On this day thread

[Muteswan]

21st January
1846 The publication of the first edition of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens. It merged with the Daily Chronicle to form the News Chronicle in 1930, and was ultimately absorbed by the Daily Mail in 1960.
1869 Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk and confidant of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, born in Pokrovskoye, Sibera, Russian Empire (d. 1916).
1919 Irish militant nationalist party Sinn Féin creates its own parliament in Dublin and declares Ireland independent of Great Britain, sparking the Irish War of Independence.
1920 The University of Wales, Swansea was founded by royal charter on 21st January 1920.
1921 British crime writer Agatha Christie publishes her first novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" introducing the character Hercule Poirot.
1924 Benny Hill [Alfred Hawthorn Hill], British comedian, born in Southampton, Hampshire, England (d. 1992).
1924 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, Russian Revolutionary leader and Premier, dies of a stroke at 53.
1934 Parisian baker and "student of medieval life" Henri Littière appears in court charged with forcing his adulterous wife Juliette to wear a chastity belt. Having committed the same offence in 1932, he was sentenced to three months in prison and fined 50 francs for cruelty to his wife.
1940 Jack Nicklaus, American golfer (18 major titles, 73 PGA Tour titles), born in Columbus, Ohio.
1944 Born on this day in Cardiff,Peter Rodrigues, former Wales soccer international, best remembered as the FA Cup winning captain of Southampton in 1976.
1944 447 German bombers attack London, and 649 British bombers attack Magdeburg.
1950 George Orwell, British author (Animal Farm, 1984), dies in London at 46.
1966 George Harrison married Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey with Paul McCartney as Best man.
1972 Pink Floyd appeared at The Guildhall, Portsmouth, England. This was the first time that they were able to perform the whole of what became the The Dark Side Of The Moon album in its entirety, the previous night's performance in Brighton having been halted for technical reasons.
1976 The first Concorde jets carrying commercial passengers simultaneously took off, at 11:40 a.m. from Heathrow Airport and Orly Airport outside Paris. The London flight was to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, and the Paris flight was to Rio de Janeiro. Nearly 3 hours was knocked off the normal flying time to Bahrain by the British Concorde but the Air France Concorde arrived 38 minutes late.
1987 Born today, Joe Ledley, Welsh footballer.
1994 Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane when she cut off her husband's penis.
1997 More than 80 people were named as child abusers in statements to a North Wales inquiry into claims of abuse of children in care in Clwyd and Gwynedd over20 years.
1997 'Colonel' Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager and agent died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87.
2008 Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
2017 More than 2 million people protest worldwide in the 'Women's March' against Donald Trump, with 500,000 marching in Washington, D.C.
2019 A light aircraft carrying EPL team Cardiff City's record signing Emiliano Sala of French club FC Nantes disappears near the Channel islands en route to Wales.
2020 Terry Jones, Welsh comedian (Monty Python), dies from complications of dementia at 77.

 

[Muteswan]

