On This Day

[Frank Manning]

Sue's and my thoughts are with you SS, it's very emotional waving your children good bye.

[Silver_Shiney]

Thank you, Frank

[Raybosailor]

10th. August.

1675 King Charles II laid the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. The observatory was built to provide English navigators with accurate tables of the positions of the moon and stars.

1842 Britain passed the Mines Act - forbidding women and children from working underground.

1889 The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.

1895 The first Promenade Concert (The Proms) was held at the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Henry Wood.

1897 The founding the the RAC - the Royal Automobile Club - originally known as the Automobile Club of Great Britain.

1961 Britain applied for membership of the EEC - the European Economic Community.

2003 The temperature in Britain exceeded 100° F for the first time when 101.3 °F (38.5 °C) was recorded in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham, Kent.

Births
1966 Charlie Dimmock, TV gardener was born.
1972 Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio, English rugby union player was born in Shepherd's Bush.
1933 Keith Duckworth , mechanical engineer famous for designing the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One motor racing was born in Blackburn.

[Raybosailor]

11th. August

1909 The first recorded use of the new emergency wireless signal SOS.

1942 Barnes Wallis patented his 'bouncing bomb', used successfully to destroy German dams in the 2nd World War

1971 The Prime Minister, Edward Heath, steered the British yachting team to victory in the Admiral's Cup.

1975 The Government took ownership of British Leyland, the only major British-owned car company.

Birthdays
1873 Bertram Mills, British circus proprietor, was born.
1897 Enid Blyton, English author (also known as Mary Pollock) born in East Dulwich,

[Raybosailor]

12th. August.

1848 The death of George Stephenson English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives.

1851 The Hundred Guinea Cup was offered to the winner of a yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It was won by the US schooner 'America', and the trophy became 'the America's Cup'.

1944 The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) supplying fuel across the English Channel to the Allied forces in France, went into operation from the Isle of Wight. It could transfer up to 700 tons of fuel a day.

1964 The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.



Births
1762 King George IV was born.
1801 John Cadbury, was a Quaker born in Birmingham and founded the Cadbury chocolate empire.
1925 Norris Dewar McWhirter, who along with brother Ross wrote the 'Guinness Book Of Records'
1949 Mark Knopfler, Musician (Dire Straits)
1971 Pete Sampras, Tennis player

[Happydays]

My Daughter was born!

[Silver_Shiney]

Happy birthday to the Happydaysette

[Happydays]

I'm happy, she is coming for a visit next month from Guatemala:)

[Raybosailor]

Happy birthday to your daughter and I suppose it will be really Happydays when she comes home.

[Raybosailor]

13th. August.
1908 The famous singer Enrico Caruso was fond of posing in his many motor cars but never learned to drive. On 13th August 1908, in London, his wife Ada Giachetti eloped with their chauffeur.

1910 The death of Florence Nightingale, English nurse who was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" by Crimean soldiers.

1964 The last hangings in Britain took place when two men,Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, a laundry van driver from Seaton, Cumbria. Evans was hanged at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8:00 a.m. and at exactly the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.




Birthdays
1899 Alfred Hitchcock, director of suspense and thriller films was born in Leytonstone.
1913 The birth of Fred Davis, English professional snooker and billiards player in Chesterfield.
1930 Bernard Manning, saucy comedian was born in Manchester.
1960 Phil "The Power" Taylor, darts player was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.
1970 Alan Shearer, born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne.

[Raybosailor]

14th. August.

1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.

1945 World War II: Following the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.

1967 All UK offshore pirate radio stations were declared illegal when the UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act became law at midnight On This Day, but Radio Caroline continued to broadcast until March 1968.

1979 The Fastnet Race was struck by tragedy when gales and mountainous seas claimed the lives of 15 sailors.

2013 Mark Sutton, the 42 year old British stuntman who parachuted into the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony dressed as James Bond, was killed in a wingsuit flying accident in the Swiss Alps.

