On This Day

[Frank Manning]

On this day 7th October;
1849 Edgar Allan Poe died as a result of long term alcoholism. He wrote such charming little ditties as, The Pit and the Pendulum, and Casting the Runes. Which my headmaster at Wolverton Tech delighted in choosing as English Literature books; a closet sadist I reckon.

1913 Henry Ford set up a moving assembly line for his Model T

1938 The S S Aslea (1929, 4222 gross tons liffside Shipping Co.) became the third victim of the Graf Spee. After taking some of her cargo of sugar her crew were transferred to the Newton Beech, and she was sunk.

1940 The Hoagy Carmichael song 'Stardust' was recorded by Artie Shaw. The Nat King Cole version is one of my all time favourites, and Glen Miller did a fabulous arrangement of it.

1944 A serious prisoner uprising at Birkenau concentration camp/

1957 A large fire at Windscale cause pollution of radioactive Iodine, and Polonium to spread over N W England and the Irish sea. They estimate that between 50 and 1000cancers in the area were attributable. So now we have a French / Chinese reactor being built, it beggars belief.

1959 There was a serious fire on Southend pier.

1985 4 Palestinians hijacked the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro.

Birthdays;
1885 Nils Bohr a founder of quantum theroy
1900 Heinrich Himmler (Herr Otto Flick's godfather)
1931 Desmond Tutu
1952 Vladimir Putin (Ah bless!)
1955 Yo Yo Ma cellist
1959 Simon Cowell

There you go folks, sorry it's late but domestic interference and all that.

[qbman1]

I'm sure you look lovely in your Marigolds, Frank !!

[Frank Manning]

I'm sure you look lovely in your Marigolds, Frank !!

I dont wear them QB, they're for cissies. I go bareback, otherwise cleaning in marigolds is like eating a sweet with the wrapper on.

I've been told that I have to tidy dust and sweep the study (aka 4th bedroom) today. So far I have spread papers for filing all over the floor just inside the door, to stop Sue getting in here, and I have been researching for tomorrows 'On this day'. It is the anniversary of the Harrow and Wealdstone train crash which I remember being horrified by as a boy. Especially as our nice class teacher Mr Aldridge had to come by train and was late that day.

TODAY is the 70th anniversary of the first Womans Hour on BBC.....not my programme I'm afraid.

[qbman1]

A real man, Frank - cleaning commando !

[Ranchi]

Wasn't born when the train crash occurred, Frank but do remember the pub above the station which was an early stomping ground for The Who, as the barman told me time after time when I visited in the late 70s.

[Frank Manning]

Apologies to

Clive James 77 today 7th October, not very well unfortunately.
and, Jermaine Defoe.

On to tomorrow, a bit early I know but I dont know what I will be programmed for tomorrow.
On this day 8th October;

1871 The great Chicago Fire, thousands made homeless.

1897 The Wall Street Journal of Charles Henry Dow, began publishing stocks and shares prices and movements.

1939 The Graf Spee took all the prisoners off the Newton Beech and sank her.

1952 Harrow and Wealdstone train crash. The Perth to London sleeper pulled by the Stanier pacific ‘City of Glasgow’ passed two danger signals in fog and at speed and crashed into the back of a stationary commuter train which had been switched to the up fast line. The rear three coaches of the commuter were telescoped into the length of one with terrible casualties. The Driver and Fireman of the Perth train were killed as the tender and front coaches of the Perth train rode up on top of their engine. Moments later a double headed Euston to Liverpool express also travelling at speed struck the wreckage and rode up onto the platform killing some of its passengers and several people waiting on the platform. The two engines of the Liverpool train Stanier jubilee class ‘Windward Islands’ and Stanier pacific ‘Princess Anne’ were totally wrecked and the driver of Windward Islands was killed. There 112 deaths, including 64 on the commuter train,3 on the Perth sleeper and 7 on the Liverpool train.
1957 Jerry Lee Lewis recorded ‘Great Balls of Fire’.
1967 Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia
1982 The musical ‘Cats’ opened on Broadway and ran for 18 years.
1987 An inquest jury found that those killed in the Herald of Free Enterprise loss were ‘unlawfully killed’.
1990 The first full day of the £ pound being in the ERM. (That stifled the exports of my organisation by making our products too expensive).
1991 Croatia voted to sever ties with Serbia; Yugoslavia.
2001 George W Bush set up the Office of Homeland Security.

Birthdays;
1895 Juan Peron.
1938 Fred Stolle.
1939 Paul Hogan.
1941 Jesse Jackson.
1943 Chevy Chase.
1949 Sigourney Weaver. Looking stunning in a photo in The Times today.
1955 Stephanie Zimbalist.
1970 Matt Damon.
1985 Bruno Mars.

[Frank Manning]

Come back Raybo, all is forgiven!!

[colin parry]

You are doing a sterling job Frank. Many thanks from all your readers!

[Silver_Shiney]

Very happy to second that

[Raybosailor]

Thanks to Frank and Cubie for their very interesting trivia while I was away in sunny Italy and thanks also to other contributors who posted and please keep your pockets of information and memories coming.

