On this day

[K.H]

 

565 St. Columba reported seeing a monster in Loch Ness. It was the first reported sighting of the monster. The loch is Scotland's second largest loch by surface area after Loch Lomond, but, due to its great depth, it is the largest by volume.

1138 The English defeated the Scots at Cowton Moor. Banners of various saints were carried into battle, which led to its being called the Battle of the Standard.

1485 Richard III of England was defeated and killed at The Battle of Bosworth Field, (see also plaque close up) in the last of the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York. He was the last English king to die in battle.

1642 The English Civil War began, between the supporters of Charles I (Cavaliers) and of Parliament (Roundheads), when the king called the English Parliament traitors and raised his standard at Nottingham.

1780 James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returned to England; Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage.

1788 The British settlement in Sierra Leone was founded, the purpose of which was to secure a home in Africa for freed slaves.

1922 Irish republican Michael Collins, the founder of Sinn Fein, was assassinated by extremist republicans in County Cork.

1925 The birth of Honor Blackman, English actress best known for her role of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and as the Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964).

1932 The BBC began its first experiments with television broadcasting.

1957 The birth of Steve Davis, professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years.

1962 The first live TV appearance of the Beatles was recorded by Granada, in a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club, Liverpool.

1963 William Richard Morris, British car manufacturer died.

1985 Following an aborted take-off, a Boeing 737 burst into flames on the runway at Manchester Airport, killing 55 people.

1986 Deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester police John Stalker was cleared of misconduct. It had been alleged that he was associating with criminals.

1989 British Telecom launched the world's first mobile phones.They had a very limited operating range that restricted their use to 100 yards from a public base station.

1998 The Republican terrorist group the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) announced a 'complete ceasefire'.

2008 Paedophile and former pop singer Gary Glitter was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register after arriving back in the UK. He had spent 27 months in a Vietnam jail for abusing two girls.

2012 Tony Nicklinson, a man with locked-in syndrome who lost his High Court case on 12th August to allow doctors to end his life, died after refusing food following the Court's judgement.

[Jamesrl]

About bloody time too.

[K.H]

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 is on the outskirts of Stirling.

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

1650 Colonel George Monck of the English Army formed Monck's Regiment of Foot, which later became the Coldstream Guards.

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.

1858 The Round Oak rail accident occurred in Brierley Hill in the Black Country. At the time, the Board of Trade inspector said 'It is decidedly the worst railway accident that has ever occurred in this country.' 14 were killed and 50 injured and the guard, who had six passengers drinking and smoking with him in the rear van was convicted of manslaughter as they had broken the train couplings whilst playing around with the train's brakes. (Note: The worst rail disaster in Britain to date took place at Quintinshill (Gretna Green) in Scotland on 22nd May 1915, killing 227 people and injuring 246.)

1914 World War I: The Battle of Mons - the first major battle of World War I.

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

1940 The German Luftwaffe began night bombing London.

1961 Police launched a murder hunt after a man was found shot dead and his companion seriously wounded in a lay-by in Bedfordshire. Valerie Storie, who survived the shooting, identified James Hanratty as her attacker. Hanratty was convicted of the murder in 1962 and sentenced to death, becoming one of the last people to be hanged in Britain before capital punishment was abolished.

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.

1990 Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein appeared on state television with western hostages, provoking a storm of outrage.

2001 J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter creator) was given the Walpole Medal of Excellence for promoting British Excellence.

2005 Hilary Lister, from Kent, became the first quadriplegic sailor to cross the English Channel. She achieved this by using controls powered by her breath to navigate her boat and made the crossing in six hours thirteen minutes.

2010 Publisher Harper Collins and the BBC began a court battle over a book that revealed the identity of Top Gear's The Stig to be the former Formula Three driver Ben Collins. Henceforth Collins was always referred to by the Top Gear presenters as 'Sacked Stig'.

2012 Former fugitive Asil Nadir (71) was jailed for 10 years for the theft of almost £29m from his Polly Peck empire more than 20 years previously. The company collapsed in 1990 after a Serious Fraud Office investigation.

2013 A Super Puma helicopter crashed off Shetland killed 4 of the 18 on board. In 2012 two helicopters had ditched in the North Sea only six months apart in incidents which were found to be caused by gearbox problems. Super Puma EC 225s were grounded in the wake of the two earlier accidents but were given approval to fly again and services had only resumed on 7th August 2013.

[K.H]

1200 King John of England, signee of the first Magna Carta, married Isabella of Angouleme in Bordeaux Cathedral.

1482 The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.

1662 The second statute of the Act of Uniformity required England to accept the Book of Common Prayer in religious service. Upwards of 2000 clergy refused to comply with the act, and were forced to resign.

