It happened today – this day in history – January 30
- It happened today – this day in history – August 3 - 03/08/2021
- It happened today – this day in history – August 2 - 02/08/2021
- It happened today – this day in history – August 1 - 01/08/2021
1505: English composer Thomas Tallis is born in Kent.
1607: Massive flooding in England destroys around 200 square miles of coastline and results in approximately 2,000 casualties.
1647: After nine months of negotiations, Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I to the English Parliament for around £100,000.
1648: Spain and The Netherlands sign Peace of Munster, ending the Thirty Years War.
1649: Charles I is beheaded for treason.
1661: Oliver Cromwell is ritually executed having already been dead for two years.
1804: Scottish explorer Mungo Park leaves England seeking the source of the Niger River.
1806: Prussia takes possession of Hanover.
1818: John Keats writes his sonnet “When I Have Fears”.
1826: The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world’s first modern suspension bridge, connecting Anglesey to the north west coast of Wales is opened.
1835: Richard Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C. In the first attempted assassination of a US President.
1847: Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco.
1858: Charles Hallé founds the Halle Orchestra in Manchester.
1873: Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” is published.
1883: England cricket team presented with the ashes of a bail after Sydney Test.
1889: Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling.
1902: Britain and Japan sign a treaty which commits each country to supporting an independent China and Korea, although it acknowledges Japan’s ‘special interest’ in Korea.
1913: The House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.
1921: French rapist and murderer Henri-Desire Landru is sentenced to death.
1924: Great Britain clinch inaugural Olympic curling gold medal with a 46-4 win over France at the Chamonix Games.
1933: President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor of Germany. Hindenburg’s former WWI colleague, General Erich Ludendorff, sends a letter to him stating: “This accursed man will cast our Reich into the abyss and bring our nation to inconceivable misery”.
1940: Benjamin Britten’s “Lesson Illuminations” premieres in London.
1943: Adolf Hitler promotes Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, to Field Marshal in the hope that he will not surrender.
1948: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse. On the same day, aviation pioneer Orville Wright dies aged 76. Also, the Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland.
1952: Truce talks aimed at ending fighting in the Korean War end in deadlock.
1965: Sir Winston Churchill receives a full state funeral.
1968: The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launch the Tet offensive against South Vietnamese and US forces.
1969: The Beatles with Billy Preston, played an impromptu gig on roof of the Apple building in Savile Row, London. Lasting for just over 40 minutes until the police intervened, it was the last time they performed together.
1972: British troops open fire on a crowd of demonstrators in the Bogside district of Londonderry, killing 13 civilians in what becomes known as Bloody Sunday. On the same day, Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
1973: A Jury finds Watergate defendants G Gordon Liddy and James McCord guilty on all counts.
1975: Erno Rubik applies for a patent for his “Magic Cube” invention.
1976: George H. W. Bush becomes 11th director of CIA.
1982: Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”. On the same day, Blues artist Lightnin’ (Sam) Hopkins dies of cancer aged 70.
1983: The Washington Redskins beat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17 in Pasadena for the Super Bowl.
Singles chart:
- Down Under – Men At Work
- Electric Avenue – Eddy Grant
- You Can’t Hurry Love – Phil Collins
- Sign Of The Times – The Belle Stars
- Too Shy – Kajagoogoo
- Gloria – Laura Brannigan
- The Story Of The Blues – Wah!
- The Cutter – Echo and the Bunnymen
- Steppin’ Out – Joe Jackson
- New Year’s Day – U2
Album chart:
- Business As Usual – Men At Work
- Richard Clayderman – Richard Clayderman
- Night And Day – Joe Jackson
- Raiders Of The Pop Charts – Various Artists
- Hello I Must Be Going – Phil Collins
- Heartbreaker – Dionne Warwick
- The John Lennon Collection – John Lennon
- Killer On The Rampage – Eddy Grant
- Feline – The Stranglers
- Cacharpaya: Panpies Of The Andes – Incantation
TV on this day (Sunday)
| LONDON WEEKEND | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 09.30 | Star Fleet | ||
| 10.00 | Morning Worship | ||
| 10.30 | Living Proof | ||
| 11.00 | Getting On | ||
| 11.30 | Matt and Jenny on the Wilderness Trail | ||
| 12.00 | Weekend World Political interviews with Brian Walden | ||
| 13.00 | The American Documentary | ||
| 14.00 | The Law Machine | ||
| 14.30 | London News Headlines | ||
| 15.00 | David Frost Presents The Guiness Book of Records | ||
