On This Day

[Raybosailor]

27th. October.

1904 The first underground New York City Subway line opens.

1914 HMS Audacious a V-class battleship was sunk by a German mine off the coast of Ireland, the light cruiser 'Liverpool' and Titanic's sister ship 'Olympic' stood by and an attempt to tow Audacious was made but to no avail. Audacious capsized followed by several explosions throwing debris hundreds of feet into the air, one piece of steel plate landed on Liverpool's deck killing an officer, the only casualty of the event.

1936 Mrs Wallis Simpson files for divorce which would eventually allow her to marry King Edward VIII which forced him to abdicate from the throne.

1952 The BBC screened part one of the 26 part series 'Victory At Sea', Britain's first TV documentary.

1965 An airliner crashed at Heathrow, killing 36 people.

1979 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

Births.
1728 James Cook, famous explorer and navigator who learnt his trade in Whitby.
1854 William Alexander Smith, Scottish religious leader, founded the Boys' Brigade.
1914 Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and playwright.
1931 David Bryant, English bowls player, three times world outdoor champion, three times world indoor champion and several English national honours. I had the pleasure of playing against him in 1984 when I represented Nottinghamshire in a Vice Presidents match against Somerset. He played every game with a pipe in his mouth but never lit it.
1932 Harry Gregg, Northern Ireland and Manchester United goalkeeper, survivor of Munich air disaster.
1939 John Cleese, English actor and comedian.

[Raybosailor]

28th. October.

1216 Henry III was crowned. His son was England's warrior king, Edward I.

1492 Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba on his first voyage to the New World.

1664 The Royal Marines, was established. It was originally known as The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot.

1831 English physicist Michael Faraday demonstrated the dynamo, founding the science of electro-magnetism.

1948 Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.

1949 The glove puppet Sooty,with Harry Corbett, made his first appearance on BBC TV.

2014 Tesco's Aberystwyth store made a blunder on a Welsh sign which was supposed to advertise 'free money' from the supermarket's cashpoint. The sign read "codiad am ddim", meaning free erections when it should read "arian am ddim" which means free money.

Births
1930 Bernie Ecclestone,He is the chief executive of the Formula One Group that runs the F1 circuit.
1938 David Dimbleby, English journalist.
1941 Hank Marvin,lead guitarist of 'The Shadows'.
1945 Wayne Fontana, best known for the 1965 hit "Game of Love" with the Mindbenders.
1955 – Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.

[Frank Manning]

In 1939, the Graf Spee met with its supply ship Altmark near Tristan da Cunha refuelling and transferring her prisoners to Altmark. She then set sail for the Indian Ocean in search of grain and wool ships homeward bound from Australia.

[oldbluefox]

1973 – Austin Healey, English rugby player.

I always thought his parents must have had a wry sense of humour.
Great player though!!!

[Silver_Shiney]

Didn't he play for Rovers?

[Raybosailor]

29th. October.

1618 Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England, Raleigh was executed in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster and his embalmed head was presented to his wife who kept it in a velvet bag until her death.

1863 Eighteen countries meet in Geneva and agree to form the International Red Cross.

1969 The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet which was not available to the public for many years. In the 1980s, research at CERN in Switzerland by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee resulted in the World Wide Web which we all use today.

1986 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the last stretch of the M25 motorway.

2015 China announces the end of One Child Policy after 35 years.

Births
1897 Billy Walker, English footballer and manager, he played 531 games for Aston Villa scoring 244 goals and as a manager won the F.A. Cup with Sheffield Wednesday (1935) and my own team Nottingham Forest (1959) after beating his former team Aston Villa in the semi final at Hillsborough (I was there).
1935 Eddie Hopkinson, English goalkeeper who played 578 games for Bolton Wanderers and 14 for England, he won an F.A. Cup winners medal in 1958 keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United (2-0).
1943 Norman Hunter, Leeds and England footballer one of the 1966 World Cup squad.
1974 Michael Vaughan, English cricketer.

[Raybosailor]

Footnote to Billy Walker, a true gentleman.
During the F.A. cup run of Forest in 1959 my cousin and I went to every game up to the semi final but we did not get a ticket for the final. We even played truant from school to cycle to Leicester for the 5th round second replay against Birmingham and I received six of the best at school the next day.
A few weeks after the final my dad was doing some building work at Billy Walkers house in Wilford so I went with him one morning and told my story to Mr. Walker, he instructed my dad to take me to the ground where I met all the team and had my photo taken with the cup and team and was given a cup final programme signed by him and the team.