1680 The death of Colonel Blood, an Irish adventurer who stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. He had been captured after the theft, but insisted on seeing King Charles II, who pardoned him.

1682 Englishman William Penn, an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, received the area that is now the state of Delaware, and added it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

1759 William Wilberforce, English philanthropist, was born. He campaigned for many important causes, most notably the abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies.

1787 James Wedell, English explorer, was born. He explored the edge of the Antarctic, reaching the most southern point at that time, three degrees below Cook’s furthest journey.

1814 British forces captured Washington DC and set the White House on fire.

1847 Charlotte Brontë, alias Currer Bell, sent her manuscript for Jane Eyre to her London publishers, Smith, Elder & Company.

1875 Matthew Webb (Captain Webb) started his attempt from Dover England to become the first person to swim the English Channel. He reached Calais, France at 10.40 am the following morning, having been in the water for 22 hours.

1903 Graham Sutherland, painter of the tapestry in Coventry Cathedral, was born.

1947 The first Edinburgh Festival was held.

1967 Two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during sweltering London temperatures.

1975 The first ever nude performance in a British opera took place at Glyndebourne.

1981 American Mark Chapman was given a 20 year life sentence for shooting John Lennon - the former member of the British group, The Beatles - in New York.

1985 Five year old John Shorthouse was shot dead in Birmingham after armed officers stormed into his house looking for his father.

1998 Britain, the United States and the Netherlands agreed to put two Libyans on trial for planting the bomb which blew up a Pan Am airliner over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all those on board and several on the ground.

[Tony]

1975 The first ever nude performance in a British opera took place at Glyndebourne.

Bit racey today!  Never has opera appealed so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0sngODIu8

Shh, it's art.

[Jamesrl]

1975 The first ever nude performance in a British opera took place at Glyndebourne.

Bit racey today!  Never has opera appealed so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0sngODIu8

Shh, it's art.

Oi, you kids shouldn't be watching stuff like that. I blame your parents for not keeping you under control whilst you're on the poota.

[K.H]

At least its not two fat birds
(I think that is the non pc term) 

[Tony]

1975 The first ever nude performance in a British opera took place at Glyndebourne.

Bit racey today!  Never has opera appealed so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0sngODIu8

Shh, it's art.

Oi, you kids shouldn't be watching stuff like that. I blame your parents for not keeping you under control whilst you're on the poota.

You're right, there's a risk of tainting us with culture - we should only be watching modern music videos!

[Jamesrl]

1975 The first ever nude performance in a British opera took place at Glyndebourne.

Bit racey today!  Never has opera appealed so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0sngODIu8

Shh, it's art.

Oi, you kids shouldn't be watching stuff like that. I blame your parents for not keeping you under control whilst you're on the poota.

You're right, there's a risk of tainting us with culture - we should only be watching modern music videos!

No no no not the opera, the naughty naked nudy bits, the next thing you'll have 3 kids and won't know what caused'm so close your eyes next time.

[K.H]

1537 The Honourable Artillery Company was formed. It is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior.

1804 Alicia Meynell rode Vingarillo over a four-mile racecourse at York to become the first recorded woman jockey. She was in the lead most of the way against only one other contestant, but lost.

1830 Stephenson’s locomotive 'Northumbrian' took a trial run to prepare for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Actress Fanny Kemble rode on the footplate, the first woman to do so.

1867 The death, aged 75, of the English scientist Michael Faraday. His inventions formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became viable for use in technology.

1917 The Order of the British Empire (OBE), and the Companion of Honour (CH), were awarded for the first time

1919 The world's first international daily air service began between London and Paris.

1928 The opening of the famous Kop End at Liverpool Football Club's ground at Anfield. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War, the word 'Kopje' meaning 'small hill'.

1931 Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government.

1939 Britain and Poland formed a military alliance in which the UK promised to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.

1940 The RAF made the first air raid on Berlin.

1942 The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, was killed in a plane crash during a war mission to Iceland. He was the first member of the Royal family to be killed on active service.

1944 World War II - The Allies liberated Paris.

1986 Britain staged its first street motor race - along roads around the centre of Birmingham.

1988 The first GCSE results were published.

1988 Romanian Chess master Mihai Suba & his son defected to the West during an international tournament in London.

2009 The British Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, broke the existing land speed record by a steam powered vehicle with an average speed of 139.843 mph over two consecutive runs over a measured mile at the Edward's Air Force Base in California, USA.

2009 A man was stabbed in the chest during "large-scale trouble" involving hundreds of fans at West Ham's Carling Cup match against Millwall. Fights were still raging five hours later.

2010 Gareth Williams, 30, an MI6 worker was found in a holdall in the bath at his central London flat. Police believed that he may have been murdered two weeks previously.

