On this day thread

[Muteswan]

15th March
44 BC Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Brutus, Cassius and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March in Rome.
270 Saint Nicholas [Nikolaos of Myra], Greek Bishop who became the model for Santa Claus, born in Patara, Asia Minor (d. 343).
1824 Building work started on the London Bridge designed by John Rennie.
1873 David Vaughan Thomas, Welsh musician and composer, born in Ystalyfera (d. 1934).
1877 The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.
1898 The death of Sir Henry Bessemer, English metallurgist and pioneer of mass-produced steel.
1906 Rolls-Royce Limited, the British car and aero-engine manufacturing company was founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls.
1907 Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote.
1909 Selfridges store (named after its owner Harry Gordon Selfridge) was opened in London's Oxford Street.
1949 Cricket's master batsman Don Bradman receives his knighthood from the Governor-General of Australia, the Rt Hon. WJ McKell at the investiture in Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne.
1955 Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker.
1964 Film stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor married in Montreal. They later divorced then remarried.
1969 Cream started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their fourth and final original album Goodbye.
1972 "The Godfather", based on the book by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premieres in NYC.
1975 Will.i.am [Adams], American singer-songwriter, rapper, musician, born in East Los Angeles, California.
1975 Wales trounce Ireland, 32-4 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch their 18th Five Nations Rugby Championship.
1983 A letter bomb sent to the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was defused by explosives experts.
1985 The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com is registered.
1991 4 officers of the Los Angeles Police Department are charged with excessive force over the beating of Rodney King.
1998 Benjamin Spock, (Dr. Spock) American pediatrician and writer, dies at 94.
2003 Dame Thora Hird, British actress, comedian, presenter and writer (Last of the Summer Wine, The Love Match), dies at 91.
2008 Wales beats France, 29-12 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to complete a Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship with a 19th Triple Crown.
2014 The death of TV Cook Clarissa Dickson Wright, at the age of 66. Christened Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright, she became famous as one half of 'The Two Fat Ladies'.
2019 Climate change strikes held by school children take place around the world inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.

 

[Muteswan]

16th March
1647 Harlech Castle surrendered in the English Civil War. It was a Royalist stronghold and the last Welsh castle to be taken by Parliament.
1689 The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded. In 2004 it merged with the Royal Regiment of Wales to form the Royal Welsh Regiment.
1789 Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (Ohm's law), born in Erlangen, Bavaria (d. 1854).
1799 Anna Atkins, English botanist, photographer and the 1st person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images, born in Tonbridge, England (d. 1871).
1867 First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in "The Lancet"
1872 1st English FA Cup Final, Kennington Oval, London: Wanderers defeat Royal Engineers, 1-0; Morton Betts scores winner.
1900 Sir Arthur Evans rediscovers the bronze age city of Knossos in Crete, home of the legendary Minotaur.
1934 Academy Award gold statuette 1st called Oscar in print by Sidney Skolsky.
1935 The first driving test pass slip was presented to Mr. R. Beene of Kensington, a pupil of the British School of Motoring. Tests were introduced on a voluntary basis and became compulsory in June.
1964 The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the US with 2,100,000 copies of their latest single 'Can't Buy Me Love.'
1965 The Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Last Time', the bands third UK No.1.
1968 The posthumously released Otis Redding single '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' started a five week run at No.1 on the US chart, (a No.3 hit the UK).
1971 The British heavyweight boxing champion Henry Cooper announced his retirement after being defeated by Joe Bugner.
1973 Queen Elizabeth II opened the new London Bridge. The old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for £1m and transported to the United States.
1976 Harold Wilson, Prime Minister for almost eight years, and leader of the Labour Party for 13 years, resigned.
1988 A gunman killed 3 mourners and injured at least 50 who had been attending a funeral for IRA members shot dead in Gibraltar.
1998 Sir George Martin (producer of The Beatles in the 1960s and 70s) announced his retirement, aged 73.
2001 According to a health survey, 16th March 2001 was the only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves.
2013 A €10 billion Cyprus bailout plan will wipe out 10% of the citizens' bank deposits.
2013 Wales routs England by a record 30-3 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to retain their Six Nation Rugby Championship; Welsh winger Alex Cuthbert scores 2 tries and fullback Leigh Halfpenny lands 4/4 penalties.
2015 Andy Fraser songwriter and bass guitarist with Free died of a heart attack caused by Atherosclerosis in California aged 62.
2020 COVID-19 study by London Imperial College showing migration approach could lead to 250,00 deaths in UK, over 1 million in US, prompts strategy changes from both countries.
2020 First confirmed Covid death in Wales (Wrexham).

