On this day thread

[Muteswan]

10th May
1291 Scottish nobles recognize authority of English King Edward I.
1773 The British Parliament passed the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1818 Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot who alerted the colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, dies at 83.
1824 The National Gallery in London opens to the public in its temporary home in a townhouse on Pall Mall.
1838 John Wilkes Booth, American stage actor and assassin of US President Abraham Lincoln, born in Bel Air, Maryland (d. 1865).
1883 First appendectomy performed in North America by Abraham Groves in Canada.
1894 Hong Kong government declares port is infected with the plague. The outbreak will go on to kill 20,489 over 29 years.
1899 Fred Astaire [Austerlitz], American stage and screen tap dancer, singer ("Night And Day"; "Cheek To Cheek"; "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"), and actor (Royal Wedding; Easter Parade; Swingtime), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1987).
1904 Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh journalist and African explorer (discovered source of the Nile), dies at 63.
1920 Bert Weedon, English guitar player ("Play in a Day" books), born in London (d. 2012).
1924 J. Edgar Hoover appointed head of FBI.
1934 Born this day in Tredegar, Cliff Wilson - World Amateur Snooker champion 1978. Wilson is fondly remembered as one of snooker's great characters, with his dashing play, booming laugh and wheezing cough. Wilson turned professional and at the age of 55, he reached 14th spot in the world rankings during the 1988-89 season.
1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister.
1941 Rudolf Hess, deputy leader of Nazi Germany, flew a small plane to Scotland and parachuted to the ground in a bizarre attempt to negotiate a peace settlement with Britain. After interrogation he was later jailed for life.
1941 World War II - The worst night of the Blitz in Britain. 550 German bombers dropped 100,000 bombs on London. More than 1500 people were killed and many thousands more were injured.
1946 Donovan [Philips Leitch], Scottish guitarist and singer-songwriter ("Sunshine Superman"; "Mellow Yellow"; "Season Of The Witch"), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1957 Sid Vicious [John Simon Ritchie], English musician and bassist (Sex Pistols), born in London (d. 1979).
1960 Bono [Paul Hewson], Irish rock singer and lyricist (U2 - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"; "Desire"; "Beautiful Day"; "One"), born in Dublin, Ireland.
1966 Jonathan Edwards, Britain, triple jumper (Olympics-gold/silver-92, 96).
1969 Led Zeppelin made their first appearance on the UK album chart when the band's debut album charted at No. 6, going on to spend 71 weeks on the UK chart. It entered the US chart the following week at No. 10.
1969 Frank Sinatra's version of 'My Way' made the British Top ten for the first time.
1969 The Moody Blues started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'On The Threshold Of A Dream'.
1973 Bruce Lee collapses in Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong and is rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnose him with cerebral edema.
1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa's 1st black president.
1998 The political wing of the republican IRA backed the Good Friday peace agreement heralding a major shift in modern republicanism.
2000 India's population reaches 1 billion, baby girl Aastha born at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital chosen as symbolic billionth.
2017 Apple becomes the first company to be worth more than $800 billion.

 

[Muteswan]

11th May
868 "The Diamond Sutra", the world's oldest surviving and dated printed book is printed in Chinese and made into a scroll.
1812 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms. Some observers consider it disgusting and immoral.
1820 Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that would later take a young Charles Darwin on his famous scientific voyage.
1888 Irving Berlin [Israel Isidore Baline], American composer and lyricist considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history (God Bless America, White Xmas), born in Tyumen, Russian Empire (d. 1989).
1904 Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist artist (Crucifixion), born in Figueres, Spain (d. 1989).
1912 Phil Silvers, American comedian and actor (Sgt Bilko-Phil Silvers Show), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1985).
1921 Tel Aviv is 1st all Jewish municipality.
1937 The knighting of Pelham Warner, a cricketer, marked the first time the honour was conferred upon a sportsman.
1947 BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire (Akron Ohio).
1950 Jeremy Paxman, English broadcaster (University Challenge, Newsnight), born in Leeds, England.
1956 Elvis Presley's 1st entry on UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel".
1963 "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2.
1963 The Beatles started a 30 week run at No.1 on the UK album charts with their debut album 'Please Please Me'.
1964 Interior designer and businessman Terence Conran opened his first Habitat Shop in London's Fulham Road.
1967 Great Britain, Ireland & Denmark apply for membership of the EEC.
1968 Richard Harris releases "MacArthur Park".
1969 British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
1970 The triple soundtrack album Woodstock was released in the US, going gold within two weeks.
1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats" (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn first premieres in the West End, London.
1981 Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician ("One Love"; "Three Little Birds"; "No Woman, No Cry"), dies of brain and lung cancer at 36.
1985 Fifty six spectators died and more than 200 were injured in a flash fire at Bradford City stadium (Valley Parade football ground) during a match against Lincoln City. The inquiry into the disaster led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. One of the main outcomes of the inquiry was prohibiting the construction of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds.
2001 Douglas Adams, English author (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy), dies of myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia at 49.
2003 Noel Redding, English bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Purple Haze"), dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 57.
2010 David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after forming a coalition government between the Liberal Democrats and his own Conservative Party.