22nd January
1771 Spain cedes Falkland Islands to Britain.
1788 The birth, in London, of the poet George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron.
1831 Charles Darwin takes his Bachelors of Art exam at Christ's College, Cambridge, coming tenth out of 171 candidates.
1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
1901 Queen Victoria died, aged 81, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
1907 Dixie Dean, English soccer striker (16 caps; Everton), born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England (d. 1980).
1920 The birth of Sir Alf Ramsey, football manager of England when they won the 1966 World Cup.
1927 The first live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United, at Highbury.
1931 Born today American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Sam Cooke.
1937 Born in Glanamman, Ryan Davies (Ryan and Ronnie), comedian, singer and actor.
1955 Joe Davis recorded the first official maximum snooker break of 147 in an exhibition match at Leicester Square Hall.
1962 The ‘A6 Murder’ trial began, the longest murder trial in British legal history. James Hanratty was accused of murdering Michael Gregston at a lay-by near Bedford. The trial finally ended on 17th February 1962 with Hanratty sentenced to hang, despite his protests of innocence and disquiet amongst some observers of the trial.
1966 The Beach Boys went into Gold Star studios to record 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'.
1970 1st commercial Boeing 747 flight, Pan American World Airways flies from New York City to London in 6½ hours.
1972 The United Kingdom, the Irish Republic and Denmark joined the Common Market.
1972 David Bowie 'came out' as bisexual during an interview in the British music weekly Melody Maker.
1983 The new 24-hour music video network MTV started broadcasting to the West Coast of America.
1988 1st-class cricket debut of Brian Lara, Trinidad & Tobago v Leeward Is and 1st-class cricket debut of Hansie Cronje, OFS v Transvaal.
1991 Kuwaiti oil facilities are destroyed by Iraqi forces.
1994 Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas, American singer(?) and character actor, dies of prostate cancer at 72.
2015 Mothers invited to a Scottish Government-backed breastfeeding conference were left angry and bemused after being told that they would not be allowed to breastfeed their babies.
2018 Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion.
2018 James "Jimmy" Armfield, British former-footballer, manager and pundit (BBC Radio Five Live), dies at 82.
2020 China locks down the city of Wuhan and its 11 million people, in an effort to control COVID-19 with a then official death toll of 17 and over 500 people ill.

 

[Muteswan]

23rd January
1803 Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer and founder of the Guinness brewery, dies at 77.
1848 Born on this day in Treboeth, Swansea,Daniel James- poet and hymn writer, who is best remembered for writing the words of the hymn 'Calon Lan'.Jones, who is also known by his bardic name of Gwyrosydd, worked as an iron and tinplate worker in Morriston, Landore, Dowlais, Tredegar, Blaengarw, and Mountain Ash.
1901 Marconi carried out his first radio transmission experiments, receiving a Morse code signal across the water from St. Catherine’s on the Isle of Wight to the Lizard in Cornwall.
1910 Django Reinhardt, Belgium born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer considered the most significant European Jazz musician, born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium (d. 1953).
1931 Anna Pavlova, Russian prima ballerina and choreographer, dies from pneumonia at 49.
1933 20th amendment, which changed the date of US presidential inaugurations to 20th January, is ratified.
1943 Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
1953 Robin Zander, American rock vocalist & guitarist (Cheap Trick-Dream Police), born in Beloit, Wisconsin.
1962 British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR.
1969 Cream releases their last album "Goodbye".
1971 Born on this day in Bridgend,Scott Gibbs - former Wales and Lions rugby union international and Wales and Great Britain rugby league international.Gibbs was named Player of the Series during the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa and is perhaps best remembered for his jinking run and match-winning try against England in 1999.
1971 George Harrison became the first solo Beatle to have a No.1 when ' 'My Sweet Lord' went to the top of the UK single charts.
1983 "A-Team" with Mr T premieres on NBC.
1983 Tennis great Björn Borg announces retirement at 26 (5 x Wimbledon, 6 x French Open).
1985 A House of Lords debate was televised for the first time.
1993 Graham Gooch scores his 100th 100, on tour at Cuttack.
2017 Bernie Ecclestone removed as Formula One boss as Liberty Media completes $8 billion takeover.
2018 Singer Neil Diamond retires after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
2018 Twelve camels disqualified from the King Abdulaziz Camel beauty contest, Saudi Arabia after their owners used botox on their lips.
2020 Actress Annabella Sciorra testifies in court that Harvey Weinstein raped her 25 years ago at his trial in New York.