 

[Muteswan]

17th March
432 Saint Patrick, aged about 16 is captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland.
1337 Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England.
1845 Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London.
1899 The first-ever radio distress call was sent, summoning assistance to a merchant ship aground on the Goodwin Sands, Kent.
1912 The death of Lawrence “Titus” Oates, a member of Scott’s ill-fated South Pole expedition who was suffering serious frostbite and hampering the progress of his companions. He had left his tent the previous night saying ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.' Scott recorded 'A very gallant gentleman.’ Oates' body was never found. Date of birth 17th March 1880 - Died 17th March 1912.
1919 Nat "King "Cole, American jazz pianist and pop vocalist ("Unforgettable", "Mona Lisa"), born in Montgomery, Alabama (d. 1965).
1938 Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer/choreographer (Kirov), born on a train near Irkutsk, Soviet Union (d. 1993).
1961 Jaguar head William Lyons debuts the first E-Type model at the Geneva International Motor Show, creating a sensation.
1965 Beatles announce their second film is titled "8 Arms to Hold You" ; later changed to "Help!"
1967 British harpist Shiela Bromberg plays with string section for the Sgt. Pepper track "She's Leaving Home", becomes the first female to perform on a Beatles recording.
1967 Jimi Hendrix Experience released 'Purple Haze' in the UK.
1976 4 Catholic civilians (including 2 children) are killed and twelve wounded when the Ulster Volunteer Force explode a car bomb at Hillcrest Bar, Dungannon.
1977 Australia wins cricket Centenary Test by 45 runs, same result as 1877.
1978 The Iconic film 'Grand Slam' was first aired by the BBC on this day.
1978 The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany. Over 220,000 tons of crude oil seeped out of the crippled ship, causing serious pollution in Britain and France.
1979 Wales beats England, 27-3 at the National Stadium, Cardiff for its 2nd consecutive Five Nations Rugby Championship and record 21st outright title; record 4th straight Triple Crown.
1979 Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Will Survive.
1984 Van Halen's 'Jump' peaked at No.1 in the US.
1993 Charlotte Hughes, British supercentenarian (lived under the rule of 6 monarchs and 24 British Prime Ministers), dies at 115.
1999 Rod Hull, British comedian (Emu), dies after falling off a roof at 63.
2012 Bolton Wanderer footballer Fabrice Muamba collapses and is rushed to hospital during a live football match against Tottenham Hotspur.
2012 Wales beats France, 16-9 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to wrap up the Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship; Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicks 3 penalties and a conversion.
2016 Paul Daniels, British magician (The Paul Daniels Magic Show), dies at 77.
2019 Wales beats Ireland, 25-7 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to clinch the Six-Nations Rugby Championship and Grand Slam; Welsh fly-half Gareth Anscombe kicks 6 penalties and a conversion.

 

[Muteswan]

18th March
1662 First public bus service begins, promoted by Blaise Pascal, operates in Paris as the "Carosses a Cinq Sous" until 1675.
1824 The birth of the brewer John Smith. The brewery's headquarters are in Tadcaster where brewing began in 1758.
1834 Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset were sentenced to be transported to Australia for seven years for forming the first trade union and introducing collective bargaining for better wages. There was such an outcry that they were pardoned two years after sentencing and allowed to return to England. The annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' festival is held in the village of Tolpuddle in the third weekend of July.
1844 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (Scheherazade), born in Tikhvin (d. 1908).
1858 Rudolf Diesel, French-born German engineer (invented the diesel engine), born in Paris, France (disappeared 1913).
1881 Barnum & Bailey Circus, travelling as "The Greatest Show on Earth", debuts at (Madison Square Garden, New York City, would last 146 years before closing in 2017.
1891 The London to Paris telephone link came into operation.
1893 Wilfred Owen, English soldier & anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility), born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England (d. 1918).
1922 Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was jailed for six years by the British authorities for encouraging public disorder. He was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only 2 years of his sentence.
1947 The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, (born in Corfu - Greece on 10th June 1921), became a naturalized Briton.
1949 Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, Irish snooker player (2x world-champ), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 2010).
1952 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia).
1960 The naming ceremony of the steam locomotive Evening Star, at the Swindon Works, where the locomotive was built. Evening Star was the last steam locomotive built for British Rail.
1964 Born today multi-instrumentalist, Courtney Pine, British jazz musician from the black British band the Jazz Warriors.
1965 Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1965 The Rolling Stones were each fined £5 for urinating in a public place.
1967 The Beatles scored their 13th US No.1 single with 'Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever'.
1967 The Torrey Canyon oil tanker, with a cargo of 100,000 gallons of crude oil, ran aground on rocks between Land's End and the Scilly Isles and its cargo discharged into the sea.
1997 Born on this day in Ammanford, Charlotte Alexandra 'Alex' Jones, television presenter, best known for co-presenting The One Show on BBC since 2010.
1978 Wales beats France, 16-7 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch its 20th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship, a record 8th Grand Slam and record 3rd consecutive Triple Crown.
1990 1st free elections in East Germany, Conservatives beat Communists.
2003 British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.
2007 Former England Test cricket batsman, and Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is found dead one day after his team's defeat to Ireland puts them out of the World Cup in the West Indies. Died of diabetes at 58.
2011 Jet Harris, bass guitarist for The Shadows, died from throat cancer at the age of 71.
2014 Rhossili Bay near Swansea plummeted in the TripAdvisor rankings of the world's best beaches after some visitors grumbled about dark sand, cloudy water and bad weather.
2017 Chuck Berry [Charles Andersen], American rock n' roll guitarist and singer-songwriter (Roll over Beethoven), dies at 90.