 

[Darran]

In memory of Robert Nesta Marley.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UvPovVpndRs

 

[Muteswan]

12th May
1215 English barons serve ultimatum on King John which eventually leads to the creation and signing of the Magna Carta.
1784 Ratified copies of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War exchanged between US and Great Britain, in Paris.
1789 William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice.
1812 Edward Lear, English landscape painter and poet (Complete Nonsense Book), born in London, England (d. 1888).
1820 The birth of Florence Nightingale, English hospital reformer who attended to the wounded during the Crimean War. She was born in Florence, but Embley Park in Hampshire was her family home from 1825 until her death in 1910. ‘The Lady of the Lamp’ had over 10,000 under her care in appalling and unsanitary conditions. Determined to remedy the suffering she had experienced, she raised £50,000 to establish nurses’ training in Britain.
1867 Born on this day in Bruges, Belgium to Welsh parents, Sir Frank Brangwyn, Britains’ leading decorative artist who produced a phenomenally large body of work across a diverse range of styles and disciplines. In 1924, Brangwyn was commissioned by the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords to produce panels commemorating the First World War, but they were rejected as being too flamboyant and were used instead in the Guildhall, Swansea.
1890 First official County Cricket Championship match begins; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire by 8 wickets at Bristol; James Cranston scores first century (101) in the competition.
1924 Tony Hancock, English comedian and actor (Hancock's Half Hour), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1968).
1928 Burt Bacharach, American Grammy and Academy Award winning composer ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again"; "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head"; Promises, Promises"), born in Kansas City, Missouri.
1937 The Coronation of George VI. The BBC televised the procession in its first ever outside broadcast. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became queen consort and was later known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
1942 Ian Dury, English rock musician (The Blockheads) and actor (Judge Dredd), born in Upminster, Essex (d. 2000).
1945 The publication of the first of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled 'The Three Railway Engines' and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry. The book quickly sold the initial print run of 22,500 copies and there were a further two print runs by the end of the year. Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage in Hampshire and his father was vicar of Ampfield Church.
1948 Steve Winwood, English singer, songwriter and musician (Spencer Davis Group - "Gimme Some Lovin'"; Traffic - "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys"; solo - 'Higher Love"; "While You See A Chance"), born in Birmingham, England.
1951 1st H Bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll in the north Pacific.
1956 Homer Simpson, fictional character from the long running television show "The Simpsons", born in Springfield.
1967 1st quadraphonic concert by Pink Floyd at the Games for May concert in London.
1967 "Are You Experienced" album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience first released - one of the most influential debut albums ever.
1969 The minimum voting age in Britain was lowered from 21 to 18.
1972 The Rolling Stones released Exile on Main Street, the second album on their own label.
1973 Led Zeppelin started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fifth album Houses Of The Holy.
1975 Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby union winger (youngest ever All Black, 63 internationals), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2015).
1980 Rishi Sunak, British politician (British Chancellor 2020-), born in Southampton, England.
1984 South African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife Winnie Mandela for the 1st time in 22 years.
1994 "Pulp Fiction", directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
2000 Thieves stole the gates to Strawberry Fields the Merseyside landmark immortalised by The Beatles song. The 10' high iron gates were later found at local scrap metal dealers in Liverpool.
2001 For the first time ever the FA Cup Final was held outside England when it took place at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
2001 (Pierino) "Perry" Como, American singer ("Catch A Falling Star") and TV personality (The Perry Como Show) dies at 89.
2003 Madeleine McCann, English child who mysteriously disappeared on holiday in Spain in 2007, born in Leicester, England.
2020 Russia's confirmed cases of COVID-19 reach 232,000, 2nd highest in the world, a day after President Vladimir Putin eased the country's lockdown.
2020 Wuhan, epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, draws up plans to test all 11 million residents after it records a new cluster of 6 cases.

