Today in History

On This Day - 28th August

1906 The birth of Sir John Betjeman, poet, broadcaster, a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate to date and a much-loved figure on British television.


1914 The Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of World War 1, was fought. The Germans lost four ships and 1,000 sailors. British casualties numbered 33.


1933 For the first time, a BBC-broadcasted appeal was used by the police in tracking down a wanted man (murder suspect Stanley Hobday).


1972 Prince William of Gloucester was killed when his light aircraft crashed and burst into flames.


1973 Princess Anne visited Russia, to ride for Britain in an equestrian event, thus becoming the first member of the Royal Family to visit the country.

1981 For the third time in 10 days, a world record in the mile run was set. Sebastian Coe, who broke Steve Ovett's record on August 19th and lost it to Ovett on August 26th , broke it again - by a full second - in Brussels, Belgium. Coe's new record time was 3:47.33.


1986 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was at the re-opening of the Grand Hotel in Brighton in which she and Conservative Party members had been staying in 1983 when it was bombed by the IRA.


1988 Kylie Minogue set a new UK record when her debut album Kylie, became the biggest selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost 2 million.


1994 Thousands of shops throughout England and Wales opened legally for the first time on a Sunday, following a change in the Sunday trading laws.


1996 The divorce of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Diana was finalized in a decree absolute issued in London's High Court. Under the terms of the divorce settlement, Diana was stripped of her 'Royal Highness' title.


2003 An electricity blackout cut off power to around 500,000 people living in the south east England and brought 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.


2004 British athlete Kelly Holmes secured a place in Olympic history by winning the 1500m gold in Athens. The runner won the 800m earlier and thus became the first Olympic Briton in 84 years to achieve the middle-distance double.


2013 Leeds businessman Lee Beaumont who became tired of 'cold calls' offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPI), or install solar panels set up his home phone as a premium rate 0871 number. Companies who phone him now spend 10p per minute on calls, from which he receives 7p. The number of 'cold calls' to his 0871 number fell by 66% in one month.

 

On This Day - 28th August:
1963 "I have a Deam"


Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.


I Have a Dream - Wikipedia.

 

Lest we forget Wolfy. Good post.

 

Born - On This Day - 29th August:

1915: Ingrid Bergman, Oscar winning actress famous whose films include Casablanca and Anastasia.

1920: Charlie "Bird" Parker, self-taught jazz saxophonist, pioneer of the new "cool" movement.

1923: Richard Attenborough, actor, (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park) Academy Award–winning director and producer (Gandhi)

1924: Dinah Washington, singer known in the 50s as "Queen of the Harlem Blues.".

1938: Elliott Gould, actor (M*A*S*H, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice).

1958: Michael Jackson, pop singer, entertainer

 

On This Day - 29th August:
1977: - Elvis Presley
Three people were arrested in Memphis after trying to steal Elvis' body. As a result, his remains would be later moved to Graceland.

Today in 1977: 3 people arrested for attempting to steal the body of Elvis Presley | KBOE 104.9FM Hot Country (kboeradio.com)

 

On This Day - 29th August:

1994 - OASIS
Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe which went on to spend 177 weeks on the UK chart.
- It also became the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK and the album went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide.

1996 - LIAM Gallagher
- Liam Gallagher was reunited with the rest of Oasis in Chicago after a week of speculation on their future of the group, after he had walked out on the band a few days earlier.

2019 - NOEL Gallagher
Noel Gallagher said he wanted to start a petition to break the Foo Fighters up.
- It followed Dave Grohl and co’s headline performance at the UK Reading Festival, at which the frontman and Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins told the crowd they wanted to start a petition to get Oasis to reunite.

 

Born - On This Day - 30th August:

1797: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, novelist best known for Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.


Born: 30th August 1797, Somers Town, London
Died: (For now???) 1st February 1851, Chester Square, London
. . . . . . . . .