 

[Muteswan]

19th March
1644 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to the Emperor.
1649 The House of Commons passed an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it 'useless and dangerous to the people of England'.
1848 Wyatt Earp, American frontiersman and marshal who participated in the gunfight at the OK Corral, born in Monmouth, Illinois (d. 1929).
1907 Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, the National Library of Wales, was established in Aberystwyth by Royal Charter on this day. The library is regarded as one of the greatest in the world and has the right of legal deposit, which is the right to obtain a copy of every printed work published in Britain and Ireland without cost. It has also made many of its most important manuscripts and books digitized and freely available on the library's website.
1921 The birth, in Caerphilly, of Tommy Cooper (Thomas Frederick Cooper), comedian and magician.
1928 Patrick McGoohan, American-born Irish actor, writer, and director (The Prisoner, Secret Agent/ Danger Man), born in Queens, New York (d. 2009).
1932 The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened in Sydney, Australia.
1936 Ursula Andress, Swiss model, actress and sex symbol (Dr. No, Casino Royale, She), born in Ostermundigen, Switzerland.
1947 Glenn Close, American actress (The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction), born in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1952 Harvey Weinstein, American film producer and convicted sex offender whose actions helped spark the #MeToo movement born in NYC, New York.
1954 "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket each score centuries in one innings; Clyde Walcott scores 124 following Everton Weekes (206) and Frank Worrell (167) in 1st innings of drawn 4th Test v England at Port of Spain.
1955 Bruce Willis, American actor (Moonlighting, Die Hard), born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany.
1958 Britain's first planetarium opens at Madame Tussaud's, London.
1971 T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hot Love.'
1974 Jefferson Airplane re-named the group and became Jefferson Starship.
1976 Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York.
1979 Richard Beckinsale, English actor (Doing Time, Porridge, Lovers), dies at 31.
1982 Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed.
1982 A group of Argentines landed at South Georgia (a dependency of the disputed Falklands Islands which Britain claimed in 1833) and planted their nation's flag. The provocation led to war between Britain and Argentina.
1986 Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Exactly six years later it was announced that they were to separate.
2002 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
2003 Airstrikes by an American and British-led coalition signal the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion.
2005 Wales beats Ireland, 32-20 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to win the Six Nations Rugby Championship and become the 1st team to complete a Grand Slam playing more games away than at home.
2008 Arthur C. Clarke, English sci-fi author (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End), dies of post-polio syndrome at 90.
2018 World's last male northern white rhino, 45 year old Sudan, dies in Kenya.
2020 Professional football in England is further postponed until 'no earlier than 30 April' due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[Muteswan]