 

[Muteswan]

13th May
1607 Captain John Smith landed on the coast of Virginia and began the first permanent English settlement in the New World, calling it Jamestown.
1767 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first opera "Apollo et Hyacinthus", written when he was 11 years old, premieres in Salzburg.
1787 The first fleet of ships carrying convicts to the new penal colony of Australia left England. They arrived in January 1788.
1842 Arthur Sullivan, English composer and collaborator with W.S. Gilbert, was born.
1868 A team of Aboriginal cricketers arrived in England to play 47 matches. They preceded a white Australian team by more than ten years.
1912 The Royal Flying Corps, (now known as the Royal Air Force), was established.
1913 1st four-engined aircraft built and flown (Igor Sikorsky, Russia).
1914 Joe Louis, American boxer (world heavyweight champion 1937-49), born in Lafayette, Alabama (d. 1981).
1949 1st British-produced jet bomber, the Canberra, makes its 1st test flight.
1950 Stevie Wonder [Stevland Hardaway Morris], American singer-songwriter ("You Are The Sunshine Of My Life"; "Sir Duke"), born in Saginaw, Michigan.
1950 First ever race of the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship is run at Silverstone, England and won by Giuseppe Farina of italy in an Alfa Romeo.
1957 The BBC began its regular television programmes for schools.
1961 Gary Cooper, 2 time Acad award-winning actor (High Noon), dies at 60.
1966 The Rolling Stones release "Paint it Black" in the UK.
1970 The world premiere of The Beatles film 'Let It Be' took place in New York City.
1977 England captain Tony Greig was fired for recruiting players to Australian Kerry Packer's rival World XI team in what was seen as a 'breach of trust'.
1978 Boney M were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Rivers of Babylon'.
1981 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square, Vatican City.
1982 Born on this day in Neath,Paul James, Wales rugby international.
1985 Born on this day in Carmarthen, Rheon, actor, best known for his roles in Game of Thrones and Misfits.
2000 In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage.
2004 The final episode of "Frasier" on NBC is watched by 33 million people.
2007 The first episode of 'Gavin & Stacey', a romantic situation comedy filmed mainly in South Wales.
2011 The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales announced the reinstatement of the rule of abstaining from eating red meat on Fridays to coincide with the first anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
2019 New study on the moon shows it is still shrinking with recent moonquakes as it cools, published in journal "Nature Geoscience".
2019 Doris Day [Kappelhoff], American singer ("Sentimental Journey; "Que Sera, Sera"), actress known as the "girl next door" (Pillow Talk; The Man Who Knew Too Much), and animal rights activist, dies of pneumonia at 97.

 

[Muteswan]