 

[Muteswan]

24th January
41 Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Roman Emperor after the latter's assassination by officers of the Praetorian Guard.
76 Hadrian, Roman Emperor (117-138, builder of Hadrian's Wall), born in Italica (d. 138).
1928 The birth of Desmond Morris, British anthropologist. He first came to the public's attention in the 1950s as a presenter of the ITV television programme Zoo Time, but he achieved worldwide fame in 1967 with his book The Naked Ape.
1935 1st canned beer, "Krueger's Cream Ale," is sold by American company Krueger Brewing Co.
1941 Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter, born in Brooklyn, New York.
1947 Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian soccer striker (14 caps; Lazio, Swansea), born in Carrara, Italy (d. 2012).
1958 After warming to 100,000,000 degrees, 2 light atoms are bashed together to create a heavier atom, resulting in 1st man-made nuclear fusion.
1958 Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jailhouse Rock'.
1958 The Quarry Men performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, (this was the bands only performance at the club). It was three years later when they appeared again at the Cavern but under their new name as The Beatles.
1962 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles.
1965 Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain (C) (1940-45, 51-55) British leader during WWII dies at 90.
1972 Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi was found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II. He was among the last three Japanese hold-outs to surrender after the end of hostilities in 1945, almost 28 years after the island had been liberated by allied forces in 1944.
1984 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer.
1989 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex.
1989 Ted Bundy, American serial killer of up to 100 women during the 1970s, executed by electric chair in Florida at 42.
2018 English singer and songwriter Mark E. Smith from Manchester post-punk band The Fall died aged 60 after a long illness with lung and kidney cancer. RIP Fiery Jack.
2019 Search for missing Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala is called off after rescuers fail to find aircraft that disappeared from radar over English Channel 3 days earlier; search resumes funded by soccer community donations; wreckage discovered Feb 3.

 

[Muteswan]

25th January
1759 Robert Burns, Scottish poet (Auld Lang Syne), born in Alloway, Scotland (d. 1796).
1839 Henry Fox Talbot exhibits early photographs to the Royal Institution in the UK.
1858 Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" first played, at wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia.
1911 The Daily Herald was launched. It was the first newspaper to sell two million copies.
1919 The founding of The League of Nations, forerunner of the United Nations. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.
1924 1st Winter Olympic Games open in Chamonix, France.
1938 Etta James [Jamesetta Hawkins], American singer ( "At Last"), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012).
1947 Al Capone, Chicago gangster, dies of neurosyphilis at 48.
1964 The Beatles get their first US #1, "I Want to Hold your Hand".
1971 Charles Manson & 3 women followers convicted of Tate-LaBianca murders.
1972 The world's first kidney and pancreatic tissue transplant was carried out in London.
1981 ‘The Gang of Four’ (Roy Jenkins, Dr. David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers) split from the British Labour party to form the Social Democrats.
1981 Alicia Keys [Cook], American singer-songwriter, born in NYC, New York.
2008 Tower Colliery officially closed. It was situated in the Cynon valley, near Hirwaun, was the oldest working coal mine in the UK, dating back to 1808 when it was owned by the Crawshay family and called Goitre Colliery.The colliery was originally closed by British Coal in 1994, as being unproductive, however, 239 of the redundant workforce, led by Tyrone O'Sullivan, the NUM Branch Secretary, used their redundancy money to buy back the colliery and against expectations, this venture was a success.
2017 John Hurt, English actor (Elephant Man, Alien, Midnight Express), dies at 77.

 

[Muteswan]