20th March
1345 Saturn, Jupiter and Mars-conjunction: thought "cause of plague epidemic".
1727 Isaac Newton, English scientist and discoverer of the 'Laws of Gravity', died, aged 84.
1800 Alessandro Volta reports his discovery of the electric battery in a letter to Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London.
1917 Vera Lynn 'the Forces Sweetheart', English singer ("We'll Meet Again"; "The White Cliffs of Dover"), born in East Ham, London (d. 2020).
1930 American fast food restaurant chain "KFC" [Kentucky Fried Chicken] is founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in North Corbin, Kentucky.
1942 Born today in Caernarfon,Wyn Davies. Wales and Newcastle forward.
1951 English drummer and percussionist Carl Palmer who was a member of Atomic Rooster,Emerson Lake and Palmer born today.
1966 The football World Cup (Jules Rimet trophy) was stolen whilst being exhibited at Central Hall in London.
1974 An attempt was made to kidnap Princess Anne in the Mall by a gunman who fired six shots, then tried to drag her out of the car. He fled as passers-by joined her bodyguard and police to foil the attempt, and was later caught. Ian Ball, who was charged with attempted murder, claimed he did it to highlight the lack of mental care facilities.
1976 Patricia Hearst convicted of armed robbery.
1977 T Rex played their final ever gig when they appeared at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England.
1980 Mi Amigo, the ship from which the pirate radio station Radio Caroline broadcast its music programmes, sank during a severe storm.
1990 Singer Gloria Estefan fractures her spine when a truck hits her tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania.
1991 Conor Clapton, Eric Clapton's son, falls to his death out of 53rd floor window at 5.
1993 Two young boys (Johnathan Ball, aged 3 and Tim Parry aged 12) died and at least 50 people were injured in two bomb blasts close to Warrington's shopping centre.
2003 A US-led coalition launches a ground invasion of Iraq after an ultimatum for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq expires.
2014 Cancer Research UK released figures which showed that lung cancer rates among women in the UK had risen by 73% since 1975, but had fallen by 47% among men.
2019 A woman who can smell Parkinson's disease has helped researchers identify molecules on the skin of people with the disease in Manchester, England.
2020 India hangs four men for 2012 gang rape and murder of woman on a bus in New Delhi, country's first hanging since 2013.
2020 Kenny Rogers, American singer-songwriter (The Gambler, Through the Years) and entrepreneur (Kenny Rogers Roasters), dies of natural causes at 81.
2020 UK schools were shut from the end of afternoon school until further notice, as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
2020 Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia"

 

[Muteswan]

21st March
1413 Henry of Monmouth, Prince of Wales, becomes King Henry V of England.
1844 The original date predicted by William Miller of Massachusetts for the return of Christ and the end of the world.
1933 Born this day in Swansea, Michael Heseltine, politician and businessman who was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
1935 Persia is officially renamed Iran.
1935 Brian Clough, English football player and manager, born in Middlesborough, England (d. 2004).
1946 Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor (James Bond), born in Colwyn Bay, Wales.
1946 Labour politician Aneurin Bevan announced the Government's proposals for a free National Health Service, paid for by the taxpayer.
1950 Roger Hodgson, British rock singer-songwriter (Supertramp), born in Portsmouth, England.
1951 2,900,000 US soldiers in Korea.
1959 Born this day, in Gorseinon, Colin Jones, a former British, Commonwealth and European welterweight boxing champion who is regarded as the hardest punching welterweight of his time.
1960 Ayrton Senna, Brazilian auto racer (World F1 champion 1988, 90, 91), born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 1994).
1961 The Beatles played their first ever evening show at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, supporting The Swinging Bluegenes, (later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans).
1963 Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay is closed.
1964 Born this day in Pontarddulais, Ieuan Evans, former Wales and Lions rugby international and former Wales captain.
1965 Martin Luther King Jr. begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
1966 Matthew Maynard, cricketer, England and Glamorgan born in Oldham, Lancashire.
1967 Born this day, in Swansea, Carwyn Jones, former First Minister of Wales.
1975 Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player (World C'ship 2000, 03, 18; Triple Crown 2002-03), born in Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, Wales.
1980 On TV show "Dallas", J.R. is shot.
1984 Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon.
1986 Miguel Pérez Cuesta, known as Michu, born today in Orvieda. Played for Spain and Swansea City (2012-2015)
1990 A demonstration in London against the poll tax became a riot. More than 400 people were arrested.
1991 Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson's disease.
1991 The government announced plans for a new property tax in place of the controversial poll tax.
1997 The death of Wilbert Vere Awdry, Anglican cleric, railway enthusiast, and children's author. Better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, he was the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, the central figure in his Railway Series.
1999 Ernie Wise, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise), dies at 73.
1999 Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard and British aviator Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
2002 Schoolgirl Amanda Jane (Millie) Dowler is abducted in broad daylight on her way home from Heathside School in Walton-on-Thames, England.
2013 The European Space Agency reveals new data that indicates that the universe is 13.82 billion years old.
2019 Bangladeshi woman with two uteruses safely gives birth to twins 26 days after giving birth to another child.
2020 Day one of the closure of all the UK's cafes, pubs and restaurants (except for take-away food) in an effort to combat coronavirus. All nightclubs, betting shops, casinos, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres were also told to close as soon as they reasonably could. The government said the situation would be reviewed each month and that it would pay 80% of wages (up to £2,500 a month) for employees who were not able to work.

