On This Day

[Altobelli]

29 DECEMBER

1170 Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Ã* Becket, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights, believing they were acting on direct orders from King Henry II. The disgraced knights and their families did a number of penances, one of which was to build a Chantry chapel in the centre of Watchet and the building of St Decuman’s Church, which Richard Brito and Reginald FitzUrse then gave to Wells Cathedral. Their families went on to give land to atone for their relations’ evil deed.

1675 Parliament ordered the closing of all coffee houses on the basis that they were centres of malicious gossip about the Government.

1766 Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor of waterproof clothing (i.e. the Macintosh or simply Mac), was born, in Glasgow. For his various chemical discoveries he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1823.

1809 The birth, in Liverpool, of William (Ewart) Gladstone, four times British Prime Minister. His first election in 1868 allowed him to carry out major reforms. He was elected once more in 1880 and then again in 1866. When his Home Rule Bill was defeated, he resigned, but became Prime Minister, for a fourth term, in 1892. He resigned again two years later, this time when his Home Rule Bill was rejected by the Lords. He died of cancer on 19th May 1898 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

1812 Patrick Bronte married Maria Branwell at St. Oswald's Church in Guiseley, West Yorkshire. A copy of their marriage certificate is to the left of the altar rail in the church. Their four children Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were born at this house in Thornton, West Yorkshire.

1835 The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States

1845 Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union

1852 Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants

1860 HMS Warrior, Britain's first seagoing iron-clad warship, was launched. She froze to the slipway when she was launched during London's coldest winter for 50 years and six tugs were required to haul her into the river. In later years Warrior was saved from being scrapped by the efforts of the Maritime Trust. The restoration took 8 years. Today, the ship is used as a venue for special events, and can be privately hired as a wedding venue.

1890 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, SD

1891 Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio)

1895 The beginning of the Jameson Raid into the Transvaal in South Africa. It was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate workers (known as Uitlanders) but no uprising took place, yet it was an inciting factor in the 2nd Boer War.

1903 French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad & Ubangi-Shari

1918 The Sunday Express was published for the first time.

1928 The birth, in Oldham, of actor Bernard Cribbins, OBE. He has a career spanning over half a century and came to prominence in films in the 1960s. He was also a regular performer on Jackanory on BBC TV between 1966 and 1991. He was Wilfred Mott, companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who and he currently stars as Jack in the series Old Jack's Boat, set in Staithes and broadcast on the CBeebies TV channel.

1930 Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minnesota, to New Orleans

1933 New York Yankees refuses to release Babe Ruth to manage the Cincinnati Reds

1938 The birth, in Bingley, of Harvey Smith, controversial English showjumper. He competed in two Summer Olympics. His best Olympic finish was fourth, in the individual show jumping event at Munich in 1972.

1940 London suffered its most devastating air raid when Germans firebombed the city. Hundreds of fires caused by the exploding bombs engulfed areas of London, but fire fighters showed a valiant indifference to the bombs falling around them and saved much of the city from destruction. The next day, a newspaper photo of St. Paul's Cathedral standing undamaged amid the smoke and flames seemed to symbolize the capital's unconquerable spirit during the Battle of Britain.

1955 Barbra Streisand's 1st recording "You'll Never Know" at age 13

1975 New legislation introducing a woman's right to equal pay and status in the workplace, and in society, came into force in the UK.

1982 Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica

1986 Lord Stockton, the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, died aged 92.

1993 Courtney Love sues doctors for leaking news of her methadone treatment

1997 British journalist Dawn Alford, of the Daily Mirror, who claimed a Cabinet Minister's son had sold her drugs, was arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis, hoisted (as the saying goes) by her own petard!

1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu

2012 Tony Greig, the 66 year old former England Test cricket captain turned commentator died after suffering a heart attack in Sydney. Greig scored 3,599 runs at an average of 40.43, took 141 Test wickets and was named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1975.

2012 Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour de France and an Olympic gold, was knighted in the New Year Honours list. Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey, born in Disley became a dame after taking four gold medals. The most decorated sailor in Olympic history, Ben Ainslie, was also knighted. In all, 78 awards were linked to the 2012 Olympics or Paralympics.