[K.H]

55BC Julius Caesar crossed the English Channel for his invasion of Britain.

1346 The English, led by Edward III and his son Edward the Black Prince, won the Battle of Crécy against Philip VI of France. Legend has it, that it was at this battle that the English first used the gesture of holding up two fingers as an insult, as this was how they held their new, and far superior weapon, the longbow.

1676 Sir Robert Walpole was born. He was a Whig politician who became the first Prime Minister. He was also the first Lord of the Treasury and the first Chancellor of the Exchequer.

1819 Prince Albert, (Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) and consort to Queen Victoria, was born in Bavaria. He persuaded Victoria towards more progressive views in some areas, took a keen interest in the arts, and organized the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace.

1936 Over 7,000 people queued to see the first high definition television pictures on sets at the Olympia Radio Show, west London. The pictures were transmitted by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, introduced by Leslie Mitchell, their first announcer.

1942 World War II: The beginning of the Holocaust in western Ukraine. At 2.30 am the German security police evicted Jews from their houses, divided them into groups of 120, packed them in freight cars and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick, along with children, were murdered on the spot.

1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launched a small family car - the 'Mini'.

1959 The Radio Show opened at Earls Court in London, with the appearance of some of the first 'transistor' radios.

1963 Cilla Black made her first major concert appearance at The Odeon Cinema, Southport, on a bill with the Beatles.

1967 The birth of Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Education and Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also an author and former Times journalist who remains on friendly terms with proprietor Rupert Murdoch.

1981 Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett's new world record time was 3:48.40.

1994 A man was given the world's first battery-operated heart in a pioneering operation in Britain.

1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, condemned the previous Conservative Government as 'hopeless' over the issue of the banning of landmines.

2001 It was announced that thousands of patients facing long delays in British hospitals could have the chance to be treated abroad in a Government bid to reduce waiting lists.

2011 The death of John McAleese, British Army soldier and leader of the SAS team that assaulted the Iranian Embassy in London in May 1980 to end the Iranian Embassy siege.

[K.H]

1660 John Milton's books were burned in London, because of the author's attacks on King Charles II.

1784 The first balloon ascent was made in Britain, by James Tytler at Edinburgh.

1877 Birthday of The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls, English motor manufacturer. The Rolls family were substantial landowners and benefactors in and around Monmouth, hence this bronze statue in front of the Shire Hall in Agincourt Square, Monmouth. Rolls was also an aviator, being the first to fly non-stop across the English Channel and back in 1910. He was a keen motorist, and participated in several long-distance races. In 1906 he formed a partnership with Henry Royce to manufacture luxury cars.

1896 The start (and end) of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was the shortest war in world history and lasted for just 38 minutes.

1899 The birth of C.S. Forester, the English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare; his most notable works being the 12 book Horatio Hornblower series and The African Queen.

1900 Britain's first long distance bus service began between London and Leeds. The journey took 2 days!

1950 The BBC transmitted the first ever live television pictures across the Channel.

1966 Francis Chichester began the first solo circumnavigation of the world, when he set out from Plymouth in Gypsy Moth IV.

1967 Brian Epstein died, from an accidental overdose of brandy and barbiturates. He managed The Beatles and worked with Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Fourmost, Billy J. Kramer and Cilla Black.

1976 The Labour MP John Stonehouse resigned following his conviction for theft and fraud

1979 The death of Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip's and the Queen’s cousin (strictly second cousin once removed). The IRA exploded a 50lb, remote-controlled bomb on his boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Lord Mountbatten was a former Admiral of the Fleet, the last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Governor-General of the independent Union of India. He served as Chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date.

1984 The death (aged 69) of Bernard Youens, British character actor, best remembered for his portrayal of the workshy, beer-swilling Stan Ogden in Coronation Street from 1964 until his death.

1995 Giles, British cartoonist died.

1995 The Rugby Union authorities announced that the amateur game was turning professional.

1996 Police at Stansted Airport arrested seven Iraqis who had hijacked a Sudanese jet with 199 people on board to London, where they were seeking political asylum. All were arrested and jailed but their convictions were quashed a year later.

1997 A Cambridgeshire family who sold everything to sail around the world were rescued from their crippled yacht by the Royal Navy in the Bay of Biscay.

[K.H]

1640 The Scots, under Sir Alexander Leslie, defeated royalist English forces under Lord Conway at the battle of Newburn near Newcastle. Newcastle was then occupied by the Scots in the English-Scottish wars.

1833 The House of Commons approved the Abolition Act, introduced earlier by Thomas Buxton, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire.

1906 The birth of Sir John Betjeman, poet, broadcaster, a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate to date and a much-loved figure on British television.

1914 The Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of World War I, was fought. The Germans lost four ships and 1,000 sailors. British casualties numbered 33.