 

[Muteswan]

22nd March
1888 The English Football League was founded when 12 clubs met at a hotel in Fleet Street, London.
1903 Niagera Falls runs out of water because of a drought.
1912 Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor (Hard Day's Night, Steptoe and Son), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1985).
1926 The first directional road markings were introduced onto British roads (Hyde Park Corner, London). They caused confusion and led to seven accidents on the first day.
1931 William Shatner, Canadian author, director and actor (Star Trek, T J Hooker), born in Montreal, Quebec.
1941 James Stewart is inducted into the Army, becoming the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II.
1943 George Benson, American jazz and blues singer and guitarist (Breezin'), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1944 American movie star Jimmy Stewart flies his 12th combat mission, leading the 2nd Bomb Wing in an attack on Berlin.
1948 Andrew Lloyd Webber, British theatrical composer (Jesus Christ Superstar; Phantom of the Opera; Cats), born in London, England.
1949 Born this day, in Cardiff, John Toshack, former Wales soccer international and manager, best remembered as a player for his prolific partnership with Kevin Keegan for Liverpool, and as a manager for taking Swansea City from the Fourth Division to the First in four seasons.
1952 Wales wins Five Nations Rugby Championship, Grand Slam & Triple Crown with a 9-5 win over France at St. Helen's Ground, Swansea.
1979 The Provisional Irish Republican Army explode 24 bombs in various locations across Northern Ireland.
1980 Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart.
1993 Intel introduces Pentium-processor (80586) 64 bits-60 MHz-100+ MIPS.
2017 Four members of the public were killed and fifty injured at Westminster in a terrorist incident on Westminster Bridge. The terrorist, who was attempting an assault on the Houses of Parliament.was shot and killed after he drove his car at pedestrians on the bridge and then knifed PC Keith Palmer to death.
2018 The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" between Hawaii and California has 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and increasing rapidly according to new research.
2018 Musical "Frozen" opens on Broadway based on the film, starring Patti Murin and Caissie Levy.
2020 Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refuses American COVID-19 help, refers to conspiracy theory that it was manufactured by the US.
2233 James T Kirk, science fiction captain of USS Enterprise (Star Trek).

 

[Muteswan]

23rd March
1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London.
1857 Elisha Otis installs his 1st elevator at 488 Broadway in New York City.
1861 London's first tramcars began operating, along the Bayswater Road, from Notting Hill to Marble Arch. They had been designed by a Mr. Train who was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
1903 The Wright brothers 1st file a patent for a flying machine, which is granted 3 years later.
1929 Roger Bannister, English middle-distance athlete who was the 1st to run a 4 minute mile at Iffley Road Track, Oxford (1954), born in Harrow, England (d. 2018).
1957 Born this day in Gorseinon, Robbie James, a former Wales football international who was a regular member of the Swansea City side that rose from the Fourth Division to the First Division between 1978 and 1981. His total of 783 English league appearances between 1973 and 1994 is one of the highest of any player in the history of English football. James collapsed and died during a match for Llanelli on 18 February 1998.
1962 Steve Redgrave, British rower (5 Olympic gold medals 1984-2000) world's most successful male rower, born in Marlow.
1968 Mike Atherton, cricketer (Lancashire batsman & England captain).
1972 Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer, longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion in boxing history, born in Hammersmith, London, England.
1978 Born on this day in Treboeth, Swansea, Joanna Page, actress, best known for playing Stacey in the television series Gavin & Stacey.
1981 Mike Hailwood, MBE GM, British motorcycle road racer (World C'ships: 250cc – 1961, 66, 67; 350cc – 1966, 67; 500cc –1962, 63, 64, 65; 76 Grand Prix wins), dies in a car accident at 40.
1983 US President Ronald Reagan introduces Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars").
1983 Mo Farah [Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah], Somalian-born British distance runner (4 Olympic Golds), born in Mogadishu, Somalia.
1985 Billy Joel married model Christie Brinkley on a boat moored alongside the Statue Of Liberty. They divorced in 1993.
2001 The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
2011 Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian (Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) dies at 79.
2019 More than 1 million march to demand a new EU referendum in London, England.
2020 WHO says the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating, 1st 100,000 cases took 67 days, 2nd 100,000 cases 11 days, 3rd 100,000 cases 4 days.
2020 The prime minister, Boris Johnson, addressed the nation and told the public that they were only permitted to leave their homes for essential needs, in an attempt to reduce the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
2021 A minute's silence, held at midday, was part of a day of reflection to mark one year since the first coronavirus lockdown.

 

[Muteswan]