14th May
1727 Thomas Gainsborough, English painter and founder of the English School of portrait and landscape painting, was born.
1779 The classic English horse race The Oaks was first run at the Epsom Racecourse in southern England.
1787 Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up US constitution.
1796 Edward Jenner became the first British physician to carry out a successful vaccination; on an eight year old boy against smallpox. His pioneering work laid the foundation for modern immunology techniques.
1832 Felix Mendelssohn's concert overture "Hebrides" premieres in London.
1842 Illustrated London News; the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper, begins publication.
1889 The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is launched in London.
1894 Blackpool Tower first opened to the public who paid a 6d (six pence) entrance fee, six pence more for a ride in the lifts to the top, and a further six pence for the circus.
1919 Henry John Heinz, German-American entrepreneur who founded prepared-foods company (H.J. Heinz Company-57 varieties), dies at 74.
1926 Eric Morecambe [John Bartholomew], British comedian (Morecambe & Wise, Picadilly Palace), born in Morecambe, Lancashire (d. 1984).
1933 Born this day in Gwaun Cae Gurwen, Siân Phillips, a world famous actress best known for her roles in the television drama I Claudius (for which she won a BAFTA), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. She also starred in the films Becket (in which she appeared alongside her then husband Peter O'Toole), Goodbye, Mr Chips and Murphy's War.
1935 Born this day in Swansea, Mel Charles, former Wales soccer international and captain. He is the brother of John Charles and had the impressive record of going through his whole career without being booked or sent off.
1935 Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proved to be their last victory for 99 matches, a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win was not until May 29, 1939.
1940 British Local Defence Volunteers forms, an armed citizen militia designed to support the British Army during the Second World War. It is later renamed the Home Guard.
1943 (John) "Jack" Bruce, Scottish bassist and singer-songwriter (Cream - "Sunshine of Your Love"; "White Room"), born in Bishopbriggs, Scotland (d. 2014).
1944 George Lucas, American film director, screenwriter, and producer (Star Wars; Indiana Jones; American Graffiti), born in Modesto, California.
1948 Israel declares independence from British administration.
1951 Trains ran on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.
1953 It was today when 'Under Milk Wood' was first read on stage at The Poetry Centre, New York, and has been designated as the day when the life and work of Dylan Thomas are celebrated. Dylan Day.
1957 Elvis Presley was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after swallowing a porcelain cap from one of his front teeth, which then lodged its-self in one of his lungs.
1966 Megan Lloyd George, English politician (1st female MP for Welsh - Carmarthen), dies at 64.
1968 Greg Davis, Welsh-born, British stand-up comedian, actor, and former secondary school teacher (We Are Klang, The Inbetweeners, Cuckoo, Taskmaster), born in St Asaph, Denbighshire.
1973 Skylab launched, 1st Space Station.
1984 Mark Zuckerberg, American internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Facebook, born in White Plains, New York.
1998 American singer and actor Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles aged 82, after suffering a heart attack.
2015 [Riley B.] B.B. King, American blues guitarist and singer (The Thrill is Gone), dies at 89.
2020 Global death toll from COVID-19 passes 300,000 with 4.4 million confirmed infections.

 

[Muteswan]

15th May
1536 The trial of Anne Boleyn. She was accused of incest, sleeping with 4 men and an assassination plot against her husband, King Henry VIII. She was found guilty by a specially-selected jury and executed four days later.
1858 The present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London was opened.
1897 The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee is founded in Berlin by Magnus Hirschfeld, the first-ever LGBT rights organization.
1905 Las Vegas founded in Nevada.
1921 The formation of the British Legion by Earl Haig (known as 'Butcher of the Somme').. It brought together four National Organisations of ex-Service men that had established themselves after the Great War of 1914-1918 and it is the UK's leading Armed Forces charity. It provides practical, emotional and financial support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present, and to their families.
1928 Mickey Mouse makes his 1st ever appearance in silent film "Plane Crazy".
1935 Born today in Milan, Ted Dexter, English batsman.
1940 Richard and Maurice McDonald open the 1st McDonald's restaurant, in San Bernardino, California.
1948 Brian Eno, British rock and ambient musician (Roxy Music, David Bowie, U2, Coldplay), born in Woodbridge, Sussex.
1953 Mike Oldfield, British musician and composer (Tubular Bells), born in Reading, Berkshire.
1957 Operation Grapple: Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
1966 1st day of Sunday play in County Cricket, Essex v Somerset.
1967 Paul McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman for the first time.
1970 Ronald and Frank de Boer, Dutch players (Ajax) born today.
1973 The Llyn Brianne dam was officially inaugurated by Princess Alexandra. Llyn Brianne is a man-made reservoir in the headwaters of the River Tywi at Rhandirmwyn above Llandovery, constructed to provide water for Swansea and its surrounding area.
1974 Frank Zappa and his wife announced the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan, after the Japanese movie monster that lived off a steady diet of 707 planes.
1981 Zara Phillips, English daughter of Princess Anne, born in London.
1982 Asia went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album.
1987 Andy Murray, British tennis player (Olympic gold 2012, 16; Wimbledon 2013, 16), born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1990 Home produced beef was banned in UK schools and hospitals as a result of concern over 'mad cow disease' (BSE).
1991 Manic Street Preacher guitarist Richey Edwards carved '4 real' into his arm with a razor blade while being interviewed by music paper The NME.
1995 The British Police Federation voted against the routine arming of police officers.
2005 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith directed by George Lucas, starring Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
2010 Besian Idrizaj, Swansea City Footballer (b. 1987) died today in Linz Austria, barely two weeks after the end of the Championship campaign. Reports suggest he suffered a heart attack in his sleep. RIP.
2017 Ian Brady [Ian Duncan Stewart], British serial killer (Moors Murders), dies in prison at 79.