Mary Shelley - Wikipedia

 

On This Day - 30th August:

1976: Nottinghill riot UK =
BBC ON THIS DAY | 30 | 1976: Notting Hill Carnival ends in riot

1980: Polish People Power =
BBC ON THIS DAY | 30 | 1980: Polish workers win trade union rights

1982: Arafat forced out =
BBC ON THIS DAY | 30 | 1982: PLO leader forced from Beirut

2001: Milosevic called into account =
BBC ON THIS DAY | 30 | 2001: Milosevic to face genocide charge

 

Today in History August 30th

1963 - The "Hotline" between Moscow and Washington, DC, went into operation.

1965 - Thurgood Marshall was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Supreme Court justice. Marshall was the first black justice to sit on the Supreme Court.

1982 - P.L.O. leader Yasir Arafat left Beirut for Greece.

1983 - The space shuttle Challenger blasted off with Guion S. Bluford Jr. aboard. He was the first black American to travel in space.

1984 - The space shuttle Discovery lifted off for the first time. On the voyage three communications satellites were deployed.

1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and several others, were inducted into the Sportscasters Hall of Fame.

1991 - The Soviet republic of Azerbaijan declared its independence.

1993 - On CBS-TV "The Late Show with David Letterman" premiered.

1994 - The largest U.S. defense contractor was created when the Lockheed and Martin Marietta corporations agreed to a merger.

1996 - An expedition to raise part of the Titanic failed when the nylon lines being used to raise part of the hull snapped.

 

On This Day - (MUSIC) 30th August:

1969: Two weeks after the Woodstock festival, the second Isle Of Wight festival This took place on 30 and 31 August 1969 at Wootton, with an estimated attendance of 150,000.
Fans turned up over the two days to see Bob Dylan, The Band, Blodwyn Pig, Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band, Edgar Broughton Band, Joe Cocker, Aynsley Dunbar, Family, Fat Mattress, Julie Felix, Free, Gypsy, Richie Havens, The Moody Blues, The Nice, Tom Paxton, Pentangle, The Pretty Things, Third Ear Band and The Who
- Tickets 25 shillings, ($3.00). Celebrities who attended include Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, John & Yoko, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jane Fonder, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.

1969: The three day Texas Pop Festival took place featuring Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Sam & Dave, Santana, Johnny Winter, Grand Funk Railroad, Delaney & Bonnie, Nazz, Spirit, B.B. King, Canned Heat and Chicago. Over 120,000 fans attended the festival.
TSHA | Texas International Pop Festival, 1969 (tshaonline.org)

1972: John Lennon and Yoko Ono played Madison Square Gardens to raise money for the One to One charity. Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na and Roberta Flack also appeared at the event. Lennon personally bought $60,000 worth of tickets which were given to volunteer fund-raisers. Several of the performances were later included on Lennon's, Live in New York City album.

Live in New York City (John Lennon album) - Wikipedia

 

On This Day - 31st August:

1977: Smith Retains Power
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1977: Smith keeps power in Rhodesia

1989: A Royal split
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1989: Royal couple to separate

1994: IRA Ceasefire
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1994: IRA declares 'complete' ceasefire

1997: Death of a Princess
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1997: Princess Diana dies in Paris crash

 

On This Day - 4th September (U.S):

1986: Elusive Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Ariz.

135 years ago today, September 4, 1886, when Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua Apache surrendered to General Nelson Miles in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, northeast of Douglas.
For years, Geronimo and his gang had been terrorizing Americans and Mexicans, and even other Apache had rode against him.

*****

1951: The first transcontinental television broadcast in America is carried by 94 stations.
President Harry S. Truman's opening speech before a conference in San Francisco is broadcast across the nation, marking the first time a television program was broadcast from coast to coast.

 

On This Day - 4th September: (UK)

1957: Homosexuality 'should not be a crime'

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The Wolfenden Report suggests consenting sex between homosexual adults "in private" should no longer be a criminal offence in Britain.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1957: Homosexuality 'should not be a crime'

1964: Forth Road Bridge opened

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The Queen officially opens Europe's longest suspension bridge linking Edinburgh to Perth across the River Forth.
The final bill for construction amounted to £19.5 million, and the bridge was opened
At this time, it was the first bridge of its kind in the UK, the longest outside the USA, and the fourth longest in the world.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1964: Forth Road Bridge opened

 

On This Day - 4th September: (MUSIC)

1954 - Elvis Presley
To coincide with the release of his second Sun single, 'Good Rockin' Tonight', Elvis Presley along with Bill Black and Scotty Moore made their first appearance at The Grand Old Opry. The audience reaction was so poor, the Opry's manager, Jim Denny told Elvis that he should go back to driving a truck.