| 16.00 | Sunday Sunday | ||
| 17.00 | Police 5 | ||
| 17.05 | The Smurfs | ||
| 17.30 | The Forgotten Story | ||
| 18.01 | Encounter | ||
| 18.30 | ITN News | ||
| 18.40 | The Other Side of Me | ||
| 19.15 | Live from Her Majesty’s Variety show hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck | ||
| 20.15 | Hart to Hart US series starring Robert Wagner and Stepfanie Powers | ||
| 21.10 | The Professionals Crime action series starring Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins | ||
| 22.10 | ITN News | ||
| 22.25 | The South Bank Show | ||
| 23.25 | London News Headlines | ||
| CHANNEL 4 | |||
| 13.05 | Right to Reply | ||
| 13.35 | Irish Angle | ||
| 14.05 | Continental Comedy | ||
| 15.45 | Old Country | ||
| 16.15 | People to People | ||
| 16.55 | News Headlines and Weather | ||
| 17.00 | Enterprise | ||
| 17.30 | Face the Press | ||
| 18.00 | American Football | ||
| 19.00 | Pavarotti and Friends | ||
| 20.00 | On the Razzle | ||
| 22.15 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | ||
| 22.45 | Superbowl The Washington Redskins take on the Miami Dolphins | ||
| BBC ONE | |||
| 09.00 | Bagpuss | ||
| 09.15 | Sunday Worship | ||
| 10.00 | Asian Magazine | ||
| 10.30 | Maths Help | ||
| 10.40 | Let’s Go! | ||
| 10.55 | Buongiorno Italia! | ||
| 11.20 | Russian – Language and People | ||
| 11.45 | Delia Smith’s Cookery Course | ||
| 12.10 | See Hear! | ||
| 12.35 | Making the Most of the Micro | ||
| 13.00 | Farming | ||
| 13.25 | Business Club | ||
| 13.50 | News Headlines | ||
| 13.55 | Film Matinee: Ensign Pulver (1964) Comedy starring Burl Ives and Walter Maatthau | ||
| 15.35 | Cartoon | ||
| 15.45 | Match of the Day Highlights from four of the ties from the FA Cup fourth round introduced by Jimmy Hill | ||
| 16.55 | The Good Life Comedy starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal | ||
| 17.25 | Dombey and Son Adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel | ||
| 17.55 | News | ||
| 18.05 | Holiday | ||
| 18.40 | Songs of Praise | ||
| 19.15 | Last of the Summer Wine Comedy series starring Bill Owen and Peter Sallis | ||
| 19.45 | Nanny Drama series starring Wendy Craig | ||
| 20.40 | Mastermind | ||
| 21.10 | Bergerac John Nettles stars as a Jersey policeman | ||
| 22.05 | News | ||
| 22.15 | Omnibus | ||
| 23.05 | Sunday Night | ||
| 23.40 | Phil Silvers | ||
| BBC TWO | |||
| 10.10 | Open University | ||
| 13.55 | Rugby Special | ||
| 14.45 | International Snooker The Benson & Hedges Masters | ||
| 15.35 | Horizon | ||
| 16.35 | International Cricket | ||
| 17.20 | News Review | ||
| 17.50 | Ski Sunday | ||
| 18.30 | The Money Programme | ||
| 19.15 | The World About Us | ||
| 20.05 | News on 2 | ||
| 20.10 | International Snooker | ||
| 21.10 | The Oppermanns Two-part drama shown throughout the world tonight and tomorrow – exactly 50 years after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. | ||
| 22.55 | International Snooker |
1988: During a court case involving Holly Johnson and ZTT Records it was revealed that Frankie Goes To Hollywood had not played on their hits Relax and Two Tribes.
1989: Five Pharaoh sculptures from 1470 BC are found at temple of Luxor.
1990: Unhappy with the re-issue of the band’s early single Sally Cinnamon, The Stone Roses trashed their former record company Revolver FM’s offices and threw paint over cars. The band were arrested and charged with criminal damage.
1991: Iraqi troops seize control of Al Khafji, inside the Saudi Arabian border after a fierce battle in which 12 American marines were killed.
1994: The Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills, 30-13 in Atlanta to win the Super Bowl.
1995: A car bomb explodes in Algiers, killing 42 and wounding 296.
1996: Gino Gallagher, suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
2000: The St. Louis Rams beat The Tennessee Titans, 23-16 in Atlanta for the Super Bowl.
2003: “Shoe bomber” Richard Reid is sentenced to life in jail for trying to bomb an American Airlines flight carrying 197 people.
2007: Death of novelist Sidney Sheldon aged 89.
2008: Seath of TV host Jeremy Beadle aged 59.
2011: Death of film score composer John Barry aged 77.
2016: Boko Haram militants on motorcycles attack Dalori village near Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing at least 65 and injuring 136.
2019: Scientists reveal discovery of cavity six miles long, 1,000 feet deep under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, leading to fears it might collapse and raise sea levels by two feet.
2020: The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern at a meeting in Geneva.
BIRTHDAYS: Gene Hackman, actor, 91; Vanessa Redgrave CBE, actress, 84; Phil Collins, drummer/singer-songwtiter, 70; Mark Eitzel, guitarist, 62; Eddie Jones, rugby coach, 61; Jody Watley, singer, 60; Angie Stone, singer-songwriter, 57; Filipe VI (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia) King of Spain, 53; Darren Boyd, actor, 50; Olivia Coleman, actress, 47; Christian Bale, actor, 47; Peter Crouch, footballer, 40; Dimitar Berbatov, footballer, 40.