26th January
1788 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day.
1823 Edward Jenner, English physician, father of immunology, pioneered smallpox vaccinations, dies at 73.
1841 Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain.
1871 The Rugby Football Union was formed, in London, by an initial 20 clubs.
1905 World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa.
1907 The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III was officially introduced into British Military Service. Its name comes from the designer of the rifle's bolt system, James Paris Lee, and the factory in which it was designed, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield.
1908 The 1st Glasgow Boy Scout group, the first Scout group ever, was registered. Today, there are nearly 32 million members in 218 countries and territories and the movement is still growing. In the UK, the total membership is over 500,000.
1908 Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, born in Paris, France (d. 1997).
1922 The birth of Michael Bentine, British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goon Show radio show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.
1925 Paul Newman, American actor, racing car driver and charity food company founder (Newman's Own), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2008).
1926 John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television in his laboratory in London.
1934 Joe Erskine, Welsh heavyweight boxer (British heavyweight champion 1956-58), born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 1990).
1948 Laurence "Corky" Laing, Canadian rock drummer and songwriter (Mountain), born in Montreal, Quebec.
1955 Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American rock guitarist, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2020).
1958 Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian (Ellen Morgan-Ellen), born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1961 Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Are You Lonesome Tonight'.
1963 José Mourinho, Portuguese football manager, born in Setúbal, Lisbon.
1965 'Downtown' by Petula Clark was at No. 1 on the US singles chart. A young Jimmy Page had played as a session guitarist on the track, giving him his first US No.1 hit, (and a No. 2 hit in the UK).
1968 Pink Floyd played their first gig without Syd Barrett at Southampton University, supported by Tyrannosaurus Rex.(T Rex)
1973 Sweet were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Blockbuster'.
1977 Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green was committed to a mental hospital following an incident when he threatened his accountant Clifford Adams with an air rifle when he was trying to deliver a £30,000 ($51,000) royalty cheque to him.
1986 Allen Collins, guitarist from Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed his car, paralysing him from the waist down and killing his girlfriend Debra Jean Watts. Collins had survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed two other band members.
1998 President Bill Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people; I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky".
2003 Billy Joel was airlifted to hospital after his car smashed into a tree in The Hamptons, New York.
2014 Police stopped a learner driver for speeding on the M62 in West Yorkshire. She was accompanied only by her pet parrot. 'Since parrots are not allowed to supervise learner drivers, her vehicle has been seized,' police tweeted.
2020 LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, southern California; considered one of the greatest players in the game's history.
2021 Death count in UK due to Covid rises above 100,000. Get your jab and wear a mask.

 

[Muteswan]

27th January
1591 Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian burned for witchcraft at Castle Hill, Edinburgh by order King James VI. Part of the Berwick witch trials.
1606 The trial of Guy Fawkes, and his fellow conspirators began. They were charged with treason for attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament in November 1605.
1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian musical prodigy and composer, born in Salzburg, Austria (d. 1791).
1832 Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], English author (Alice in Wonderland), born in Daresbury, England (d. 1898).
1880 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp.
1883 Today, in the same ferocious storm, the vessel 'James Gray' was wrecked on the Tusker Rocks off Porthcawl and the ship 'The Agnes Jack off Port Eynon. The Mumbles lifeboat put out, and 5 of its crew were drowned in the rescue attempt.
1901 Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (Rigoletto, La Traviata), dies at 77.
1910 Thomas Crapper, English plumber and inventor (ballcock), dies at 73.
1944 Nick Mason, British progressive rock drummer (Pink Floyd), born in Birmingham, England.
1945 The Nazis' biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland was liberated. The millions killed during the Holocaust are remembered each year in services across the UK, as part of Holocaust Memorial Day.
1948 1st tape recorder sold.
1956 "Heartbreak Hotel" single released by Elvis Presley, his first million-selling single.
1967 A fire in the Apollo 1 Command Module kills astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch rehearsal.
1967 The Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI records.
1972 Born on this day in Cardiff,Nathan Blake, former Wales football international.
1972 Born on this day in Carmarthen, Wynne Evans, who is a tenor best known for the ‘Go compare’ television adverts. He also famously responded to the All Blacks ‘Haka’ in the Wales versus New Zealand rugby international of 2004 by singing Cwm Rhondda. He has subsequently gone on to sing at over 30 Welsh International matches.
1973 'Superstition' the lead single from Stevie Wonder's Talking Book album became his second No.1 single in the US.
1995 Manchester United's Eric Cantona was fined £20,000 and a football ban over his kung fu-style attack on a fan.
2001 The first Holocaust Memorial Day was held in Britain, on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops. The Holocaust resulted in the annihilation of 6 million European Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime.
2017 Donald Trump issues executive order banning travel to the US for 7 mostly Muslim countries and suspending admission for refugees.