 

[Muteswan]

16th May
1220 English King Henry II lays a foundation stone for a new Westminster Abbey building in London.
1817 Mississippi River steamboat service begins.
1866 Charles E. Hires invents "Hires Root Beer".
1905 Henry Fonda, American stage and screen actor (Mr. Roberts; 12 Angry Men; On Golden Pond), born in Grand Island, Nebraska (d. 1982).
1919 Liberace [Wladziu Valentino], American pianist (Liberace Show, Evil Chandell-Batman), born in West Allis, Wisconsin (d. 1987).
1936 1st British air hostess Daphne Kearley flies to France.
1943 Operation Chastise: No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid, bombing the Möhne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley with bouncing bombs.
1943 SS General Jürgen Stroop orders the burning of the Warsaw Ghetto, ending a month of Jewish resistance. 13,000 Jews died, about half burnt alive or suffocated, German casualties less than 300.
1944 1st of 180,000+ Hungarian Jews reach Auschwitz.
1946 Robert Fripp, British progressive rock guitarist, composer (King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"; Fripp & Eno; Bowie - "Heroes"), record producer (Roches; Peter Gabriel; Darryl Hall), and Mr. Toyah Wilcox, born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset.
1947 Born on this day in Merthyr Tydfil, Owen Money (born Lynn Mittell), musician, actor, comedian, and radio presenter.
1951 The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights began between John F Kennedy International Airport in New York and Heathrow Airport in London.
1953 Django Reinhardt, Belgium born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer considered the most significant European jazz musician, dies at 43.
1955 Olga Korbut, Soviet gymnast (4 x Olympic gold 1972, 76), born in Grodno, Belarus.
1956 England cricket spin bowler Jim Laker takes 10-88 for Surrey v Australia in tour match at The Oval, London.
1962 B Bumble and the Stingers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Nut Rocker.'
1966 The Beach Boys release their groundbreaking album "Pet Sounds", containing hit singles "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "God Only Knows".
1970 The England World Cup Squad were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Back Home.'
1980 Former Buggles members Geoff Downes & Trevor Horn replace Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman in Yes.
1986 "Top Gun", directed by Tony Scott and starring Tom Cruise premieres.
1986 Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) comes back from the dead on TV show "Dallas".
1990 Jim Henson, American puppeteer, artist, screenwriter and filmmaker, and creator of 'the Muppets" (Sesame Street; The Muppet Show), dies of toxic shock syndrome caused by pneumonia at 53.
1990 Sammy Davis Jr., American vaudeville, stage, and screen dancer, singer ("The Candy Man"), actor (Ocean's 11), and Rat Pack member, dies of throat cancer at 64.
1991 Queen Elizabeth II becomes 1st British monarch to address US congress.
2001 Labour's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, punched a man who threw an egg at him during his visit to, Rhyl, North Wales. The two men were then involved in a scuffle before the police intervened and arrested Craig Evans, aged 29.
2007 Alex Salmond is elected First Minister of Scotland. He is first Scottish National Party leader to be elected First Minister after winning a historic victory at the Scottish general election on the 3rd May.
2010 Ronnie James Dio [Padavona], American singer, songwriter and musician (Elf; Rainbow; Black Sabbath; Dio; and Heaven & Hell), dies of stomach cancer at 67.
2011 Space shuttle Endeavour launches on its final commission in space.
2019 British people get drunk more than any other nation, 51 times a year according to the Global Drug survey, with English-speaking countries drinking the most.