2013 A painting bought for £400 and featured on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow was revealed to be a Van Dyck portrait worth about £400,000. Father Jamie, who runs a retreat house in Whaley Bridge, on the edge of the Peak District, said that he was planning to sell the piece by the 17th Century Flemish artist to buy new church bells.

2014 Christopher Hooson (33) who stole an Android tablet from a Whitley Bay charity shop, only to try and donate it to them eight days later as it did not work, was recognized by staff from his CCTV images. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

2016 US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions


Famous Birthday's

Charles Goodyear
(1800 - 1860)

Andrew Johnson
(1808 - 1875)

1809 William Ewart Gladstone, British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Liberal: 1868-74, 1880-86, 1892-94), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1898)

1920 Syd Dernley, British hangman (1949-54), born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire (d. 1994)

Mary Tyler Moore
(1936 - 2017)

1947 Cozy Powell, England, rock drummer (Jeff Beck Group, Whitesnake, ELP) (d. 1998)

Bernard Cribbins
89th Birthday

Jon Voight
79th Birthday

Ray Thomas, England, rock vocalist (Moody Blues-Nights in White Satin)
76th Birthday

Marianne Faithfull
71st Birthday

Yvonne Elliman
66th Birthday

Aled Jones
47th Birthday

Jude Law
45th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Thomas Becket
(1117 - 1170)



1916 Grigori Rasputin, Russian faith healer/intriguer, murdered at 45

Harold Macmillan
(1894 - 1986)

1995 Lita Grey, second wife of Charlie Chaplin, dies of cancer at 87

2003 Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)

2012 Tony Greig, English cricket captain, all-rounder (1972-77) and commentator, dies from a heart attack at 66

Famous Weddings

1954 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (24) weds Joan Archer

1957 "Steve and Eydie" singer duo Steve Lawrence (22) weds Eydie Gorme (29) at the home of Beldon Katleman in Las Vegas

1984 MLB player Paul O'Neill (21) weds his childhood sweetheart Nevalee Davis in Columbus, Ohio

1984 MLB player Mark McGwire (21) weds Kathlene Hughes

1990 Olympic gymnist Mary Lou Retton weds Shannon Kelley

Famous Divorces

2003 Retired NFL quarterback John Elway (43) divorces first wife Janet Buchan after 18 years of marriage

2006 One Tree Hill actress Sophia Bush (24) divorces actor Chad Michael Murray (25) for the reason of fraud after 5 months of marriage

2006 NBA basketball star Michael Jordan (43) divorces Juanita Vanoy (47) due to irreconcilable differences after 17 years of marriage

[Altobelli]

10 JANUARY

1839 Indian tea was auctioned in Britain for the first time. Previously, only China tea had been available, at great expense. After the introduction of Indian tea, prices fell and tea became so affordable that it was soon the national drink.

1840 Sir Rowland Hill introduced the Penny Post to Britain. Mail was delivered at a standard charge rather than being paid by the recipient. On its first day, 112,000 letters were posted in London alone. Additional note:- The Penny Black public house in Northwich, Cheshire - is a Grade II listed, Tudor style building that was formerly the district's post office.

1863 The first section of the London Underground railway was opened, by Prime Minister Gladstone. It ran from Paddington to Farringdon Street, stopping at seven stations. The trains ran every fifteen minutes.

1901 Oil discovered in Texas

1918 The House of Lords gave its approval to the Representation of the People Bill, which gave woman over the age of 30 the right to vote, as recognition of the contribution made by women defence workers during the First World War. However, women were still not politically equal to men, who could vote from the age of 21. Full electoral equality wouldn't occur until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act of 1928.

1947 Greek steamer "Himara" strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard

1949 RCA introduces 45 RPM record

1979 'Crisis? What Crisis?' Prime Minister James Callaghan flew back into strike-torn Britain denying allegations that the country was in chaos. Callaghan was the only Prime Minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions – Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, prior to becoming Prime Minister.