He sadly passed away four years later.

[CaroleF]

What a lovely tale Ray, as you say a real Gentleman.

[Raybosailor]

30th. October.

1485 King Henry VII of England is crowned, he was the first monarch from the House of Tudor.

1925 John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.

1942 Three British Royal Navy personel Lt. Tony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and canteen assistant Tommy Brown from HMS Petard boarded the sinking German submarine U-559, and retrieved vital instruments and documentation which would later lead the Bletchley Park codebreakers to crack the German Enigma code. Brown was the only one of the three to survive when the submarine sank. All three received the George Cross Medal and Tommy Brown (aged 16 and too young to be at sea at the time ) is the youngest person to have ever received that award.Tommy Brown wasn't the only sailor too young to be at sea as many young men lied about their age (my dad was one of them) and the Navy didn't ask too many questions when recruiting.

1944 Anne and Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they die from disease the following year, shortly before the end of WWII.

1960 Michael Woodruff surgeon, performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Births
1893 Charles Atlas, Italian-American bodybuilder.
1935 Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter.
1941 Bob Wilson, goalkeeper who played over 300 games for Arsenal.
1962 Courtney Walsh, Jamaican cricketer.

[Raybosailor]

31st. October.

1888 Scottish inventor John Boyd Dunlop patented pneumatic bicycle tyres.

1903 Hampden Park football ground - Glasgow, was opened.

1915 For the first time during World War I, British troops wore steel helmets.

1941 A fire in a clothing factory in Huddersfield, Yorkshire killed 49.

1951 Zebra crossings came into use for the first time in Britain.

2008 Officials asked for the Welsh translation of a bilingual road sign which in English read "No entry for heavy goods vehicles" "Residential site only". When the automatic e-mail came back from Swansea council it read "Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu" and this was duly printed on the road sign. Only later was it discovered that the Welsh part of the sign said "I am not in the office at the moment send any work to be translated."

Births
1795 John Keats, English poet.
1828 The birth of Sir Joseph Swan, English chemist and inventor. Both he and Edison were separately credited with the invention of the electric lamp. Edison was first, but his had a much shorter life and was therefore not practical. His house in Gateshead was the first in the world to be lit by light bulb.
1847 Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer who pioneered AC power (alternating current) circuits.
1939 Tom O'Connor, English actor and game show host.

[Raybosailor]

1st. November.

1512 The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1604 William Shakespeare's "Othello" is performed for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London, on the same day in 1611 his play "The Tempest" is performed for the first time, at Whitehall Palace.

1755 In Portugal, Lisbon is totally devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, the death toll was estimated to be between 60,000 and 90,000 people.

1911 The first Woman's Weekly magazine was published in Britain.

1922 The first radio licences went on sale in Britain at a cost of ten shillings (50p).

1945 It was announced that German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler had committed suicide in Berlin.

1956 Premium Bonds first went on sale in Britain with the winning numbers picked at random by a machine with the acronym 'ERNIE'. The first Premium Bond was bought by the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir Cuthbert Ackroyd.

1959 The first stretch of the M1 motorway linking London with the North of England was opened.

1981 Antigua and Barbuda gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Births
1762 Spencer Perceval who was later assassinated in the House of Commons. To date he is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
1887 L.S. Lowry, English painter, "he painted matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs".
1935 Gary Player, South African golfer.
1962 Sharron Davies, Olympic and Commonwealth Games medalist in swimming.
1963 Mark Hughes,Welsh footballer and manager.

[Raybosailor]

2nd. November.

1871 British police began their Rogues' Gallery, taking photographs of all convicted prisoners.

1896 The first motor insurance policies were issued in Britain, but they excluded damage caused by frightened horses.

1924 The first crossword to appear in a British newspaper was launched by The Sunday Express.

1936 The initiation of the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.

1947 In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose or H-4 The Hercules; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use during World War II, it was not completed in time to be used in the war.

1953 The foundation of the Samaritans, (the world's first crisis hotline organisation), by the Anglican priest Chad Varah, who was born in Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire.

1954 The comedy series 'Hancock's Half Hour' was first broadcast on BBC Radio, I never get tired of listening to or watching Hancock's sketches, the "Blood Donor" being my favourite.

1963 Gerry & the Pacemakers reached the number one spot with 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

1964 The first episode of the television soap opera 'Crossroads' was broadcast on ITV, who remembers Meg, Diane and Benny ?, Paul Henry who played Benny used to be one of my sons neighbours in Spain and we often saw him in the local bar, a lovely chap but he hated it if someone called him Benny.