 

[Muteswan]

17th May
1536 Anne Boleyn's 4 "lovers" executed shortly before her own beheading.
1620 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey.
1682 Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (raided ships off the Americas and West Africa between 1719-1722), born in Puncheston, Pembrokeshire, Wales (d. 1722).
1749 Edward Jenner, English physician, father of (western) immunology, pioneered smallpox vaccinations, born in Berkeley (d. 1823).
1859 Australian Rules Football first 'laws of the game' published.
1861 First color photograph of a tartan ribbon, shown by Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell to the Royal Institution in London.
1861 A group of holidaymakers set off from London on the first foreign 'package trip' arranged by Thomas Cook. It was a six day holiday in Paris.
1883 Buffalo Bill's 1st Wild West show opens in Omaha, Nebraska.
1890 Comic Cuts, 1st weekly comic paper, published in London.
1895 W. G. Grace completes his 100th 100 v Somerset at Bristol.
1900 British troops relieve Mafeking (Cape Colony).
1916 British Summer Time (Daylight Savings) introduced.
1949 Bill Bruford, PhD, British rock and jazz drummer (Yes; King Crimson; Genesis (touring only); Earthworks), born in Sevenoaks, Kent, England.
1958 Born this day in Stanleytown, Rhondda, Paul Whitehouse, a popular actor, writer and comedian who is best known for his appearances with Harry Enfield and as a member of The Fast Show comedy team. Johnny Depp described him as "the greatest actor of all time".
1967 The Tremeloes were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of a Four Seasons song, (the B-side to Rag Doll), 'Silence Is Golden',
1973 Stevie Wonder releases the music single "You are the Sunshine of my Life", goes to #1.
1973 Five British Army soldiers are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby-trap bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone.
1974 Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explode four bombs in Republic of Ireland, killing 33 civilians, wounding 300 (highest number of casualties in a single incident during "The Troubles").
1975 10CC releases "I'm Not in Love".
1993 Intel's new Pentium processor is unveiled.
2005 Singer Kylie Minogue is diagnosed with breast cancer at 36.
2008 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (82,752): Portsmouth beats Cardiff City, 1-0; Nwankwo Kanu scores 37' winner.
2010 Four weeks after a volcanic ash cloud disrupted flights over much of Europe, restrictions were lifted at all UK airports after the volcanic ash cloud moved away from UK airspace.
2012 Donna Summer, the 1970s pop singer known as the Queen of Disco, died of lung cancer.

 

[Muteswan]

18th May
1756 Great Britain declares war on France at the start of the Seven Years' War.
1830 Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for the manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower, to go into mass production. His first customer was Regent's Park Zoo in London.
1872 Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher (Nobel 1950), born in Trellech, Wales (d. 1970).
1882 The official opening of the Eddystone Lighthouse, the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site.
1909 Fred Perry, English tennis player and broadcaster (8-time Grand Slam singles winner), born in Stockport, England (d. 1995).
1911 Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (Symphony No. 2 - "Resurrection"), and conductor (New York Philharmonic, 1909-11), dies of heart disease at 50.
1916 A British Royal Inquiry into the Easter Rising in Dublin is set up in London.
1934 Trans-Word Airlines (TWA) begins commercial service.
1941 Miriam Margolyes, British-Australian character actress (Babe; Romeo and Juliet), born in Oxford, England.
1949 Rick Wakeman, British session pianist (Cat Stevens; David Bowie), and progressive rock keyboardist (Yes), born in London.
1954 The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.
1958 Toyah Wilcox, English singer ("I Want to Be Free"), actress, and Mrs. Robert Fripp, born in Birmingham, England.
1962 Born this day in St Asaph, Barry Horne, a former Wales football international and captain who later became chairman of the Professional Footballers Association and a television sports pundit.
1965 Ray Dolby founds Dolby Laboratories in London, England.
1967 Pink Floyd started recording their forthcoming single 'See Emily Play' at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London.
1980 Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage.
1991 Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield was the first Briton to go into space, as a participant in a Soviet space mission.
1995 "Braveheart" directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mel Gibson and Sophie Marceau premieres at the Seattle Film Festival.
2014 AstraZeneca, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company with operations in over 100 countries, rejected America company Pfizer's final offer of £63bn.
2017 American musician, singer and songwriter Chris Cornell died suddenly in Detroit after performing at a show with Soundgarden.

