25th May

[chenrezig]

1659 Lord protector Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver, resigned his position - leading to the restoration of the monarchy and the crowning of Charles II in 1660.

1713 John Stuart, Earl of Bute, Britain's first Scottish prime minister was born.

1768 Captain James Cook sailed on his first voyage of discovery, on which he explored the Society Islands and charted the coasts of New Zealand and West Australia.

1871 The House of Commons passed the Bank Holiday Act, creating public holidays on Easter Monday, Whit Monday and Christmas Day.

1878 Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique in London.

1879 Birth of William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British newspaper magnate (Daily Express and the Evening Standard). Lloyd George made him Minister of Information and Churchill made him Minister of Supply during the Second World War, a task he fulfilled brilliantly to produce sufficient aircraft to meet the German challenge.

1895 At the end of a sensational trial, Irish writer Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency in his relations with the son of the Marquess of Queensberry. He was sentenced to two years hard labour.

1913 Birth of Richard Dimbleby, award-winning English broadcaster and journalist who became the BBC’s first war correspondent.

1914 The House of Commons passed the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.

1934 The death of Gustav Holst, the English composer most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets.

1951 British diplomats Burgess and Maclean were reported missing. It was later discovered that both were Soviet spies and had defected to Moscow.

1953 Gordon Richards, British champion jockey 26 times, was knighted.

1955 The first ascent of Kangchenjunga the third highest mountain in the world at 28,169 ft (8,586 m), occurred On This Day. The British expedition was led by Joe Brown and George Band.

1962 Consecration of Coventry's new cathedral, designed by Sir Basil Spence. The new church replaced the cathedral that was destroyed by German bombing during World War II.

1967 Glasgow Celtic became the first British football club to win the European Cup beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon.

1982 HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine Skyhawks during the Falklands War. Nineteen of her crew were lost and a further thirty injured.

1994 The Camelot consortium won the contract to run Britain's first national lottery, starting in November.

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[Rosalind]

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