49BC - Julius Ceasar crosses the Rubicon, and starts a civil war.
1645 - The Archbishop of Canterbury is beheaded on Tower Hill, as a subversive.
1840 - The Penny Post is introduced by Sir Rowland Hill.
1863 - The 1st section of the London underground is opened, between Paddington and Farringdon St.
1985 - Sir Clive Sinclair produced the C5 electric car.
1999 - A large chunk of Beachy Head collapses into the sea.
Died today:
1917 - Buffalo Bill Cody, American frontiersman
1971 - Coco Chanel, fashion designer
1981 - Richard Boone, actor
1569 - Start of the National Lottery.
1879 - Beginning of the Zulu War.
1962 -An avalanche on Mt Huascaran in Peru buries 4,000.
1972 - East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
1980 - Nigel Short, 14, from Bolton, becomes the youngest International Chess Master.
Born today:
1930 - Rod Taylor, actor
1938 - Arthur Scargill, mineworkers leader
1957 - Bryan Robson, footballer turned manager
1978 - Emile Heskey, footballer
Died today:
1928 - Thomas Hardy, author
2008 - Sir Edmund Hilary, mountaineer
Gosh XK you really must lead a sad life if you can spend so much time putting all this on a thread.
Surely were supposed to be looking to the future, hence wishing each other a good 2009 and not looking back.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a Mystery, today is the present thats why we call it a gift.
maybe I should have put this on the rant thread but I just don't see the point of this thread.
Not much time really, maybe half an hour. And when u haven't got a job, it helps pass the time.
If we learn from mistakes of the past, maybe we can improve the future.
I realise this thread holds no interest to many, but the solution is simple - don't tune in!
And if u look at page 1, the idea was for peeps to add summat personal, maybe their wedding day, or the birth of a child, or any memorable event - just didn't catch on.
1895 - The National Trust was founded.
1950 - A submarine collides with, and sinks, a Swedish vessel in the Thames; 65 drown.
1959 - Henry Cooper defeats Brian London to become the British & European Boxing Champion.
1982 - Mark Thatcher gets lost in the Sahara for 2 days during the Paris - Dakar rally.
2004 - Maiden voyage of the Queen Mary 2.
2006 - A stampede at the Hajj, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 Muslim pilgrims.
Born today:
1932 - Des O'Connor, singer
1933 - Michael Aspel, TV presenter
1944 - 'Smokin' Joe Frazier, boxer
1951 - Kirstie Alley, actress
Died today:
1960 - Nevil Shute, author
1976 - Agatha Christie, author
2003 - Maurice Gibb, Bee Gee
1559 - The coronation of Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey.
1874 - The lone survivor of the 16,000 strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred during its retreat from Kabul reaches safety in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
1898 - Emile Zola's "J'accuse" exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1915 - An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy, kills 30,000.
Born today:
1943 - Carol Cleveland, Monty Python's bird
1969 - Stephen Hendry, snooker player
1977 - Orlando Bloom, actor
Died today:
1691 - George Fox, Quaker leader
1832 - Thomas Lord, founder of the Lord's cricket ground
1929 - Wyatt Earp, US lawman
1941 - James Joyce, author
1208 - Pope Innocent III launches a crusade to wipe out the Cathars. Many cities in southern France are destroyed; thousands are killed.
1907 - An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills over 1,000.
1937 - George Horace Gallup conducts his 1st opinion poll.
1967 - 20-30,000 hippies gather in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to begin the Summer of Love.
1975 - Heiress Leslie Whittle, 17, is kidnapped and later murdered by the 'Black Panther'.
Born today:
1926 - Warren Mitchell, aka Alf Garnett, actor
1934 - Richard Briers, actor,
1941 - Faye Dunaway, actress
1957 - Suzanne Daniel, actress
Died today:
1742 - Edmund Halley, comet discoverer
1898 - Lewis Carroll, 'Alice' author
1957 - Humprey Bogart, actor
1977 - Peter Finch, actor
2006 - Shelley Winters, actress
1759 - The opening of the British Museum, at Montague House, London. Access often depended on who you were and who you knew. Permission had to be given by the librarian and only 10 people an hour were allowed in. Should be about 22m in there now...
1797 - The first top hat was worn by John Hetherington, a London haberdasher. He was fined £50 the first time he wore his new creation, 'for causing a disturbance'.
1790 - Fletcher Christian, eight fellow mutineers from the Bounty, six Tahitian men, and 12 women, landed on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn.
