19th March

[chenrezig]

1649 The House of Commons passed an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it 'useless and dangerous to the people of England'.

1702 Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeded to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland on the death of William III of Orange.

1813 Dr. David Livingstone was born. He was a Scottish missionary and explorer and the first white man to see the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi.

1821 The birth of Sir Richard Francis Burton, English scholar and explorer who discovered the source of the Nile.

1921 Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war took place at Crossbarry in County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escaped an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.

1938 The BBC televised its first rugby match, the Calcutta Cup game between England and Scotland at Twickenham. Scotland won 21-16.

1945 World War II: Adolf Hitler issued his 'Nero Decree' ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed in order to prevent their use by Allied forces as they penetrated deep within Germany.

1958 Britain’s first planetarium opened at Madame Tussaud’s, London.

1965 The Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to wear ties to save tie makers from financial disaster.

1969 British troops landed on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, after the island declared itself a republic. They were well received, and the island remained a UK dependency.

1969 The 1,263 ft. tall TV-mast at Emley Moor in Yorkshire collapsed due to a build up of ice.

1982 A group of Argentines landed at the British colony of the Falkland Islands 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.

1988 Two British soldiers, in civilian clothes, blundered into an IRA funeral in Northern Ireland and were kicked and beaten to death.

2003 British troops were poised to invade Iraq as Saddam Hussein defied a final United States ultimatum to leave the country or face war.

[annie]

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