Happy Birthday New York
1674 England and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transferred the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it was renamed New York.
The Grave Honour
1717 The birth, in Hereford, of David Garrick, actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer. Garrick was the first actor to be granted the honour of being buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets’ Corner, by the monument to William Shakespeare. Later Henry Irving, the first actor to be knighted, was buried beside him on the same spot.
Happy 111th Birthday, Mrs Green
1901 The birthday of Florence Beatrice Green (the last known living veteran of the First World War). She was a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force. She died two weeks ago.
The Beautiful Game
1910 Manchester United played its first game at Old Trafford. The Sporting Chronicle said “The most handsomest, the most spacious and the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed.”
Happy Birthday, Andrew
1960 The birth of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and second son of Queen Elizabeth II.
Reg Cox is Dead, EastEnders is Born
1985 The first episode of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders was screened.
Foot and Mouth
2001 A five-mile exclusion zone was placed around an abattoir in Essex after a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease was detected. By the end of March, the disease was at its peak, with up to fifty new cases a day. The final case was reported on Whygill Head Farm near Appleby in Cumbria on 30th September. Tourism and farming were severely affected.
mirabooks 