Protest and Die I
1450 Irish born Jack Cade led a 40,000 strong demonstration march from Kent to London to protest against laws introduced by King Henry VI of England. Cade was later beheaded for treason.
Protest and Die II
1497 Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank were executed at Tyburn, London. The rebels had marched on London to protest at King Henry VII levying a tax to pay for an invasion of Scotland as they believed that this was a northern affair and had nothing to do with them.
The Problem Page
1693 The first women’s magazine, The Ladies’ Mercury, was published by John Dunton in London. It contained a question-and-answer column which became known as a ‘problem page’.
Fortunes of an Irish Maid
1746 In Scotland, Flora MacDonald helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape to the Isle of Skye dressed as an Irish maid, following his defeat by the English at the Battle of Culloden.
To the Wicket Born
1899 Indian born English cricketer Arthur Edward Jeune Collins, aged 13 and often known by his initials A. E. J. Collins, achieved the highest-ever recorded score in cricket. He scored 628 not out over four afternoons but, despite this achievement, Collins never played first-class cricket. He was killed in action in 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres.
A Flying Boat
1939 The first scheduled airline service of Boeing 314 flying boats was operated by Pan Am between Newfoundland and Southampton.
Hole in the Wall
1967 Barclays Bank (Enfield branch) opened Britain’s first cash dispenser.
Legally Nude
1968 Maggie Wright, playing Helen of Troy in the Royal Shakespeare Company production in London, became the first actress in Britain to appear nude on the ‘legitimate’ stage.
Scrabble Babble
1971 England’s first national Scrabble Championship was held in London. The winner was teacher Stephen Haskell.
Aiming High
1988 Dave Hurst and Alan Matthews, both from England, became the first blind climbers to reach the summit of Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc – 15,781 feet high.