 

[Muteswan]

28th January
1547 The birth of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty in England,the death of Henry VIII, exactly 90 years after the birth of his father Henry VII. His nine year old son, Edward VI succeeded him and became the first Protestant ruler of England.
1596 Francis Drake, English pirate, Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland, dies of dysentery at 50.
1671 Welsh pirate Henry Morgan captures Panama City from its Spanish defenders.
1813 Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom.
1841 The birth, in Denbigh, of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands), Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa, allegedly said “Dr Livingstone I presume”.
1887 Work begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
1909 Born this day in Port Talbot,George Thomas (1st Viscount Tonypandy) - former Secretary of State for Wales and Speaker of the House of Commons, in which role his Welsh accented cries of "Order! Order!" were well known and widely imitated.
1918 The birth of Harry Corbett, the English puppeteer who created Sooty.
1927 Ronnie Scott [Schatt], British jazz saxophonist and club-owner, born in Aldgate, East London (d. 1996).
1929 (Bernard) "Acker" Bilk, British clarinetist who was part of the traditional jazz revival of the 1950s and 1960s, born in Pensford, Somerset, England (d. 2014).
1929 Born this day in Cardiff,Clem Thomas - former Welsh rugby captain and Lions international. After his retirement from playing, Thomas became a much-respected writer on the game.
1944 683 British bombers attack Berlin.
1945 Robert Wyatt, English progressive rock musician (Soft Machine), born in Bristol, England.
1953 19-year old Derek Bentley is hanged in Wandsworth Prison, London, controversially convicted of the murder of a police officer. He was pardoned on 30th July 1998.
1958 The Lego company patents their design of Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
1960 "The Goon Show"'s final episode on BBC radio.
1977 Pink Floyd's tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at No.2.
1978 Van Halen released their first single, a cover of The Kinks' ‘You Really Got Me’.
1978 The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1981 Elijah Wood, American actor ( The Lord of the Rings), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
1983 British Rock & Roll singer Billy Fury died of heart failure aged 42.
1985 Charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by supergroup USA for Africa .
1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, with all 7 crew members killed.
1990 "Independent on Sunday" begins publishing in London.
2005 English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60.
2009 Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida.
2020 Nicholas Parsons, British presenter, comedian and actor "the ultimate quiz show host", dies at 96.

 

[Muteswan]

29th January
1595 William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is thought to have been first performed. Officially published early 1597.
1802 First celebration of Burns night, in honor of poet Robert Burns's birthday by The Mother Club in Greenock (later realized his actual birthday 25th January).
1856 Queen Victoria instituted Britain’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross (VC).
1860 Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright (Cherry Orchard), born in Taganrog, Russia (d. 1904).
1886 Karl Benz patents the "Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in Karlsruhe, Germany, the world's 1st automobile with a burning motor.
1892 The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.
1896 Emile Grubbe is the first doctor to use radiation treatment for breast cancer.
1916 1st bombing of Paris by German Zeppelins takes place.
1925 British Liberal Party chooses David Lloyd George as leader. He knew my father.
1942 The first broadcast of Desert Island Discs on BBC radio, devised and presented by Roy Plomley.
1943 Tony Blackburn, English radio DJ (Radio Caroline, BBC - 1st to broadcast on Radio 1), born in Guildford, England.
1963 A French veto stopped Britain joining the European Common Market.
1969 Fleetwood Mac had their only UK No.1 single with the instrumental 'Albatross' which was composed by guitarist Peter Green.
1979 Emerson, Lake & Palmer disband after 10 years together.
1985 Oxford University refuses to award Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree.
2009 Bill Frindall, English cricket scorer and statistician (b. 1939).
2015 Malaysia officially declares the disappearance of missing flight MH370 an accident.
2015 There were tears of joy for widower Stan Beaton as he heard again the answerphone message of his late wife Ruby. The message had been accidentally deleted during an upgrade by Virgin Media, but engineers searched through thousands of recordings and eventually managed to restore the message, which he had kept on his phone for 14 years.
2018 David Beckham launches a Major League Soccer team in Miami.
2020 Number of COVID-19 cases passes those of SARS with over 7,700 cases in China confirmed, with 170 deaths.
2020 First two cases of Covid-19 confirmed in United Kingdom.