Births
1470 Edward V of England, he was one of the two Princes locked in the Tower of London.
1767 Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, father of Queen Victoria.
1913 Burt Lancaster, American actor.

[Jan Rosser]

"1954 The comedy series 'Hancock's Half Hour' was first broadcast on BBC Radio, I never get tired of listening to or watching Hancock's sketches, the "Blood Donor" being my favourite."

I always think of this sketch when I donate blood - trouble is most of the nursing staff who man the clinic are too young to appreciate the humour

[Raybosailor]

"1954 The comedy series 'Hancock's Half Hour' was first broadcast on BBC Radio, I never get tired of listening to or watching Hancock's sketches, the "Blood Donor" being my favourite."

I always think of this sketch when I donate blood - trouble is most of the nursing staff who man the clinic are too young to appreciate the humour

Same here Jan, I used to tell them to take a bit out of each arm or I'll lose my balance, one young lady spent quite some time trying to explain that my circulatory system would compensate for this and I had to bite my tongue to stop me from laughing.

[Raybosailor]

3rd. October.

1493 Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, the Spanish didn't hold the island for long as it was taken by the French and then by the British.

1534 England's Parliament met and passed an Act of Supremacy which made King Henry VIII head of the English church, a role formerly held by the Pope.

1942 World War II: The Battle of El Alamein. The British Eighth Army, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, broke through the German front line having taken 9000 prisoners and destroyed 300 tanks.

1975 Queen Elizabeth II opened the North Sea pipeline - the first to be built underwater - bringing ashore 400,000 barrels a day to Grangemouth Refinery on the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

1976 The first £100,000 Premium Bond was won, by an anonymous person in Hillingdon.

1978 Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

2002 Lonnie Donegan, singer, musician, and legendary skiffle king, died at the age of 71, his old man wasn't really a dustman but a violinist with the Scottish National Orchestra.

Births
1749 Daniel Rutherford, physician who invented the isolation of nitrogen, uncle to Sir Walter Scott.
1801 Karl Baedeker, German author and publisher, founded the Baedeker travel guides.
1900 Adolf Dassler, German businessman, founded the Adidas sportswear company.
1919 Ludovic Kennedy, Scottish journalist and author who played a major part in the abolition of the death penalty in the UK.
1941 Brian Poole, lead singer of the Tremeloes.
1948 Lulu (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie), Scottish singer-songwriter and actress.

[Raybosailor]

4th. November. Did nobody notice that I put the clocks back a month yesterday ? sorry senior moment.

1677 The future Mary II of England married William, Prince of Orange. They later jointly reigned as William and Mary.

1847 Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.

1890 The Prince of Wales travelled by the underground electric railway from King William Street to the Oval to mark the opening of what is now the City Branch of the Northern Line. It was the first electrified underground railway system.

1922 English explorers Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of King Tutankhamen, in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt. It had been undisturbed since 1337 BC.

1973 The Netherlands experiences the first Car-Free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters.

2008 Barack Obama becomes the first person of African descent to be elected President of the United States.

2012 Reg Dean (from Wirksworth in Derbyshire) who was Britain's oldest man, celebrated his 110th birthday. He attributed his longevity to a 'mysterious medicine' given to him as a youth in India and to being 'a lazy-bones'. He died on 5th January 2013, aged 110 years and 63 days.

Births
1650 William III of England.
1884 Harry Ferguson, Irish engineer who invented the tractor.
1915 Marguerite Patten, author of many cook books (Cheryl has one of her early recipe books in black & white) Marguerite published a pamphlet showing how to manage during food rationing post war.
1950 Nik Powell, English businessman, co-founded Virgin Group with Richard Branson.
1974 Louise Redknapp,singer with "Eternal" wife of Jamie and a fair dancer on Strictly.

[Raybosailor]

5th. November.

1605 Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is arrested,although the plot was led by Robert Catesby and supported by many others Fawkes was the only one found at the scene, two were shot and seven more were taken prisoner to be later executed along with Fawkes.

