It happened today – this day in history – September 8
Email: mickferris@yellowad.co.uk
1157: King Richard I was born in Oxford, third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He became known as Richard the Lionheart. Although he reigned for nearly 10 years, he was only in England twice as he was away on crusades.
1504: Michelangelo’s 13ft marble statue of David is unveiled in Florence, Italy
1664: The Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was seized by the English and re-named New York, in honour of James, Duke of York, the future King James II.
1760: The French surrender the city of Montreal to the British
1886: Siegfried Sassoon, First World War poet, was born in Brenchley, Kent.
1888: The first English Football League matches were played.
1944: The first German V2 flying bombs fell in Britain.
1960: Penguin Books is charged with obscenity over its intention to publish the 1928 D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
1966: The Severn Bridge was officially opened by the Queen.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Drugs with a potential street value of £27 million were found hidden in a lorry load of vegetables at a port.
BIRTHDAYS: Michael Frayn, writer, 86; Anne Diamond, journalist/TV presenter, 65; Victor Ubogu, former rugby union player, 55; David Arquette, actor, 48; Martin Freeman, actor, 48; Richard Hughes, musician (Keane), 44; Pink, pop singer, 40; Avicii, DJ, 30.