 

[Muteswan]

30th January
1606 Sir Everard Digby, Thomas Winter, John Grant and Thomas Bates who, along with others, had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in November 1605 were hanged, drawn and quartered for their part in the 'Gunpowder Plot'.
1661 Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was exhumed and formally executed, after having been dead for two years!
1790 Lifeboat 1st tested at sea, by Mr Greathead, the inventor.
1826 The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened.
1883 England team presented with ashes of a bail after Sydney Test.
1930 Gene Hackman, American actor (The French Connection), born in San Bernardino California.
1947 Born today Steve Marriott, guitarist and singer/songwriter. Marriott died in a house fire on April 20th 1991.
1948 Mahatma Gandhi Indian independence activist and spiritual leader, assassinated in New Delhi by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse at 78.
1951 Phil Collins drummer, singer, songwriter who was a member of Genesis born today.
1956 Elvis Presley records his version of "Blue Suede Shoes".
1965 State funeral of Winston Churchill at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Then world's largest ever state funeral.
1969 The Beatles perform their last live gig, a 42 minute concert on the roof of Apple Corps HQ in London.
1973 Jury finds Watergate defendants Liddy & McCord guilty on all counts.
1973 After recently changing their name from Wicked Lester, Rock band Kiss plays their 1st show at the Coventry Club in Queens, NY.
1974 Christian Bale, British actor, born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
1974 Olivia Colman, English actress, born in Norwich, England.
1975 Ernő Rubik applies for a patent for his "Magic Cube" invention, later to be known as a Rubik's cube.
2020 The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern at a meeting in Geneva.

 

[Muteswan]

31st January
1606 Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, was hanged, drawn and quartered.
1747 The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, London.
1788 Bonnie Prince Charlie [Charles Edward Stuart], English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), dies of a stroke at 67.
1867 The four bronze lions at the base of Nelson's Column were completed.
1910 American-born murderer Dr. Hawley Crippen poisoned his wife before cutting her into small pieces and burying her in the cellar of his home in London. He was later executed at Pentonville Prison.
1956 Johnny Rotten [John Lydon], English singer-songwriter & musician, born in Holloway, United Kingdom.
1956 A. A. Milne, English author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, dies at 74.
1958 James van Allen discovers radiation belt.
1971 "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison hits #1 on UK pop chart.
1983 In an effort to reduce driving deaths, a new law in UK requires drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seatbelts.
1999 Seth MacFarlane's "Family Guy" first airs on Fox.
2000 Family GP Dr. Harold Shipman was jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer. An official inquiry concluded that Shipman may have killed as many as 250 patients over 23 years.
2016 The death of the radio and TV brodcaster Terry Wogan, aged 77.
2017 Deke [Roger] Leonard, Welsh rock musician (Man), dies at 72.
2017 English singer, bassist, and songwriter John Wetton died in his sleep at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK from colon cancer.
2020 At 11pm Greewich Mean Time, the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, following the referendum of 23rd June 2016 in which 51.9% of voters elected to leave.

 

[Muteswan]