1985 Eight people died and dozens were injured when an explosion destroyed a block of exclusive flats in south-west London. The blast was compared to a 50lb bomb going off and caused an estimated £250m worth of damage in addition to the loss of life.



1999 "The Sopranos", starring James Gandolfini as mobster Tony Soprano, debuts on HBO

2015 The Falklands commemorated Margaret Thatcher by unveiling a statue of the late Prime Minister who led the 1982 war that kept the island British. (Note - 10th January is Margaret Thatcher Day on the Falklands.)

2016 The death, from liver cancer, of the English singer, songwriter David Bowie, aged 69.

Famous Birthday's

Frank James
(1843 - 1915)

1883 Aleksei Tolstoi, Russian poet/writer (Pjotr Peroyj) (d. 1945)



Gary Parkinson
50th Birthday

1948 Donald Fagen, rock vocalist/keyboardist (Steely Dan-Peg), born in Passaic, New Jersey
70th Birthday

Rod Stewart
73rd Birthday

George Foreman
69th Birthday

Famous Deaths

Samuel Colt
(1814 - 1862)

Roy DeMeo
(1942 - 1983)



1971 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (Chanel), dies at 87

David Bowie
(1947 - 2016)



2017 Clare Hollingworth, British war correspondent who was the first to report on the outbreak of WWII, dies at 105

2018 Tommy Lawrence, Liverpool goalkeeper with 3 Scotland caps, dies aged 77 (b. 1940)

Famous Weddings

1430 Duke Philip the Good marries Isabella of Portugal

1857 Novelist Jules Verne (28) weds Honorine de Viane Morel

1870 Deputy sheriff Wyatt Earp (21) weds Urilla Sutherland in Lamar, Texas

1898 Painter Henri Matisse (28) weds Amélie Noellie Parayre

1936 Actor Burgess Meredith (28) weds actress Margaret Perry (22)

Famous Divorces

1810 French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Empress Joséphine

1936 Actress Mary Pickford (44) divorces actor Douglas Fairbanks (52) after 15 years of marriage

1967 Actor Christopher Plummer (37) divorces columnist Patricia Lewis after nearly 5 years of marriage

1981 Singer James Brown (47) divorces Deidre Jenkins after 10 years of marriage

[Altobelli]

20 JANUARY

1783 Great Britain signed a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).

1850 The opening of the Penny Savings Bank, to encourage thrift amongst the poor.

1936 George V died and was succeeded by Edward VIII who abdicated 325 days later because of his insistence on marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

1983 American gangster Roy DeMeo is found murdered in his car trunk after disappearing a few days earlier

1986 Mrs. Pauline Williams of Luton won her three year fight to prosecute the man who injected her drug addict son with a fatal painkiller. She was the first person to bring a private prosecution for manslaughter to a Crown Court trial.

1986 France and Britain finally decided to undertake the Channel Tunnel project, promising that trains would run under the Channel by 1993. When it eventually opened, on 6th May 1994, it left Eurotunnel with debts of £925m a year later.

1987 The Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy to Lebanon, Terry Waite, was kidnapped in Beirut whilst attempting to win freedom for Western hostages.

1991 The death of Alfred Wainwright, whose books for walkers did much to popularise the Lake District. His ashes are scattered on Haystacks, Cumbria and there is a memorial plaque in nearby Buttermere Church. Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk, starts here at St. Bees in Cumbria and ends here at Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire

1997 Her Majesty's Royal Yacht Britannia began her final voyage, to Hong Kong, before being decommissioned. She is now based in Edinburgh, as a visitor attraction.

2009 Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president

2014 Dr. Michael Ramscar and a team of scientists suggested that the brains of older people only appear to slow down because they have so much information to compute, much like a full-up hard drive. “The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.�

2015 A six-day-old baby became Britain's youngest organ donor when her kidneys were transplanted into a patient with renal failure, and liver cells were transfused into a second recipient.

2017 Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America and Mike Pence as the 48th Vice President

Famous Birthday's

Joy Adamson
(1910 - 1980)

Patricia Neal
(1926 - 2010)



Buzz Aldrin
88th Birthday

Gary Barlow
47th Birthday

Famous Weddings

1382 King Richard II of England marries Anne of Bohemia and daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor at Westminster Abbey. Anne died of plague in 1394.