24th March
1603 Scottish King James VI son of Mary Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, thus joining the English and Scottish crowns.
1707 The Acts of Union 1707 was signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1733 Joseph Priestley, English chemist, theologian and author who discovered oxygen and carbonated water, born in Birstall, England (1804).
1874 Harry Houdini [Erich Weiss], Famous magician and escape artist, born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1926).
1877 The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames ended in a dead heat. Legend in Oxford has it that the judge, 'Honest John' Phelps, was asleep under a bush when the race finished, leading him to announce the result as a 'dead heat to Oxford by four feet'.
1905 Jules Verne, French writer known as the "Father of Science Fiction" (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77.
1906 "Census of the British Empire" shows Great Britain rules 1/5th of the world.
1911 Joseph Barbera, American animator (Hanna-Barbera - Tom and Jerry), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2006).
1930 Steve McQueen, American actor called "The King of Cool" during the 1960s (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape), born in Beech Grove, Indiana (d. 1980).
1935 Mary Berry, English food writer and TV presenter (The Great British Bake Off), born in Bath, England.
1942 US government begins moving native-born citizens with Japanese ancestry into detention centres under Executive Order 9066, with intention of preventing home-grown espionage.
1944 Born this day in Aberystwyth, Stephen Jones FRS, who is one of the best-known genetics expert in Britain and is also a television presenter and a prize-winning author on evolution. In 1996 his writing won him the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for his wide ranging contributions to the public understanding of science.
1946 Broadcaster Alastair Cooke read his first 'Letter from America' on BBC Radio. His weekly broadcasts continued for more than 50 years.
1947 Alan Sugar, English computer manufacturer (Amstrad; chairman / part-owner Tottenham Hotspur FC 1991-2001) and television celebrity (The Apprentice), born in London, England.
1953 Her Majesty, Queen Mary, (Queen Consort to King George V) died peacefully in her sleep after a long illness.
1956 Wales beats France, 5-3 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch their 13th Five Nations Rugby Championship.
1958 Elvis Presley joins the U.S. Army (serial number 53310761).
1966 Simon And Garfunkel made their UK singles chart debut with 'Homeward Bound.' Paul Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station, Widnes, England, while stranded overnight waiting for a train.
2016 Johan Cruyff, Dutch soccer player and coach (Ajax/Barcelona), dies at 68.
1973 Jim Parsons, actor (The Big Bang Theory), born in Houston, Texas.
1976 The death of British Field Marshal Montgomery, one of the outstanding Allied commanders in World War II.
2016 English footballer Adam Johnson sentenced to 6 years in prison for sexual activity with a schoolgirl.
2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announces postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games until summer of 2021 because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[Muteswan]

25th March
1199 King Richard I (the Lion Heart) of England, is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leads to his death on April 6
1807 On this day the Mumbles to Swansea Railroad became the world's first-fee paying railroad. At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, there was no road link between Swansea and Oystermouth and the railway's original purpose was to move coal, iron ore and limestone between the Swansea Canal and Swansea Harbour. Then in 1807, approval was given to carry passengers along the line as well. The line is renowned for having the most means of being powered of any railway in the world. It has been horse drawn, sail powered, steam powered and powered by electricity, petrol and diesel.
1807 British Parliament abolishes slave trade throughout the British Empire; penalty of £120 per slave introduced for ship captains
1876 The first football international between Wales and Scotland took place in Glasgow. Scotland won 4-0.
1911 Jack Ruby, American assassin who killed assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1967).
1942 Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter known as "The Queen of Soul" ("Respect") and first female performer inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2018).
1947 Elton John [Reginald Kenneth Dwight], English singer-songwriter and piano player, born in Pinner, Middlesex.
1950 Wales outclasses France, 21-0 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch the Five Nations Rugby Championship, Grand Slam and Triple Crown.
1957 Six European nations signed the Treaty of Rome thus establishing the Common Market. They were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Holland and Luxembourg.
1963 Johnny Cash recorded the June Carter/Merle Kilgore song 'Ring Of Fire.'
1964 The Beatles made their debut on UK TV show Top Of The Pops performing 'Can't Buy Me Love' and ‘You Can’t Do That.’ The show had been recorded on March 19th.
1967 The Turtles started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Happy Together'.
1972 America started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their debut hit 'Horse With No Name', it made No.3 in the UK.
1989 Scott Sinclair, English footballer, born today in Bath.
1999 The 13 year old singer Charlotte Church became the youngest artist to enter the American top 30 album chart.
2002 The death of Kenneth Wolstenholme, football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is perhaps most noted for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase 'Some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!', as Geoff Hurst scored England's fourth goal.
2002 The seven-year mystery of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards took a grisly twist when human feet were found near where he vanished in 1995.
2018 First scheduled non-stop flight between Australia and the UK, leaves Perth for Heathrow airport in London, arrives after 17 hours.
2019 Apple introduces new TV streaming platform Apple TV+, news service Apple News+ and an Apple credit card at star-studded event featuring Oprah.
2019 Scott Walker singer with The Walker Brothers died age 76.
2020 United Kingdom's Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19.

