 Rebel barons renounced their allegiance to King John; part of a chain of events that led to the signing of the Magna Carta.
A Better Kind of Hanging
1760 The first public hanging took place at Tyburn in London. Earl Ferrers was executed after being convicted of murdering his valet. He was the first to be hanged by the new ‘drop’ which had just been introduced in the place of the barbarous cart, ladder and medieval three-cornered gibbet.
Gipsy Moth
1930 British aviator Amy Johnson took off from Croydon Airport in her Gypsy Moth plane ‘Jason’. She became the first woman to fly solo to Australia, arriving on 24th May.
Dutch V-Day
1945 World War II: Canadian and UK troops liberated the Netherlands and Denmark from Nazi occupation.
Polio Vaccine
1955 World famous American virologist Dr Jonas Salk witnessed a ceremonial polio vaccination in London when Margaret Jenkins from Kent became the 500,000th person in London to receive the vaccine to prevent the crippling disease poliomyelitis.
Norah’s and Mary’s War
1964 The first meeting of a ‘Clean Up TV’ campaign led by Norah Buckland and her friend Mary Whitehouse. The organization was later given the name of The National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association.
The Europe Day
1964 The Council of Europe declared 5th May as Europe Day, an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe.
Ariel 3
1967 The first ever all-British satellite, Ariel 3, was successfully launched into orbit from the United States.
No, Actually
1980 The SAS stormed the terrorist-occupied Iranian Embassy at Knightsbridge in London. Four gunmen were killed in the attack and all 19 hostages were rescued.
Only, all that happened on Sunday, 04. 05. 1980. No idea why it’s been moved to today. On that same day
President Tito of Yugoslavia died
- SAS saved a duck’s nest from the balcony of the Iranian Embassy
- Kate Adie sprung to fame
- My daughter was christened
Irish Riots
1981 Riots in Northern Ireland followed the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in the Maze prison.
The Last of Many
2011 The death (in Perth, Western Australia) of Claude Stanley Choules, the last World War I combat veteran and the last military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. He was born in Pershore, Worcestershire and was the last veteran to have served in both world wars, and also the last seaman from the First World War.