1st February
1550 John Napier, Scottish mathematician and inventor (logarithms), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1617).
1587 Under pressure from her Council, Queen Elizabeth I of England signed the warrant authorising the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
1709 Scotsman Alexander Selkirk was rescued from an uninhabited desert island (Mas à Tierra, off the coast of Chile), inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1791 Charles-Joseph Sax, Belgian music instrument builder of wind and brass instruments whose son invented the saxophone, born in Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium (d. 1865).
1851 Mary Shelley, English novelist (Frankenstein), dies of a brain tumour at 53.
1893 Thomas Edison completes worlds 1st movie studio at West Orange, New Jersey.
1896 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin.
1901 Clark Gable, American actor (Gone With the Wind) known as 'The King of Hollywood', born in Cadiz, Ohio (d. 1960).
1902 China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet.
1905 Dutch soccer club ADO Den Haag forms in The Hague; ADO represents the amateur branch of the club.
1910 The first 80 Labour Exchanges opened in Britain to try and find jobs for the unemployed.
1915 Sir Stanley Matthews, often regarded as one of the greatest English football players, was born. He is the only player to have been knighted while still playing.
1928 Sir Samuel "Sam" Edwards, Welsh physicist (condensed matter physics), born in Swansea, Wales (d. 2015).
1930 The first ever 'Times' crossword was published.
1939 A British White Paper proposing the formation of the Home Guard (which became better known as Dad’s Army because of the average age of the volunteers) was published.
1942 Terry Jones, Welsh comedian (Monty Python), born in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, Wales (d. 2020).
1949 RCA Records issued the first ever 45rpm single, the invention of this size record made jukeboxes possible.
1952 The first TV detector van was demonstrated. It enabled the BBC to track down users of unlicensed television sets in Britain.
1958 Tommy Taylor scores 2 goals and Duncan Edwards 1, in Manchester United's 5-4 win vs Arsenal at Highbury; pair amongst 7 players killed 5 days later when team’s charter plane crashes at Munich airport.
1964 The Beatles started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.
1968 Saigon police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executes Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém with a pistol shot to head. The execution is captured by photographer Eddie Adams and becomes an anti-war icon.
1972 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395).
1972 Chuck Berry had his first UK No.1 single with a live recording of a song he'd been playing live for over 20 years 'My Ding-a-Ling'.
1978 Director Roman Polanski skips bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1979 English international forward Trevor Francis becomes Britain’s first £1 million soccer player when he transfers from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest.
1982 Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby union utility back (33 caps Wales, 1 British & Irish Lions; Swansea, Ospreys), born in Pencoed, Mid Glamorgan, Wales.
1995 Richey Edwards guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers vanished leaving no clues to his whereabouts.
2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2007 Travel Magazine named Oxwich Beach on Gower Peninsula as the most beautiful beach in Britain.
2008 US space agency Nasa announced that 'Across the Universe' by The Beatles was to become the first song ever to be beamed directly into space.
2016 Myanmar's first freely elected parliament in 50 years has its opening session in Nay Pyi Taw.
2017 British MPs vote in favour of the European Union Bill, allowing the government to begin Brexit.
2021 Myanmar's military seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders.

 

[Muteswan]

2nd February
1349 By this date at least 200 people a day were being buried in London as a result of the Black Death.
1451 Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty of England died today.
1650 Nell [Eleanor] Gwyn, English actress and mistress to King Charles II, born in London, England (d. 1687).
1852 1st British public men's toilet opens in Fleet St, London.
1870 Cardiff Giant (supposed petrified human) proved to be gypsum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Giant
1876 At a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel in Wrexham, the Football Association of Wales was founded, making it the third-oldest national association in the world.
1882 James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet (Dubliners, Ulysses, Finnigan's Wake), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1941).
1887 In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1901 Queen Victoria's funeral takes place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England.
1912 Millvina Dean, British civil servant who was the last living survivor of the RMS Titanic and also the youngest aboard, born in Branscombe, Devon, England (d. 2009).
1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies).
1940 The birth of Sir David John White OBE, better known by his stage name David Jason. He is best remembered as the main character Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
1951 Ken Bruce, Scottish broadcaster (The Ken Bruce Show), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1954 Christie Brinkley [Ex-Mrs Billy Joel], American model and actress (SI, Vacation), born in Monroe, Michigan.
1963 Eva Cassidy, American singer, born in Washington D.C. Eva died of skin cancer on November 2nd 1996, aged 33.
1969 Boris Karloff [William H. Pratt], English actor (The Mummy, Frankenstein), dies of pneumonia at 81.
1979 Frank Lampard’s Christine Bleakley, Northern Irish broadcaster and presenter, born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland.
1979 Sid Vicious [John Simon Ritchie], English musician and bassist (Sex Pistols), dies of a heroin overdose at 21.
1996 Gene Kelly, American actor (An American in Paris, Going My Way) and dancer (Singin' in the Rain), dies of a stroke at 83.
1999 Glenn Hoddle was sacked as England's football coach after his comments that disabled people were reaping the punishment for something done in a previous life.
2011 Margaret John, Welsh actress (Gavin and Stacey)(b. 1926) died today in hospital in Swansea of liver cancer.
2020 Palindrome Day: the date 02022020 reads the same forward and backward.
2021 Captain Sir Tom Moore dies in hospital with coronavirus, the 100-year-old, raised almost £33m for NHS charities.
2338 Data, android character on Star Trek Next Generation born today. (actually Brent Spiner, American actor (Data-Star Trek the Next Generation), born in Houston, Texas today in 1949).