1800 Napoleon I's sister Carolina marries King Joachim Murat of Naples

1968 Actress Sharon Tate (24) weds actor/director Roman Polanski (34) in Chelsea, London

2001 "Fast Lane" actor Peter Facinelli (27) weds actress and director Jennie Garth (28) at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montecito, California

Famous Deaths

1900 John Ruskin, English writer (Dearest Mama Talbot), dies of flu at 81



George V
(1865 - 1936)



1990 Barbara Stanwyck, [Ruby Stevens], actress (Big Valley), dies at 82



Audrey Hepburn
(1929 - 1993)

1994 Matt Busby, Scottish soccer coach (Manchester United), dies at 84

[Altobelli]

07 FEBRUARY

1812 Charles Dickens, English journalist and novelist was born. He is considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. He created characters such as Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby and David Copperfield and amongst his other works were The Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Bleak House and many, many more.

1837 The birth of Sir James Murray, Scottish lexicographer. He was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until his death.

1863 185 British sailors were killed when HMS Orpheus was wrecked off the coast of New Zealand.

1886 While building a cottage for a prospector in the Transvaal, South Africa, an Englishman, George Walker, found a clear streak of gold. It became the richest gold reef in the world.

1873 The birth, in County Down, of Thomas Andrews. Andrews was the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic. He was travelling on board the Titanic during its maiden voyage when it hit an iceberg on 14th April 1912 and was one of the 1,517 people who perished in the disaster. Titanic's engineers, who battled below decks to try and keep Titanic afloat are commemorated on this monument in Southampton.

1937 Britain's first dive-bomber, the prototype B-24 Skua, made its maiden flight over Yorkshire, piloted by Dasher Blake.

1964 The Beatles pop group arrived in New York at the start of their first tour of the United States.

1964 Cassius Clay converts to Islam, and is renamed Muhammad Ali

1974 Prime Minister Edward Heath announced a general election and appealed to the miners to suspend their planned strike.

1974 The island of Grenada, in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, gained independence from Britain.

1976 Joan Bazeley became the first woman to referee a men's football match and Diana Thorne became the first woman jockey to win under National Hunt Rules (on ‘Ben Ruler’ at Stratford).

1991 Prime Minister John Major and senior Cabinet Ministers escaped unhurt during an apparent assassination attempt, when the IRA fired three mortar shells at 10 Downing Street from a van parked several streets away in the centre of London.

1992 The European Union was formed.

1994 It was reported that 13.1 million television viewers watched British boxer Chris Eubank beat German Graciano Rocchigiani in Berlin. It was the most watched programme of the year.

1995 Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Graham Gooch & Mike Gatting

2005 Britain's Ellen MacArthur (born 8th July 1976) became the fastest person to sail solo around the world. Two months after her amazing feat she also became the youngest person to receive a damehood.

2006 The completion, in Cardiff Bay, of The Senedd. It the main public building of the National Assembly, the main centre for democracy and devolution in Wales.

2015 Printing blocks from a typeface called 'Doves Type' were discovered in the River Thames. The font has not been used for nearly a century as the printing type blocks, used to print letters, were thrown into the river in 1917.

Famous Birthday's



Charles Dickens
(1812 - 1870)



1946 Pete Postlethwaite, actor (d. 2011)

Eddie Izzard
56th Birthday

Garth Brooks
56th Birthday

Ashton Kutcher
40th Birthday

Famous Weddings

1901 Queen Wilhelmina marries Prince Heinrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin

1925 Heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (29) weds actress Estelle Taylor (30)

1931 Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (33) weds publisher George Palmer Putnam (43) in Noank, Connecticut

1988 Heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson marries actress Robin Givens

2009 Actress and skating champ Kristy Swanson (39) weds 1993 World Pair Skater Champion Lloyd Eisler (45) at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California

Famous Deaths



Harvey Firestone
(1868 - 1938)



1985 Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1932)

Anne Morrow Lindbergh
(1906 - 2001)

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