Birthdays
1934 Trevor Bannister, actor who played Mr. Lucas in 'Are you Being Served'.
1960 The birth of Sarah Brightman, English soprano and former wife of Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
1955 Gillian Taylforth, actress best known for her role as Kathy in Eastenders.

[Raybosailor]

15th. August.

1939 The Cunard liner Queen Mary recaptured the Blue Riband from the SS Normandie, crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes.

1941 Corporal Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 a.m. making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.

1971 Controversial horse rider Harvey Smith was stripped of his £2,000 winnings and a major show jumping title for allegedly making a rude V-sign gesture.

1987 Caning was officially banned in British schools (excluding independent schools).

2013 Google announced that it was to loan out its Trekker wearable backpack to the Canal & River Trust, who would use it to capture footage of some of most scenic parts of Britain's 200-year old waterway network.

Birthdays
1771 Sir Walter Scott,novelist and poet best known for Ivanhoe and Rob Roy was born in Edinburgh.
1856 James Keir Hardie, Scottish politician. He founded the British Labour Party and was its leader from 1906.
1888 T.E. Lawrence, Welsh soldier and writer known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
1950 Princess Anne, Princess Royal was born.

[qbman1]

14th. August.

1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.

...and it's still blocked !

[Frank Manning]

Hi Raybo; great train robbery was between Leighton Buzzard and Cheddington stations. We were married that year, and living in Leighton Buzzard.

That's right Frank, it was actually at Ledburn about 15 minutes drive from my aunts house in Bletchley.

I used to cycle out to Ledburn when I was a boy (on my second hand Hercules with no gears), took my driving test in Bletchley, and spent many hours on Bletchley station on my way home from school in Wolverton; steam trains in those days, and Stainier Duchesses pulling the Mid Day Scot through the station as we waited for our train home. Happy days!

[Raybosailor]

14th. August.

1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.

...and it's still blocked !

You been there again Cubie ?

[Raybosailor]

16th. August.

1896 Jim Mason (Skookum), George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

1897 Endowed by the sugar merchant Henry Tate, the Tate Gallery, in London, was opened.

1913 The completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary, the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before World War I, although she was launched in March the previous year she was not comleted until 16th August 1913.

1930 The first British Empire Games were opened in Hamilton, Ontario by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon.

1952 Twelve bodies were recovered and 24 people were missing, feared dead, in a flood which swept through Lynmouth in north Devon.

1960 Britain granted independence to Cyprus.

Birthdays.
1928 Eydie Gormé, singer best known for "Blame It on the Bossa Nova".
1939 Sir Trevor McDonald, OBE, newsreader born in Trinidad and Tobago
1958 Madonna, born Madonna Louise Ciccone in Bay City,Mitchigan, USA
1967 Ulrika Jonsson, tv presenter born in Sollentuna, Sweden

[Raybosailor]

17th. August.

1483 The date presumed that two young princes, the uncrowned Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, were killed in the Tower of London.

1869 The first international boat race took place on the River Thames when Oxford beat Harvard.

1989 Electronic tagging was used for the first time in Britain, on Richard Hart, accused of theft.

1896 Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, London, the UK's first pedestrian motoring fatality.

2008 American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.

Births
1957 The birth of Robin Cousins, ice-skater. He was the 1980 Olympic gold medal champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time (1978, 1979 & 1980) World medallist and four-time (1977, 1978, 1979 & 1980) British national champion.
1952 Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver.
1977 Thierry Henry, French footballer

[Raybosailor]

18th. August.

1868 – French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium,(he was talking like Donald Duck for years after).

1941 Britain's National Fire Service was established.

1948 Jockey Lester Piggott, aged 12, rode his first winner on only his seventh ride.

1962 Ringo Starr joined The Beatles - Lennon, McCartney and Harrison - as drummer, and made his debut with them at the horticultural society dance in Birkenhead.