 

[Muteswan]

19th May
1536 Anne Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII, is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason.
1568 Queen Elizabeth I ordered the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
1780 About midday, near-total darkness descends on New England, now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada.
1879 Nancy Astor, American born British politician, 1st female MP in UK House of Commons, born in Danville, Virginia (d. 1964).
1890 Ho Chi Minh [Nguyễn Sinh Cung], Vetnamese communist revolutionary and President of North Vietnam (1946-69), born in Nghệ An Province, French Indochina (d. 1969).
1925 Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (1976-79) and revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge (1963-97), born in Prek Sbauv, Kampong Thom, Cambodia (d. 1998).
1925 Malcolm X [Little], African American human rights activist and Muslim minister, born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1965).
1935 T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia], British author, soldier and diplomat famous for his liaison role in Arabia during WWI, dies at 46, in a motorcycle accident in Dorset, England.
1944 240 gypsies transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork, Netherlands.
1945 Pete Townshend, English rock guitarist, vocalist and composer (The Who-Tommy), born in London, England.
1953 Victoria Wood, British comedian and actress (Dinner Ladies), born in Bury, Lancashire (d. 2016).
1970 Stuart Cable, drummer from Welsh rock band, Stereophonics, born today in Abercave. (d. 2010)
1973 Stevie Wonder went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'You Are The Sunshine Of My Life'.
1978 Dire Straits released their first major label single 'Sultans Of Swing', recorded on a £120 budget.
1979 Supertramp went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Breakfast In America'.
1981 5 British Army soldiers are killed when their armoured vehicle is ripped apart by a Provisional Irish Republican Army roadside bomb near Bessbrook, County Armagh.
1982 Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion.
1984 Bob Marley and the Wailers started a 12-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with the compilation album 'Legend', released to commemorate the third anniversary of Marley's death.
1994 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American 1st lady (1961-63), dies of cancer at 64.
1997 Health Secretary Frank Dobson announced that the sponsorship of sports events by tobacco firms was to be outlawed. It gave a temporary exemption for Formula One motor-racing, whose owner, Bernie Ecclestone, had earlier donated £1m to the Labour Party.
1997 "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg premieres in the US.
1999 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas, is released in cinemas.
2014 The extradited radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who rose to prominence for his fiery sermons at a north London mosque, was found guilty in New York of supporting terrorism. The jury reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all 11 terror charges.
2018 American actress Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry at a ceremony in Windsor Castle, making her a member of the British royal family.

 

[Muteswan]

20th May
1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet.
1506 Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer and navigator who discovered the "New World" for Spain and initiated European colonization, dies around the age of 54.
1609 Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by publisher Thomas Thorpe.
1840 York Minster was badly damaged by fire, the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe.
1867 Royal Albert Hall of Arts & Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London.
1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue jeans with copper rivets.
1895 The birth,in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, of Reginald Joseph Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire aircraft.
1908 Jimmy Stewart, American actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life), born in Indiana, Pennsylvania (d. 1997)
1913 The first Chelsea Flower Show was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, attracting around 200,000 visitors. The show started in 1827, moving to larger venues until it settled in Chelsea.
1927 At 7:40 AM, Charles Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris, aboard Spirit of St Louis (1st non-stop flight).
1932 Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland on her journey to become the 1st woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic.
1942 Born this day in Nantymoel, near Bridgend, Lynn Davies, 1964 Long Jump Olympic champion. Lynn was also the 1966 European Champion and flag bearer at the 1968 Olympics, being later elected President of the UK Athletics Members Council.
1944 (John) "Joe" Cocker, English rock vocalist ("With A Little Help From My Friends"; "Cry Me A River"; "You Are So Beautiful"), born in Sheffield, England, (d. 2014).
1946 Cher [Cherilyn Sarkisian], American singer ("I Got You Babe"; "If I Could Turn Back Time"), and actress (Mask; Moonstruck), born in El Centro, California.
1956 Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane at Bikini Atoll.
1961 Born on this day in Bridgend,Owen Teale, actor, best known for his role as Ser Alliser Thorne in Game of Thrones.
1967 BBC bans the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" because of drug references.
1970 Louis Theroux, English television broadcaster (Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, When Louis Met....), born in Singapore.
1990 Hubble Space Telescope sends its 1st photographs from space.
1996 Jon Pertwee, English actor and entertainer (third Doctor in Doctor Who, Worzel Gummidge), dies from a heart attack at 76.
2005 Kylie Minogue had a cancerous lump removed from her breast at St Frances Xavier Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
2012 Robin Gibb, British singer-songwriter (The Bee Gees - "Night Fever"), dies from colon and liver cancer at 62.
2015 5 major world banks (JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup, RBS and UBS) fined US$5.7bn for manipulating currency markets - some of the largest ever fines.
2019 Niki Lauda, Austrian auto racer (F1 world champ 1975, 77, 84), dies of kidney problems at 70.

