24th February

[chenrezig]

1303 The Battle of Roslin - a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. The war itself lasted from the invasion by England in 1296 until the legal restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh - Northampton in 1328.

1711 The London première of Handel's 'Rinaldo'. It was the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

1809 The third Theatre Royal Drury Lane was destroyed by fire. It was uninsured and still not paid for, so it was a financial disaster for the owners, who included Sheridan.

1909 Suffragettes attempted to break into the Houses of Parliament. The police made 29 arrests.

1920 Lady Nancy Astor, (the first woman to ever hold a seat in the House of Commons), became the first woman to speak in Parliament.

1923 The Flying Scotsman began hauling scheduled services between London & Scotland. After major restoration at York's National Railway Museum and Bolton she will return to mainline working in 2016. Test runs were carried out in January 2016 on the East Lancashire Railway

1926 The birth of Jean Alexander, BAFTA Nominated English television actress. She is best known for her role as Hilda Ogden in the soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played for 23 years and also as Auntie Wainwright on the longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010.

1932 Malcolm Campbell beat his own land speed record at Daytona Beach by reaching 253.96 mph.

1940 The birth of Denis Law, Scottish footballer. He is the only Scottish player in history to have won the prestigious European Footballer of the Year award, which he did in 1964. Law was Manchester United's second highest goal scorer behind Bobby Charlton and holds a United record for scoring 46 goals in a single season.

1950 Clement Attlee was returned as prime minister, but with a single figure majority.

1962 The Beatles played a concert at the Birkenhead YMCA for a fee of £30. The audience didn't enjoy the show and the Beatles were booed off stage. They left early for a second gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and the rest, as they say, is history.

1971 Commonwealth citizens lost their automatic right to remain in the UK under the government's new Immigration Bill.

1981 The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer ended months of speculation by announcing that they would marry in the summer.

1988 The first baby born from an embryo frozen after the fertilization of a donated egg was delivered at Dulwich Hospital, south London, to Mrs. Ann Forrester, 37, by Caesarean section.

1993 The famed English footballer Bobby Moore, died. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats of world football.

1999 Home Secretary Jack Straw published the McPherson Report into the police handling of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. The Metropolitan Police were criticised for what the report called 'institutionalised racism'.

[annie]

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[Rosalind]

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[wendy]