On this day in history

[Towpack]

We had a week long school trip to Paris in April 1970 with a visit to Orly Airport and remember seeing Concorde stood on the tarmac. We just stood there gawping at it through the security fencing. That was the highlight of the whole trip for me!

 

[Towpack]

On this day in 1927, J G Parry Thomas lost his life on Pendine Sands while trying to regain the land speed record in “Babs”. He took the record twice the previous year but lost it Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird.

 

[flint]

On this day in 1969 Supersonic airliner Concorde makes its maiden flight.

When we lived in London, we were on its flight path, a lovely sight but loud. When we moved to Wales, every evening there was a distant rumble (one old lady thought it was someone rattling her windows) and it was the tail end of the supersonic boom as it decelerated over the Atlantic.

 

[flint]

On this day in 1927, J G Parry Thomas lost his life on Pendine Sands

Babs lives !

And a bit more:

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1987 A car ferry, MS Herald of Free Enterprise, capsizes just outside the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 people.
The British ferry keeled onto its side around 23 minutes into what should have been a routine journey from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Dover, and dropped into the freezing North Sea.
The sinking was caused by the failure to close the bow doors, and leaving port without knowing whether the bow doors were closed.
One of the divers recovering bodies was the husband of a girl I worked with at the Opera House, he said it was awful swimming through the wreck and encountering a body floating there.

 

[Chas]

Happy birthday! On this day in 1917

 

[jibberjabber]

1964

The seaside holiday resort of Clacton was the scene of pitched battles by rival gangs of 'mods' and 'rockers'.

 

[jibberjabber]

2002

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, (born August 4th 1900), died peacefully in her sleep, aged 101.

 

[jibberjabber]

This Day in History: Julius Caesar Murdered

 

[Paddler Ed]

2002

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, (born August 4th 1900), died peacefully in her sleep, aged 101.

I was working in France at the time, in Northern Brittany and Normandy; I can still remember bits of the place I was working in, but we were able to get BBC Radio 1 from the Channel Islands on the van radios, and it was a great mix of music played.

 

[Towpack]

50 years ago tonight, Jack Swigert made the now infamous call to mission control from the command module of Apollo13, “Houston we have a problem” after a major power outage looked like making them the first American casualties in space.

 

[Paddler Ed]

50 years ago tonight, Jack Swigert made the now infamous call to mission control from the command module of Apollo13, “Houston we have a problem” after a major power outage looked like making them the first American casualties in space.

I've been enjoying these:

BBC World Service - 13 Minutes to the Moon - Downloads

Podcast downloads for 13 Minutes to the Moon

www.bbc.co.uk

The first series is good as well

 

[goodoldboy]

"On Saturday, May 1, 1886 thousands of workers went on strike and rallies were held throughout the United States, with the cry, "Eight-hour day with no cut in pay."
An important step in the struggle for rights that now a lot of people take for granted.

 

[goodoldboy]

On this day, 4 May 1929, actor and member of the Dutch resistance Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium. The daughter of wealthy British and Dutch fascists, Hepburn rejected the politics of her parents and worked as a courier for and performed in underground concerts to raise funds for the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance during Holland's occupation.
Not just a pretty face , someone who risked her life to defend freedom.

 

[goodoldboy]

Today is the 75 the anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen the last of the Nazi extermination camps to be freed.
7500 Spanish antifascists , communists , anarchists & other opponents to the dictatorship were rounded up & sent to this camp.

 

[Chas]

On this day 7 May 1840, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky a Russian composer of the Romantic period was born in Votkinsk, Russia . He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States.

 

[jibberjabber]

V-E Day is celebrated in America and Britain

On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II.
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

 

[Chas]

On this day in 1940 May 10th Winston Churchill becomes prime minister,
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, is called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister following the latter’s resignation after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons.

 

[Towpack]

Watched a very interesting documentary about Churchill recently and also a feature film of his life with Gary Oldman in the main roll. I've heard many of the older generation who lived through the war say that he led us to victory. Knowing now that some members of his War Cabinet wanted to negotiate a peace (surrender?) with Hitler I'd be inclined to agree with that. I've watched footage of his funeral in 1965 a few times, the largest State Funeral in history apparently.

 

[goodoldboy]

On this day, 13 May 1968, up to 10 million workers began a general strike in France in the May 68 rebellion, as hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Paris following violent student riots.

some of the slogans were

• Il est interdit d'interdire ("It is forbidden to forbid")
• Jouissez sans entraves ("Enjoy without hindrance")
• Élections, piège à con ("Elections, a trap for idiots")
• Je suis Marxiste—tendance Groucho. ("I'm a Marxist—of the Groucho persuasion."
• Cela nous concerne tous. ("This concerns all of us.")
• Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible. ("Be realistic, ask the impossible.")