 

[Darran]

20th May
2012 Robin Gibb, British singer-songwriter (The Bee Gees - "Night Fever"), dies from colon and liver cancer at 62.

I’d have liked to have seen The Bee Gees.

 

[Muteswan]

21st May
1840 Captain William Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over New Zealand; the North Island by treaty and the South Island by 'discovery'.
1875’Myfanwy',.Wales’ most famous love song was first performed at the opening concert of the Aberystwyth and University Musical Society, The occasion was the 34th birthday of the song's composer, Joseph Parry, who at the time was Professor of Music at Aberystwyth University.
1894 The official opening, by Queen Victoria, of the Manchester Ship Canal.
1904 Thomas "Fats" Waller, American jazz organist, piano player, singer and composer ("Ain't Misbehavin'"; "Honeysuckle Rose";"Hot Chocolate"), born in NYC, New York (d. 1943).
1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris.
1916 Britain begins "Summer Time" (daylight saving time).
1917 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth military forces.
1927 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic.
1932 After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman.
1945 Nazi SS-Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler captured.
1948 (Gerard) "Leo" Sayer, British songwriter and singer ("You Make Me Feel Like Dancing"; "When I Need Love"), born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.
1958 It was announced that automated telephone connection, making calls easier and cheaper, would be introduced in December.
1966 American boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended the hopes of British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper winning the world heavyweight titles when the bout was stopped in Round 6 because of a severe cut above Cooper's eye.
1966 A "loyalist" group calling itself the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) issued a statement declaring war on the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
1975 Trial against Baader-Meinhof-group begins in Stuttgart.
1977 Stevie Wonder's single "Sir Duke", a tribute to Duke Ellington and other musical influences of Wonder's, begins a 3-week run at #1.
1982 British troops land on Falkland Islands.
1982 Today, Swansea City F.C. completed their first ever season in the UK Football League First Division with a sixth place finish. Their year on year rise from Division Four to the top division is a record in UK football.
1985 Born on this day in Acton, London,Thomas Henry Alex 'Hal' Robson-Kanu, Wales soccer international, who qualifies to play for Wales because his grand mother was born in Caerphilly.Robson-Kanu, who currently plays for West Bromwich Albion was a member of Wales' memorable Euro 16 campaign, in which they eventually lost in the semi-final to the eventual winners Portugal. During the tournament he scored a memorable goal against Belgium that was subsequently nominated for Fifa's Puskas Award.
1991 Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister (1984-89), assassinated at 46 by a suicide bomber from the LTTE.
2000 Sir John Gielgud, British stage and screen actor and director (Hamlet, Arthur, Ages of Man), dies at 96.
2007 Cutty Sark, the last surviving tea clipper, is badly damaged by fire in Greenwich, England.
2013 Microsoft announces the release of Xbox One.

 

[Muteswan]

22nd May
2021 Swansea city reach the playoff final at Wemberlee!
Sorry very busy day today, unable to give normal service. Busy week ahead too, might not be my usual drivel to try to keep you all informed.