1909 Woolworths opened its first British store, in Liverpool.

1914 World War I: France and the British Empire declare war on the Ottoman Empire.

1927 Britain’s first automatic traffic lights were installed at Princess Square road junction in Wolverhampton.

1940 HMS Jervis Bay, is sunk by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer , Jervis Bay was originally a merchant cruiser but she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in August 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, and armed with seven 1898-vintage 6 in (150 mm) guns and two 3 in (76 mm) guns of 1894 design. She became the sole escort for the 37 merchant ships of Convoy HX-84 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain which encountered the German battleship, Captain Edward Fegen of the Jervis Bay ordered the convoy to scatter and made straight for the German ship but was out ranged by their 11" guns. This act of bravery enabled the majority of the convoy to escape the attack, Captain Edward Fegen was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1967 At least 40 people were killed and 80 hurt after a train derailed near Hither Green, south-east London. Survivors included Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

1991 Millionaire publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell was found dead at sea, several hours after mysteriously disappearing from his yacht off the Canary Islands.

Births
1911 Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye), American singer, guitarist and cowboy actor, during his tour of the UK he stopped at the Adelphi Hotel on Lime Street in Liverpool where his horse Trigger was seen on the balcony.
1913 Vivien Leigh, British actress.
1935 Lester Piggott, English jockey and trainer.
1947 Peter Noone, best known as Herman of the successful 1960s pop group Herman's Hermits.
1959 Bryan Adams, Canadian singer-songwriter.
1986 Kasper Schmeichel, Danish born goalkeeper currently at "Old Blue Foxy's" team Leicester, the son of Peter Schmeichel he has played for several English clubs including my local side Notts. County where he had a clean sheet record of over 55%.

[Raybosailor]

6th. November.

1429 Henry VI was crowned King of England, seven years after acceding to the throne at the age of eight months. Two years later, in Paris, he was also crowned King of France.

1528 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in the area that would become Texas after he was shipwrecked off the coast of Galveston Island.

1917 In World War I the battle of Passchendaele ends: After three months of fierce fighting, Canadian forces take Passchendaele in Belgium.

1935 The RAF's first monoplane fighter, the 'Hawker Hurricane' made its maiden flight. Although largely overshadowed by the Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, and accounted for 60% of the RAF's air victories.

1944 Plutonium is first produced at the Hanford Atomic Facility and subsequently used in the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

1986 Forty five people died after a Chinook helicopter carrying oil rig workers plunged into the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record.

Births
1851 Charles Dow, American journalist and economist and co founder of Dow-Jones.
1861 James Naismith, Canadian-American physical educator who invented basketball.
1892 Sir John Alcock, English aviator who flew the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1919 with Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown.
1926 Frank Carson, Northern Irish comedian famous for his catchphrases "It's a cracker!" and "It's the way I tell 'em!"
1940 Johnny Giles, Irish footballer and manager.
1951 Nigel Havers, English actor.

[gfwgfw]

Sixty one years since

I woke early at The Strand Palace Hotel London and gazed at the vision of my lovely new wife lying next to me gently purring looking very contented

[gfwgfw]

Sixty one years since

I woke early at The Strand Palace Hotel London and gazed at the vision of my lovely new wife lying next to me gently purring looking very contented

[Raybosailor]

7th. November

1665 – The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published.

1935 The Royal National Institute for the Blind distributed its first Talking Books of players and records to blind & partially sighted people.

[Raybosailor]

8th. November

1745 Charles Edward Stuartinvades England with an army of 5000 that would later participate in the Battle of 1895

While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.

1960 John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century to become the 35th president of the United States.

Births
1847 Bram Stoker, Anglo-Irish author and critic, created Count Dracula
1866 Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin, English businessman, founded the Austin Motor Company

1946 Roy Wood, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

[Raybosailor]

9th. November.

1620 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1907 The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday, it was cut into several clear cut diamonds the largest being the Star of Africa.

1998 Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences.

Births
1841 Edward VII of the United Kingdom.
1880 Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect, designed the red telephone box.
1961 Jill Dando, English journalist (murdered in 1999)

[Onelife]

9th. November.

1620 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1907 The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday, it was cut into several clear cut diamonds the largest being the Star of Africa.

1998 Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences.

Births
1841 Edward VII of the United Kingdom.
1880 Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect, designed the red telephone box.
1961 Jill Dando, English journalist (murdered in 1999)

Hi Ray....and a very sad day for all who knew, loved and respected this beautiful and talented young lady.

Rest in peace Jill.

[Raybosailor]

9th. November.

1620 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1907 The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday, it was cut into several clear cut diamonds the largest being the Star of Africa.

1998 Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences.

Births
1841 Edward VII of the United Kingdom.
1880 Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect, designed the red telephone box.
1961 Jill Dando, English journalist (murdered in 1999)

Hi Ray....and a very sad day for all who knew, loved and respected this beautiful and talented young lady.

Rest in peace Jill.

A real tragedy mate