1967 The liner Queen Mary was sold to the Southern Californian town of Long Beach.

1989 Manchester United Football Club was sold for £20m in the biggest takeover deal in the history of British football at the time.

Birthdays
1952 Patrick Swayze of 'Dirty Dancing' fame, born in Houston, Texas
1936 Robert Redford, born in Santa Monica, California.

[qbman1]

18th. August.


1948 Jockey Lester Piggott, aged 12, rode his first winner on only his seventh ride.

Just as an aside, anyone know who was the only 18 stone man to have ridden a Derby winner?




It was Lester Piggott's cell-mate !

[Raybosailor]

18th. August.


1948 Jockey Lester Piggott, aged 12, rode his first winner on only his seventh ride.

Just as an aside, anyone know who was the only 18 stone man to have ridden a Derby winner?




It was Lester Piggott's cell-mate !

[Raybosailor]

Nice to know you are still in the saddle Cubie

[Raybosailor]

19th. August.

1879 The laying of the foundation stone for the Eddystone Lighthouse.

1970 The 1000th episode of Coronation Street was broadcast.

1989 The offshore, North Sea pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, was raided and silenced by the British and Dutch governments. However broadcasts resumed on 1st October of that year and continued on low/moderate power until fuel for the generator ran out on 6th November 1990. Radio Caroline currently broadcasts 24 hours a day via the Eutelsat satellite and Internet radio.

Birthdays
1631 John Dryden, English poet was born. He was the first official Poet Laureate of Great Britain.
1808 James Hall Nasmyth, engineer who invented the steam hammer one of which was used to forge the steel for the building of the Great Western Company's 'S S Great Britain'.
1871 Orville Wright, American engineer and pilot who with his brother Wilbur were the pioneers of flight.
1883 Coco Chanel, French fashion designer.
1939 Ginger Baker, in my opinion one of the best drummers of his time with bands Cream and Blind Faith.
1942 Peter Grummitt, goalkeeper who played 352 senior appearances for Forest before transferring to Sheffield Wednesday in 1970.
1943 Billy J. Kramer (born William Howard Ashton) in Bootle, Liverpool, 60's pop idol.

[Raybosailor]

20th. August

1912 The death of William Booth, British founder of the Salvation Army.

1913 Harry Brearley of Sheffield cast the first stainless steel.

1940 World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes the fourth of his famous wartime speeches, containing the line "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"

1989 In London, the pleasure cruiser Marchioness was hit by a dredger, the Bowbelle, on the River Thames - 51 people attending a party on the boat were killed.

Birthdays
1971 The birth of David Walliams (born Williams), the English comedian.
1979 Jamie Cullum, English singer-songwriter and pianist.
1989 Judd Trump, English snooker player

[qbman1]

Bet you all wondered what had happened to this regular daily mine of information! Raimondo is away for a few days but never fear, I am happy to step into the void (albeit 3 days late!)


23rd August

1305 Scottish patriot William Wallace was hanged, beheaded, and quartered in London, and his body parts were later displayed in different cities. His barbaric murder came as a result of Wallace's efforts to free Scotland from the occupying English forces. The 1995 movie Braveheart was based on Wallace's life. The National Wallace Monument (see picture) is on the outskirts of Stirling.

1617 The first one-way streets were introduced in London.

1839 Britain captured Hong Kong as a base as it prepared for war with China. The ensuing 3 year conflict was later to be known as the First Opium War.

1938 England's Test cricketer Len Hutton scored what was then a new world record test score of 364 against Australia at the Oval.

1962 John Lennon, founder-member of The Beatles, married his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.

1965 Security guards at a Manchester TV Studio hosed down 200 Rolling Stones fans who broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive for a performance.

1977 New, smaller pound notes, were introduced into the UK.



Normal service will be resumed shortly!

[Raybosailor]

Thanks Cubie for your interesting input and for stepping into the void as you say, I had to go away at short notice. Can I remind everyone that the topic is open for anyone to post up their own trivia, days they remember or amusing events from the past.