1859 - The National Portrait Gallery opened to the public in Great George Street. There were only 56 portraits and viewing was by appointment on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
1867 - Crowds flocked onto the frozen surface of the lake in London’s Regent's Park during a severe frost. The ice broke, and 40 people died.
Born 1965 - James Nesbitt, actor
Died 1990 - Gordon Jackson, actor
1547 - Ivan the Terrible crowned 1st Tsar of Russia.
1605 - Cervantes 'Don Quixote' published.
1707 - The Act of Union is passed, joining England & Scotland.
1950 - "Hello children. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin". And so began Listen With Mother, on the radio.
1957 - The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool.
1991 - Operation 'Desert Storm' against Iraq begins.
Born today:
1963 - James May, TV presenter
1974 - Kate Moss, model
Died today:
1794 - Edward Gibbon, historian
1809 - Sir John Moore, general, at the Battle of Corunna
1967 - R J Van de Graff, generator
1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie wins the Battle of Falkirk.
1896 - Daimler becomes the 1st British car manufacturer.
1912 - Capt Scott reaches the South Pole, 1 month after Roald Amundsen - wot a bummer!
1929 - 1st appearance of Popeye the Sailor Man.
1985 - Red telephone boxes are retired - ?
1989 - A crazy gunman kills 5 schoolkids in Stockton, and wounds 30 others, before killing himself.
1995 - A 7.3 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, kills 6,400.
Born today:
1942 - Muhammad Ali, The Greatest
1956 - Paul Young, musician
1957 - Keith Chegwin, TV presenter
1962 - Jim Carrey, actor
Died today:
2005 - Virginia Mayo, actress
2008 - Bobby Fisher, chess player
1535 - Conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, capital of Peru.
1670 - Buccaneer Henry Morgan captures Panama City.
1778 - James Cook discovers Hawaii.
1788- 1st convicts arrive at Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia.
1871 - Wilhelm I pronounced Kaiser, and the 2nd Reich begins.
1944 - Soviets liberate Leningrad, after a 3 year seige.
1967 - The 'Boston Strangler' is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
1995 - 30,000 year-old cave paintings are discovered nr Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern France.
Born today:
1955 - Kevin Costner, actor
1964 - Jane Horrocks, actress
1971 - Christian Fittipaldi, racing driver
1419 - Henry V captures Rouen in Normandy.
1812 - Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain is taken by storm by Wellington.
1915 - German zepplins drop bombs on Gt Yarmouth & Kings Lynn, killing 20.
1917 - A munitions dump in London explodes, killing 73 and wounding 400.
1937 - Margot Fonteyn, ballerina, makes her debut at Sadlers Wells, aged 18.
1945 - The Soviets liberate the ghetto of Lodz. Only 900 of the original 230,000 inhabitants have survived.
1977 - 1st ever recorded snowfall in Miami, Florida.
Born today:
1942 - Michael Crawford, actor
1946 - Dolly Parton, singer
1949 - Dennis Taylor, snooker player
1265 - 1st parliament convened by Simon de Montfort at Westminster Hall.
1841 - Brits occupy Hong Kong.
1885 - L A Thompson patents the roller coaster.
1987 - Terry Waite is kidnapped in Beirut.
Born today:
1930 - 'Buzz' Aldrin, astronaut
1934 - Tom Baker, actor
1950 - Liza Goddard, actress
1979 - Will Young, singer
1981 - Owen Hargreaves, footballer
Died today:
1990 - Barbara Stanwyck, actress
1993 - Audrey Hepburn actress
1994 - Sir Matt Busby, MUFC manager
1793 - Louis XVI of France guillotined for treason.
1807 - London streets illuminated by gaslight.
1911 - 1st Monte carlo rally.
1924 - Lenin dies, leading to lengthy power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin.
1941 - Desert Rats attack Tobruk.
1966 - British cars disqualified in Monte Carlo rally cos their headlights dip the wrong way!
1976 - 1st commercial flight of the Concorde.
Born today:
1940 - Jack Nicklaus, golfer
1941 - Placido Domingo, tenor
1975 - Nicky Butt, footballer
1976 - Emma Bunton, Baby Spice
1977 - Phil Neville, footballer
Died today:
1950 - George Orwell, author
1959 - Cecil B DeMille, director
1998 - Jack Lord, actor
2002 - Peggy Lee, singer
1771 - Spain gives the Falkland Islands to Great Britain.
1879 - The Zulus massacre the Brits at Isandlwana, but 11 VC's are won at Rorke's Drift, when 100 soldiers fend off 4,000 Zulus.