[Raybosailor]

9th October.

2016 Exciting news about your Euro Millions ticket !!!
Yes Raybo you have won £2.30 in the draw for Friday 7th. October 2016.
Yebut nobut the ticket cost £2.50 ??, now I only went to The Billy Blunt Acadamy for dosy beggers but a £2.30 win from a £2.50 ticket equates to a loss in my book.

The email should have read " We only stung you for 20p this time Ray".

[Frank Manning]

Welcome home Ray. I hope you had a good holiday.

[Raybosailor]

1264 The Kingdom of Castile conquers the city of Jerez, which had been under Muslim occupation for over 550 years, the regions fortified wine we know as Sherry dates back to the Phoenicians and is one of the worlds oldest known wines.

1514 The marriage of Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor of England,the third daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Mary was the maternal grandmother of Lady Jane Grey.

1799 HMS Lutine formerly a French ship was sunk in a storm off the West Frisian Islands with the loss of 240 crew and £1,200,000 cargo mainly gold. Lloyd's of London still hold the bell from the ship and it was rung when a ship was lost at sea, it is mainly used on special ceremonies these days.

1834 The opening of the first Irish railway the Dublin and Kingstown Railway.

1913 The SS Volturno catches fire in the mid-Atlantic and sinks, 11 ships went to her rescue after and SOS was made and 520 passengers and crew were saved but unfortunately 136 mainly women and children were lost from the first lifeboats to be launched.

1936 Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to generate electricity for the first time to light up Los Angeles some 266 miles away.

1981 The abolition of capital punishment in France.

2016 The last day of this years Nottingham Goose Fair a huge event that attracts over 400,000 visitors.

Births
1931 Antony Booth, English actor and father of Cherie Blair.
1933 Bill Tidy, English cartoonist, twitcher and Lords Taverner.
1935 Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
1936 Brian Blessed, English actor and chairman of The Friends Of Cromford Canal a charity that Cheryl and I also volunteer for.
1940 Beatle John Lennon, needs no introducing.
1955 Steve Ovett, English Olympic runner and sportscaster.
1966 David Cameron, ex Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

[Raybosailor]

Welcome home Ray. I hope you had a good holiday.

Yes we had a lovely time Frank thank you, the weather was very kind to us as the sun shone every day but there were a couple of violent thunderstorms which fortunately happened at night.

When I read your comment about the underground volcanoes under Naples this morning it made me think "was that really the Metro arriving at Piazza Vanvitelli under our apartment or the volcanoes rumbling ?".

[Frank Manning]

1779 Luddite riots begin in Manchester. ( I didn't realise that the RMT union was that old)

1941 President Roosevelt asked Congress to approve the arming of U.S. Merchant ships.

1949 The Harvard Law School admits women for the first time.

1959 The Tories under Supermac won a third consecutive term in government.

In 1903 Jacques Tati was born.

Sorry Ray I had already done some because I didn't know when you were back.

[Raybosailor]

1779 Luddite riots begin in Manchester. ( I didn't realise that the RMT union was that old)

1941 President Roosevelt asked Congress to approve the arming of U.S. Merchant ships.

1949 The Harvard Law School admits women for the first time.

1959 The Tories under Supermac won a third consecutive term in government.

In 1903 Jacques Tati was born.

Sorry Ray I had already done some because I didn't know when you were back.

On the contrary Frank please keep posting we all like to read your posts especially the maritime history, same goes for Cubie and other contributors the more the merrier.
The Luddites were very active in the Nottinghamshire area when they smashed the framework knitting machines up, some were hanged at Weekday Cross which still remains and others were transported.
There are two museums in Nottingham, one at Wollaton Hall and the other in Ruddington that have framework knitting artefacts in them.

[Raybosailor]

If anyone ever comes to Nottingham the Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall is well worth a visit it contains a lot of information and displays of Nottingham's Lace and Textile history, it even contains a 'Beam Warping Mill' that I actually worked on as a 15 year old.
I offered to volunteer as a guide in the lace section for no reward but they declined my offer, on a further visit I met a young guy who was paid a decent salary to do the job but he hadn't a clue about the workings of the mill just a degree in Sociology.

[Frank Manning]

On the 9th October 1913, Volturno, on route from Rotterdam to New York carrying immigrants, caught fire at 49.12N 34.51W in the North Atlantic. There was a gale blowing and a heavy swell. The crew attempted to fight the fire for about two hours, but, eventually Captain Francis Inch had his wireless operator send out SOS signals. Eleven ships responded to the calls, arriving throughout the day and into the next. Several of Volturno’s lifeboats with women and children aboard were launched with tragic results; all the boats either capsized or were smashed by the hull of the heaving ship, leaving no one alive from these first boats.

There is a quite comprehensive web site for anyone interested. Fire at sea is as bad as it gets. Modern cruise ships have extensive fire detection and suppression systems, but it is still a very dangerous scenario, and as this example shows, launching and loading life boats in any sort of swell is very hazardous.

