This day in history

[Skylace]

1961-Castro announces that Cuba will adopt Communism.

[luke]

we appear to have both missed saturday skylace

2nd December

1697 The rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral, the work of Sir Christopher Wren, was opened. The previous cathedral had been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

1769 Britain's first cremation took place, in St. George's burial ground, London.

1816 The Spa Fields Riots. A large crowd, who had gathered to demand political reform, decided to march on London.

1899 Sir John Barbirolli, English conductor with the 'Halle Orchestra', was born.

1907 The Professional Footballer’s Association was formed, after a meeting at the Imperial Hotel, Manchester.

1929 Britain’s first 22 public telephone boxes came into service.

1943 The first Bevin Boys, aged between 18 and 25 were directed into the mining industry. Many miners had been called up to the armed forces, resulting in a grave shortage of coal.

1966 The Mini skirt, the symbol of the Swinging Sixties, was banned from the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.

1982 The film Gandhi received its premiere in London. It won 8 Oscars.

1995 28 year old Nick Leeson was sentenced for financial dealings which contributed to the fall of Barings Bank, Britain's oldest merchant bank. He admitted to a judge in Singapore two charges of fraud connected with Baring's £860m ruin.

1997 Representatives of 41 countries met in London to discuss the whereabouts of gold and other valuable assets seized by the Nazi government from Jews in Germany and other occupied countries before and during World War II.

1997 Former wrestler Big Daddy (real name Shirley Crabtree) died in Halifax, aged 67. He was often partnered against Giant Haystacks (Martin Ruane), who died in 1998, aged 52.

1998 Conservative leader William Hague sacked his leader in the House of Lords, Lord Cranborne, for going behind his back to negotiate a deal with the Labour Government over the scrapping of Hereditary Peers.

[Skylace]

We did miss it luke! We were resting our historical sides I guess!

[luke]

3rd December

1795 Sir Roland Hill, postal pioneer and founder of the 'Penny Post' was born.

1820 Thomas Beecham, English manufacturer and inventor of Beecham's pills, was born.

1836 Three people were killed at Great Corby, near Carlisle in Cumbria, in the first fatal railway derailment.

1894 Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, died, aged 45 on the island of Samoa.

1926 In an episode as puzzling and intriguing as any in her many novels, Agatha Christie disappeared from her Surrey home and was discovered on the 14th December staying under an assumed name at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate. She said she had no recollection of how she came to be in Yorkshire.

1936 The Royal Family cancelled all engagements as news broke of Edward VIII's determination to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson.

1944 Britain 'stood down' the Home Guard - formed in 1939 to defend Britain from invasion by Germany. They were officially disbanded in December 1945.

1961 The whole of south East England was plunged into darkness for two hours, due to an error by an electrician.

1963 The launch of Britain's second nuclear submarine, HMS Valiant.

1977 Wings started a nine week run at No.1 with Mull of Kintyre. It was the first single to sell over 2 million in the UK.

1984 British Telecom was privatised. The shares immediately made massive gains.

1988 Health minister Edwina Currie provoked outrage by saying that most of Britain's egg production was infected with the salmonella bacteria.

1992 Two bombs exploded in the centre of Manchester injuring 65 people. Miraculously no-one was killed, but much of the city centre had to be rebuilt.

[luke]

4th December

1154 The only Englishman to become a pope, Nicholas Breakspear, became Adrian IV.

1586 Queen Elizabeth I confirmed the death sentence on Mary Queen of Scots.

1791 The Observer, Britain’s oldest Sunday newspaper, was first published.

1798 British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger announced the introduction of Income Tax to help finance the war against France.

1865 Birth of Edith (Louisa) Cavell, English nurse in Brussels 1914-15, who was accused of helping Allied soldiers escape occupied Belgium over the Dutch border and was executed by the Germans.

1872 Crew from the British brigantine Die Gratia boarded a deserted ship drifting in mid Atlantic. The captain's table was set for a meal aboard the US ship Marie Celeste but the Captain, crew and passengers were all missing.

1930 Ronnie Corbett, comedian partnered with Ronnie Barker, was born.

1937 The first issue of the Dandy comic. With a fan club of over 350,000, Desperate Dan proved a durable character. A copy of this first edition is worth between £850 and £1,000.

1948 George Orwell completed the final draft of the book Nineteen Eighty Four which was published on 8th June 1949.

1952 At least 4,000 people died in a week, from breathing difficulties, during a severe London smog.

1961 Birth control pills became available on the NHS.

1976 Benjamin Britten, considered to be Britain's leading composer, died aged 63. He had been fighting ill health since a heart operation in 1973.

1997 Europe's health ministers voted to ban tobacco advertising throughout the European Union although they agreed that motor-racing, which relied heavily on sponsorship and advertising by tobacco companies, should be exempt for another 8 years.

2007 Luke has toothache and its really really really painfull

[Skylace]

4th December 1982 China Adopts its Current Constitution


And Sky feels for luke because toothaches really suck. Get some medicine to put on it (if you haven't already)

[eefanincan]

4th December 2007

eefan also feels for luke--- and I recommend an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or naproxen if you are able to take them. It should help until you can get to a dentist.

[Skylace]

5th December 1926-Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin Debuts in US

[Bat]

5th December, an ex's birthday. Why I remembered THAT I have no idea

Maybe it was Luke's toothache that reminded me

[eefanincan]

[faceless]

that was a good one for sure bat - haha

[Skylace]

6th of December 1865-13th Amendment to US Constitution is Ratified

[faceless]

Isn't this St Nicholas' feast day also? The Dutch are getting their pressies today from what I remember - the impatient buggers!

[Skylace]

[Brown Sauce]

Yup, it's St Nicks day here in Germany too. The kids get some prezzies today, and they get loads more on the 24th, lucky lil gits. The UK's been burned again .....