 

[Muteswan]

3rd February
1014 Sweyn Forkbeard, Viking king of Denmark, Norway and England (1013-14), dies at around 54 (born cira 960). Some people think this is the person that Swansea (Sweyn’s Eye) is named after.
1920 Henry Heimlich, Surgeon and inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 2016).
1949 In Britain, 23 year old Margaret Roberts (Thatcher) was adopted as Tory candidate in Deptford, but she later failed to win the seat at the General Election.
1959 "The Day the Music Died" plane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J. P. Richardson and pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa.
1967 "Purple Haze" recorded by Jimi Hendrix.
1970 Warwick Davis, British actor, born on this day.
1970 Led Zeppelin II was in the Top 20 on both the UK & US album charts.
1986 Dire Straits were at No.1 on the UK album charts with their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms.
1988 Nurses across the UK strike over pay and funding for the NHS.
1993 Federal trial of 4 police officers charged with civil rights violations in videotaped beating of Rodney King begins in Los Angeles, California.
2012 England football captain John Terry was stripped of the captaincy for the second time amid growing concern over his pending race abuse trial.
2019 Wreckage from light aircraft carrying EPL team Cardiff City's record signing Emiliano Sala is discovered on seabed of the English Channel; cause of death, head and trunk injuries.
2020 Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3700 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of COVID-19 found on board.

 

[Muteswan]

4th February
1789 1st US electoral college chooses George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice-President.
1866 Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy reportedly cures her injuries by opening a bible. Cure for Covid maybe.
1894 Adolphe Sax, Belgium musician and inventor (saxophone), dies at 79.
1902 Charles Lindbergh, American aviator who was 1st to fly solo across the Atlantic, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1974).
1911 Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead ‘The Spirit of Ecstasy’ by Charles Sykes.
1913 Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger, born in Tuskegee, Alabama (d. 2005).
1915 Norman Wisdom, English comedian and actor, born in London, England (d. 2010).
1920 1st flight from London to South Africa departs (takes 1½ months).
1938 Adolf Hitler seizes control of German army and puts Nazis in key posts.
1948 American singer, songwriter Alice Cooper, (Vincent Furnier), who formed the Earwigs, and then the Alice Cooper Band, born in Detroit, Michigan.
1962 The first colour supplement in Britain was published by The Sunday Times.
1963 Born on this day in Tenby, Charles Dale, an actor who is best known for playing Dennis Stringer in Coronation Street and Big Mac in Casualty.
1965 The Righteous Brothers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Phil Spector song 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.
1974 The 'M62 coach bombing' when a Provisional IRA bomb exploded in a coach carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel and their family members. Twelve people (nine soldiers and three civilians, including children aged 5 and 2) were killed.
1976 Fleetwood Mac released the Stevie Nicks penned 'Rhiannon', from their eponymous album released in 1975.
1977 Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, the record has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
1982 Scottish singer Alex Harvey died of a heart attack.
1983 Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parent's house in Downey, California; the coroner's report gave the cause of death as imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa.
1987 Liberace, pianist (Liberace Show, Evil Chandell-Batman), dies at 67.
2002 Cancer Research UK was founded. It is the world's largest independent cancer research charity.
2004 Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room.
2012 The death, aged 110, of Florence Green, the last surviving veteran of the First World War from any country.
2013 Reg Presley [Reginald Maurice Ball], English rock vocalist (Troggs-Wild Thing) and songwriter, dies from lung cancer at 71.