1933 For the first time, a BBC-broadcasted appeal was used by the police in tracking down a wanted man (murder suspect Stanley Hobday).

1972 Prince William of Gloucester was killed when his light aircraft crashed and burst into flames.

1973 Princess Anne visited Russia, to ride for Britain in an equestrian event, thus becoming the first member of the Royal Family to visit the country.

1981 For the third time in 10 days, a world record in the mile run was set. Sebastian Coe, who broke Steve Ovett's record on August 19th and lost it to Ovett on August 26th , broke it again - by a full second - in Brussels, Belgium. Coe's new record time was 3:47.33.

1986 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was at the re-opening of the Grand Hotel in Brighton in which she and Conservative Party members had been staying in 1983 when it was bombed by the IRA.

1988 Kylie Minogue set a new UK record when her debut album Kylie, became the biggest selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost 2 million.

1994 Thousands of shops throughout England and Wales opened legally for the first time on a Sunday, following a change in the Sunday trading laws.

1996 The divorce of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Diana was finalized in a decree absolute issued in London's High Court. Under the terms of the divorce settlement, Diana was stripped of her 'Royal Highness' title.

2003 An electricity blackout cut off power to around 500,000 people living in the south east England and brought 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.

2004 British athlete Kelly Holmes secured a place in Olympic history by winning the 1500m gold in Athens. The runner won the 800m earlier and thus became the first Olympic Briton in 84 years to achieve the middle-distance double.

2013 Leeds businessman Lee Beaumont who became tired of 'cold calls' offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPI), or install solar panels set up his home phone as a premium rate 0871 number. Companies who phone him now spend 10p per minute on calls, from which he receives 7p. The number of 'cold calls' to his 0871 number fell by 66% in one month.

[greasemonkey]

"2013 Leeds businessman Lee Beaumont who became tired of 'cold calls' offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPI), or install solar panels set up his home phone as a premium rate 0871 number. Companies who phone him now spend 10p per minute on calls, from which he receives 7p. The number of 'cold calls' to his 0871 number fell by 66% in one month."

Not a bad idea. Keep meaning to try that.
I managed to wind a PPI caller up so bad the other day. She was ranting hysterically, then I just left the phone on the bench till she calmed down and ended the call. Brightens up an otherwise mundane existence.......

[K.H]

1782 The British battleship HMS Royal George sank off Spithead with the loss of more than 900 crew while repairs were being carried out beneath the ship's waterline.

1831 Michael Faraday successfully demonstrated the first electrical transformer at the Royal Institute, London.

1833 Legislation to settle child labour laws was passed in England. The legislation was called the 'Factory Act'.

1842 The Treaty of Nanking was signed between the British and the Chinese, ending the Opium War, and leasing the Hong Kong territories to Britain.

1882 The England cricket team lost to Australia, in England, for the first time. An 'obituary' printed in the Sporting Times, talked of 'the Ashes' of English Cricket being taken back to Australia. Test Series between the two countries are now played for 'The Ashes'.

1895 At the George Hotel, Huddersfield, twenty-one rugby clubs met to form the Northern Union. In 1922 the Union was renamed the Rugby League.

1918 Britain’s first police strike began at midnight, as 6000 policemen campaigned for better pay.

1923 The birth of Richard Attenborough, English actor and director. He won two Academy Awards for Gandhi in 1982 and has also won four BAFTA Awards. As an actor he is perhaps best known for his roles in The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place and Jurassic Park.

1930 The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda (40 miles west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean) were voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland. The entire archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and it became one of Scotland's five World Heritage Sites in 1986.

1947 James Hunt, grand prix racing driver was born. He won the 1976 world championship and retired in 1979 only to die prematurely from a heart attack at the age of 45.

1966 British group The Beatles gave their last live concert performance to a crowd of around 25,000 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, USA.

1981 Vandals slashed the picture of Diana, Princess of Wales hanging at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

1986 Britain's oldest twins, May and Marjorie Chavasse, both received telegrams from the Queen, to celebrate reaching their 100th birthday.

1997 Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam invited Sinn Féin, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), to all-party talks on Northern Ireland.

2011 Private security firm G4S sacked two members of staff who tagged the false leg of 29 year old Rochdale offender Christopher Lowcock, allowing him to remove it and flout a court-imposed curfew for driving and drug offences, as well as possession of an offensive weapon.

2013 Lorry driver Ethen Roberts was jailed for five years and three months after admitting causing the deaths of two people when his lorry toppled on to their car on the M62 in West Yorkshire as he read a text message. Investigators found that Roberts had sent and received almost 100 messages to and from the same friend in the three days leading up to the crash, all when the lorry's tachograph showed that the vehicle was being driven.