 

[Muteswan]

26th March
1780 1st British Sunday newspaper appears (British Gazette & Sunday Monitor).
1827 Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (5th Symphony, Ode to Joy), dies of liver disease at 56.
1839 1st Henley Royal Regatta on the river Thames, England.
1911 Tennessee Williams, American playwright (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), born in Columbus, Mississippi (d. 1983).
1931 Leonard Nimoy, American actor (Spock-Star Trek, Mission Impossible), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2015).
1937 Spinach growers of Crystal City, Texas, erect statue of Popeye.
1943 Bob Woodward, American author and investigative reporter (Watergate, CIA crimes), born in Geneva Illinois.
1944 Diana Ross [Earle], American singer and actress (the Supremes, Lady Sings Blues, Mahogany), born in Detroit, Michigan.
1945 David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1916-22), dies of cancer at 82.
1948 Steven Tyler, American rock vocalist (Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"; "Dude looks Like A Lady"), born in New York City.
1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine to prevent polio, clinical trials began the next year.
1966 Wales beats France, 9-8 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch their 15th Five Nations Rugby Championship.
1969 Marvin Gaye was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, with 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'.
1973 Noël Coward, English playwright (Hay Fever, Private Lives), director (In Which We Serve-1942 Academy Award), actor and singer, dies of heart failure at 73.
1976 Queen Elizabeth II sent out the first royal email, from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment.
1981 Four Labour defectors, known as the Gang of Four, launched the Social Democrats party. The four were Roy Jenkins, (former Labour cabinet minister), David Owen, William Rodgers and Shirley Williams.
1982 Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder release the single "Ebony & Ivory" in the UK.
1988 The Welsh Ornithological Society was founded today at a conference in Aberystwyth. The Welsh Ornithological Society (Cymdeithas Adaryddol Cymru) is an organisation which promotes the study and conservation of birds in Wales. The television presenter Iolo Williams has been the society's president since November 2009.
1992 Mike Tyson sentenced to 10 years in rape of Desiree Washington.
1996 Last day of 1st-class cricket for Allan Border (Qld v Vic).
2005 "Doctor Who" returns to BBC TV after 16 years with the debut of Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose.
2005 James Callaghan, British Prime Minister (Labour: 1976-79), dies of lobar pneumonia, cardiac failure and kidney failure at 92.
2015 Richard III of England (1452-1485) is reburied at Leicester Cathedral in England, after being discovered under a carpark in Leicester in 2012.
2018 Porn star Stormy Daniels claims she had an affair with Donald Trump in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes and was later threatened to keep quiet.

 

[Muteswan]

27th March
1306 Robert the Bruce (eighth Earl of Carrick) was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace, near Perth.
1713 Spain loses Menorca and Gibraltar to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht.
1790 The modern shoelace with an aglet patented in England by Harvey Kennedy.
1845 Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist who discovered X-rays (Nobel 1901), born in Lennep, Rhine Province (d. 1923).
1860 M L Byrn patents "covered gimlet screw with a 'T' handle" (corkscrew).
1863 Henry Royce, English industrialist and automobile founder (Rolls-Royce), born in Alwalton, England (d. 1933).
1912 James Callaghan, British Prime Minister (Labour: 1976-79), born in Portsmouth, England (d. 2005).
1933 Polythene discovered by Reginald Gibson & Eric William Fawcett.
1950 Tony Banks, British progressive rock keyboardist (Genesis), and film score and classical composer, born in East Hoathly, Sussex, England.
1950 Born this day in Cardiff, Terry Yorath, former Wales football international and manager, who captained the national side on 42 occasions. He was also a key member of Leeds United's championship-winning side in the 1973–74 season.
1952 "Singin' in the Rain", musical comedy directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
1963 The Beeching Report on Britain's railways was published. The report concluded that only half the network's routes carried enough traffic to cover the cost of operating them. Many lines and stations were subsequently closed.
1963 Quentin Tarantino, American director and screenwriter (Pulp Fiction), born in Knoxville, Tennessee.
1964 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England) started test transmissions.
1966 The stolen football world cup was found in south London by a dog called Pickles, whilst it was out for a walk with its owner.
1968 Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut and 1st man into space (aboard Vostok 1), dies in a Mig-15 plane crash at 34.
1971 Wales clinches its 17th Five Nations Rugby Championship, 6th Grand Slam and 12th Triple Crown with a 9-5 win over France at Stade Colombes, Paris.
1977 583 die in aviation's worst ever disaster when two Boeing 747s collide at Tenerife airport in Spain.
1981 "Blizzard of Ozz", the debut solo album by English rock musician Ozzy Osbourne, is released in the United States.
1991 David Icke, former footballer, BBC sports presenter and member of the Green Party, announced that he had been "chosen" to save the world.
1994 The Eurofighter takes its first flight in Manching, Germany.
2000 Ian Dury, English rock musician (The Blockheads) and actor (Judge Dredd), dies at 57.
2002 Dudley Moore, English comedian, actor (10; Arthur; Bedazzled), jazz pianist, and composer, dies at 66.
2019 UK Prime Minister Theresa May promises to stand down if parliament accepts her Brexit plan.