1924 - Ramsey MacDonald becomes the 1st Labour Prime Minister.
1944 - The Allies land in Anzio, Italy.
1972 - The UK joins the Common Market.
1973 - A Boeing 707 explodes landing at Kano, Nigeria, killing 176.
Died today:
1666 - Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor of India, who had built the Taj Mahal, in memory of his wife. It took 20,000 men 22 years to build, with the help of 1,000 elephants.
1901 - Queen Victoria, Eastend publican
1994 - Telly Savalas, lollipopman
2008 - Heath Ledger, Joker
1556 - The deadliest earthquake occured in Shoanxi province, China; 800,000 may have died.
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the 1st woman doctor.
1870 - The US Cavalry massacre 170 Blackfeet woman & children camping along the Marias River in Montana. The men were out hunting.
1931 - Whipsnade Zoo opens.
1943 - The Desert Rats capture Tripoli.
Died today:
1803 - Arthur Guiness, brewer
1875 - Charles Kingsley, Water Baby
1989 - Salvador Dali, artist
1907 - Robert Baden-Powell founds the Boy Scout Movement.
1966 - A Boeing 707 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing 117.
1972 - A WWII Jap soldier is found hiding in the Guam jungle.
1976 - Margaret Thatcher is dubbed 'The Iron Lady' by the Soviet press.
1984 - 1st Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
Born today:
1917 - Ernst Borgine, actor
1928 - Desmond Morris, anthropologist,
1941 - Neil Diamond, singer
1957 - Adrian Edmondson, bottom
1958 - Jools Holland, musician
1959 - Vic Reeves, comedian
Died today:
41 - Caligula, Roman Emperor, assassignated by his Praetorian Guards.
1965 - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister
1858 - The Wedding March 1st played, at Queen Victoria's daughter's wedding.
1945 - Battle of the Bulge ends.
1971 - Charles Manson & co found guilty of the Tate murders.
1971 - Idi Amin leads a coup to become president of Uganda.
1981 - The 'Gang of Four' split from the Labour Party to form the Social Democrats.
1999 - An earthquake hits western Columbia, killing over 1,000.
2005 - 260 temple goers in Mandhradev, India, are crushed to death in a stampede.
Born today:
1759 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet - celebrated as 'Burns Night'
Died today:
1947 - Al Capone, gangster
1990 - Ava Gardner, actress
1871 - The Rugby Football Union was founded, in London.
1982 - Britain's jobless tops 3m, for the 1st time since the 30's.
1905- The Cullinan Diamond is found nr Pretoria, weighing 114lb.
1958 - The ferry 'Nankai Maru' sinks off Japan; 167 drown.
1998 - On US TV, Bill Clinton denies having 'sexual relations' with Monica Lewinsky.
2001 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, killing 20,000.
2004 - A decomposing whale explodes in Taiwan, due to a build-up of gas. No reported casualties, tho 1 little ol lady fainted.
Died today:
1885- General Gordon, killed by the Mahdi's, in Khartoum.
1962 - 'Lucky' Luciano, gangster
1973 - Edward G Robinson, actor
1521 - The Diet of Worms commences.
1813 - Pride and Prejudice is 1st published.
1887 - Snowflakes 15"x8" fall in Montana.
1896 Walter Arnold of Kent was the first British motorist to receive a speeding fine, for exceeding 2 mph in a built-up area. He was doing 8 mph as he passed the house of the local policeman. The constable gave chase on his bicycle and after a 5 mile chase Mr. Arnold was arrested. He was fined one shilling for his offence.
1953 19 year-old Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison. On 2nd November 1952, he and 16-year-old Christopher Craig were attempting to rob a confectioner’s warehouse in Croydon when they were caught by police. It was alleged that Bentley urged Craig to fire his gun, injuring one policeman and killing another. Both boys were found guilty of murder. Craig, too young to hang, was imprisoned, while Bentley was sentenced to death despite considerable public protest.
1958 - Lego patent their bricks.
Born today:
1929 - Acker Bilk, jazzman
1936 - Alan Alda, actor
1957 - Frank Skinner, comedian
1981 - Elijah Wood, Hobbit
Died today:
814 - Charlemagne, Emperor of the Franks
1547 - Henry VIII, King
1596 - Sir Francis Drake, explorer
1829 - William Burke, bodysnatcher (hanged)
1983 - Billy Fury, singer
1986 - 7 crew of the Space Shuttle 'Challenger'
2006 - Henry McGee, comedian
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