[Raybosailor]

There is a lot of controversy about The Luddites, when and where they were formed differs from region to region. In the East Midlands the story reads that a person called Edward Ludlam (nicknamed Ned Ludd) a weaver of Anstey, Leicesterhire smashed two knitting frames in a fit of rage in 1779. From this it is thought that every time a frame was vandalised they blamed it on Ned Ludd later named as General Ludd leader of the Luddites. The Luddites of Nottingham destroyed most of the frames in the county and several were transported for life. Below is a local folk song about the Luddites.

General Ludd's Triumph

Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood,
His feats I but little admire
I will sing the Atchievements of General Ludd
Now the Hero of Nottinghamshire
Brave Ludd was to measures of violence unused
Till his sufferings became so severe
That at last to defend his own Interest he rous'd
And for the great work did prepare

Now by force unsubdued, and by threats undismay'd
Death itself can't his ardour repress
The presence of Armies can't make him afraid
Nor impede his career of success
Whilst the news of his conquests is spread far and near
How his Enemies take the alarm
His courage, his fortitude, strikes them with fear
For they dread his Omnipotent Arm!

The guilty may fear, but no vengeance he aims
At [the] honest man's life or Estate
His wrath is entirely confined to wide frames
And to those that old prices abate
These Engines of mischief were sentenced to die
By unanimous vote of the Trade
And Ludd who can all opposition defy
Was the grand Executioner made

And when in the work of destruction employed
He himself to no method confines
By fire and by water he gets them destroyed
For the Elements aid his designs
Whether guarded by Soldiers along the Highway
Or closely secured in the room
He shivers them up both by night and by day
And nothing can soften their doom

He may censure great Ludd's disrespect for the Laws
Who ne'er for a moment reflects
That foul Imposition alone was the cause
Which produced these unhappy effects
Let the haughty no longer the humble oppress
Then shall Ludd sheath his conquering Sword
His grievances instantly meet with redress
Then peace will be quickly restored

Let the wise and the great lend their aid and advice
Nor e'er their assistance withdraw
Till full fashioned work at the old fashioned price
Is established by Custom and Law
Then the Trade when this arduous contest is o'er
Shall raise in full splendour its head
And colting and cutting and squaring no more
Shall deprive honest workmen of bread.

[Raybosailor]

10th. October.

1881 The Savoy Theatre, which was the first public building to be lit by electricity, opened.

1903 The Women's Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester.

1928 George V opened the Tyne Bridge. It contained Britain's largest steel arch.

1961 The entire population of Tristan da Cunha was evacuated to Britain following a volcanic eruption.

1971 London Bridge which was dismantled and sold to America reopens in Arizona.

1975 Elizabeth Taylor got married for the 6th time when she re-married Richard Burton.

Births
1731 Henry Cavendish, Chemist who discovered hydrogen.
1813 Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer.
1877 William Morris, car manufacturer.
1923 Nicholas Parsons, English actor and game show host.
1923 Murray Walker, motor sports commentator who also created advertising slogans such as "Trill makes budgies bounce with health" and "Opal Fruits made to make your mouth water".
1936 Judith Chalmers, English television host and actress.
1946 Chris Tarrant, English radio and television host.
1964 Sarah Lancashire, English actress and director.

[qbman1]

If anyone ever comes to Nottingham the Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall is well worth a visit it contains a lot of information and displays of Nottingham's Lace and Textile history, it even contains a 'Beam Warping Mill' that I actually worked on as a 15 year old.
I offered to volunteer as a guide in the lace section for no reward but they declined my offer, on a further visit I met a young guy who was paid a decent salary to do the job but he hadn't a clue about the workings of the mill just a degree in Sociology.

I'll be in Oxton on Saturday but I hope you'll forgive me if I give the Beam Warping Mill a miss, Raymondo

[qbman1]

Welcome home Ray. I hope you had a good holiday.

Yes we had a lovely time Frank thank you, the weather was very kind to us as the sun shone every day but there were a couple of violent thunderstorms which fortunately happened at night.

When I read your comment about the underground volcanoes under Naples this morning it made me think "was that really the Metro arriving at Piazza Vanvitelli under our apartment or the volcanoes rumbling ?".

You'll be able to go off again with your EuroMillions winnings Raymondo !

[Raybosailor]

A place close to my heart Cubie, I used to go to The Green Dragon in Oxton regularly on a Saturday night. They used to play darts for money and at the end of the night there used to be a game of killer where everyone in the pub chucked a shilling in.
It was winner takes all and if you won it paid for your night out.

[qbman1]

There are some seriously expensive-looking houses around there Raymondo - those games of killer must be how they made all their money !

[Raybosailor]

There are some seriously expensive-looking houses around there Raymondo - those games of killer must be how they made all their money !

There used to be a few racehorse trainers in that area Cubie so I suppose that was more lucrative than a weekly game of killer.

Oxton is just a stones throw from Calverton said to be the birthplace of William Lee the inventor of the Stocking Frame and of course there is Southwell the other way with its Minster and Racecourse, it is also the origin of the 'Bramley Apple' too.