 

[Muteswan]

28th March
37 Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula (which means "little soldier's boots), accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.
1794 Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August).
1854 Britain and France declare war on Russia during the Crimean War.
1881 "Greatest Show On Earth" formed by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey.
1913 The first Morris Oxford car left the converted Military Academy at Cowley, Oxfordshire. It was William Morris's first factory.
1917 The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was founded. They were Britain's first official service women.
1921 Dirk Bogarde [Derek van den Bogaerde] British writer and actor (Death in Venice, Servant), born in London, England (d.1999)
1930 Turkish cities Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.
1935 Michael Parkinson, English broadcaster and talkshow host (Parkinson), born in Cudworth, West Riding.
1935 Robert Goddard uses gyroscopes to control a rocket.
1939 Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to the Nationalists headed by Francisco Franco.
1941 Virginia Woolf-Stephen [Adeline], British writer (To Lighthouse), dies from suicide at 59.
1942 Neil Kinnock, Leader of the British opposition (Labour Party), born in Tredegar, Wales.
1964 Madame Tussauds, London unveiled the wax works images of The Beatles, the first pop stars to be honoured.
1964 Pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, began transmitting from a ship in the North Sea. Simon Dee, who later became the first ‘pirate DJ’ to join the BBC was the first voice to be heard on Radio Caroline.
1970 Simon and Garfunkel were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.
1972 Elvis Presley records his final Top Ten hit, a cover of "Burning Love", written by Dennis Linde and first recorded by Arthur Alexander.
1973 Led Zeppelin released their fifth studio album, Houses Of The Holy in the UK.
1986 Lady Gaga [Stefani Germanotta], American singer-songwriter and actress, born in NYC, New York.
1987 Maria Augusta von Trapp, Austrian singer who inspired the "Sound of Music" (Trapp Family Singers), dies of heart failure at 82
1991 A jury returned a verdict of accidental death at the end of the inquest into the Sheffield Hillsborough disaster in which 96 football fans died. The 90-day inquest was the longest in British history and recommended extra security measures at football stadiums. On 19th December 2012 the original accidental death verdict was overturned, paving the way for a new investigation.
1994 BBC Radio Five Live broadcasts for first time in United Kingdom.
2003 In a "friendly fire" incident, two US A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 190th Fighter Squadron attack British tanks participating in the invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.
2004 Peter Ustinov, British actor, author, journalist, comedian and broadcaster, dies of heart failure at 82.
2017 A 12-sided £1 coin went into circulation. The new coins feature a string of security features including a hologram that changes from a '£' symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles.
2018 Captain Steve Smith and David Warner are suspended by Cricket Australia for 12 months, and Cameron Bancroft (9 months) for their part in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
2019 Study of a 71 year-old British woman who has never felt pain, for the first time understood as due to a gene mutation, published in British Journal of Anaesthesia.

 

[Muteswan]

29th March
1461 Over 28,000 people were killed in the battle of Towton, North Yorkshire, during the War of the Roses.
1795 Ludwig van Beethoven (24) has his debut performance as a pianist in Vienna.
1864 Great Britain gives the Ionian Islands back to Greece.
1871 Royal Albert Hall opened by Queen Victoria in London.
1882 Knights of Columbus chartered for Catholic men.
1912 Captain Robert Scott, storm-bound in a tent near South Pole, makes last entry in his diary "the end cannot be far".
1929 Ronald Clive Williams, Welsh actor and comedian (Twin Town), born in Cefneithin, Carmarthenshire, Wales (d. 1997).
1940 The Bank of England introduced thin metal strips into banknotes as an anti-forgery device.
1943 Vangelis [Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou], Greek composer and keyboardist (Chariots of Fire), born in Agria, Greece.
1949 Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (Brecker Brothers), born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania (d. 2007).
1959 "Some Like It Hot", directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, is released in NYC.
1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria.
1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
1981 The first London marathon took place, with around 7,000 entrants.
1986 Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia.
2004 The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
2014 Same sex weddings in England and Wales became legal, several months earlier than had been planned.
2015 A memorial to the murdered soldier Lee Rigby was opened at Middleton Memorial Gardens in Greater Manchester. The 25 year old fusilier was killed outside Woolwich Barracks in London on 22nd May 2013 by Islamist extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.
2017 UK Prime Minister Theresa May sends a letter to the EU invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally triggering Brexit.
2017 Man's body found inside a 7m long reticulated python in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
2019 The day written into law for the UK to leave the European Union, two years after the triggering of Article 50. Who knew eh?