22nd February

[chenrezig]

1371 King Robert II of Scotland succeeded to the throne, beginning the Stuart dynasty. Following a palace coup he lost control of the country. He died in Dundonald Castle in 1390 and lies buried at Scone Abbey.

1797 Over 1,000 French troops attempted to invade Britain and landed at Fishguard, but were soon captured by the brave ladies of the town. No other foreign force has managed to invade mainland Britain since.

1857 The birth of Sir Robert (Stephenson Smyth) Baden-Powell, English hero of the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War. His innovative approach to the situation kept morale high and his experiences led to the founding of the Boy Scouts.

1889 The birth of Lady Olave Baden-Powell, wife of Robert Baden-Powell. She was Chief Guide for Britain in 1918 and World Chief Guide in 1930. As well as making a major contribution to the development of the Guide movement, she visited 111 countries during her lifetime, attending Jamborees and national Guide and Scout associations.

1903 The Cunard Liner Etruria arrived in New York with a copy of the first newspaper ever published in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It featured news reports transmitted from Britain by wireless while the ship was at sea. Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, was one of the ship's passengers.

1908 John Mills, English film and television actor, was born. He made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He often played traditionally British heroes and he was particularly associated with war dramas, such as The Colditz Story and Ice Cold in Alex . He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter.

1915 World War I: Germany instituted unrestricted submarine warfare.

1944 World War II: Allied American aircraft mistakenly bombed the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.

1956 The first football league match to be played under floodlighting took place at Portsmouth. The home side lost 2-0 to Newcastle United.

1969 The last time all four Beatles were together for a recording session.

1972 The Official Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, Hampshire, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.

1980 British ice skater Robin Cousins won a gold medal for figure skating in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.

1995 Prime Minister John Major and Irish Prime Minister John Bruton, presented a 37-page framework document intended to guide the peace negotiations over Northern Ireland.

2006 At least six men staged Britain's biggest ever robbery, stealing £53m from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

[Rosalind]

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[wendy]