1962 - The Beatles
The Beatles first formal recording session at EMI's Abbey Road studios took place. George Martin was unhappy with a previous session on June 6, so he called The Beatles back into the studio to try again. They recorded six songs, including 'Love Me Do' and 'Please Please Me.'

1968 - Bee Gees
The Bee Gees had their second UK No.1 single with 'I've Gotta Get A Message To You'. The song is about a man who, awaiting his execution in the electric chair, begs the prison chaplain to pass a final message on to his wife.

1976 - Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols made their television debut when they appeared on the Manchester based Granada TV program 'So It Goes'.
TONY WILSON: SO IT GOES - THE SEX PISTOLS - YouTube

2015 - Rico Rodriguez
Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez died aged 80. He recorded with many artists including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd "Matador" Daley. He was known as one of the first and most distinguished ska artists, and from the early 1960s performed and recorded in Britain, with the Specials, Jools Holland, Paul Young, and others.

 

On This Day - 5th September: Born on this day:

1842: Jesse James, legendary outlaw of the American West.


Born September 5th, 1847 - - - Near Kearney, Missouri, U.S.
Died April 3, 1882 (aged 34)
Jesse James - Wikipedia

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1929: Bob Newhart, deadpan standup comedian and TV actor (The Bob Newhart Show), and latterly The Big Bang Theory.
. . .
Birth name George Robert Newhart
Born September 5th, 1929 (age 92) - - - Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Bob Newhart - Wikipedia

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1940: Raquel Welch, actress (One Million Years B.C.).



Born: Jo Raquel Tejada - - September 5th, 1940 - - Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Raquel Welch - Wikipedia

 

On This Day - 5th September:

1972: "Black September,"
A Palestinian terrorist group take 11 Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympic Games in Munich; by midnight all hostages and all but 3 terrorists are dead.


Munich massacre - Wikipedia

 

On This Day - 5th September: (MUSIC)

1956 - Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley surprised his mother with a gift of a pink Cadillac. The car remained in the Presley family and eventually went on display at Graceland.

1966 - John Lennon
John Lennon started work on his role as Private Gripweed in the film 'How I Won The War'. The black comedy directed by Richard Lester, was filmed in Spain in Almería Province and saw Lennon, taking a long-overdue break from The Beatles after nearly four years of constant touring.

1970 - Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin started recording sessions recording a version of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster song 'Me and Bobby McGee'. Joplin, (who was a lover and a friend of Kristofferson's from the beginning of her career to her death), topped the US singles chart with the song in 1971 after her death, making the song the second posthumous No.1 single in US chart history after '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' by Otis Redding.

1987 - Ian Astbury
Ian Astbury of The Cult was arrested after a show in Vancouver ended in a riot. Staff at the concert claimed they were assaulted by Astbury, who spent the night in the local police cells.

1994 - Oasis
Oasis appeared at The Hacienda in Manchester to celebrate the launch of their debut album Definitely Maybe. The album went on to become the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK and marked the beginning of Oasis' success in America, selling over one million copies there.

2008 - Musical Tastes
A study of more than 36,000 people from around the world concluded that musical tastes and personality type were closely related. The research, which was carried out by Professor Adrian North of Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh in the UK suggested classical music fans were shy, while heavy metal fans were gentle and at ease with themselves. Fans of Indie music had low self-esteem and were not hard working, fans of Rap music had high self-esteem and were outgoing. Country & Western fans were hardworking and outgoing, Reggae fans were creative but not hardworking, and fans of chart pop had high self-esteem, were not creative, but where hardworking and outgoing.

2016 - Freddie Mercury
An asteroid was named after Freddie Mercury to mark what would have been the singer's 70th birthday. The Queen frontman has had his name attached to Asteroid 17473, which was discovered in 1991 - the year he died. Queen guitarist Brian May told a gathering of 1,250 fans at Montreux Casino in Switzerland that the asteroid would now be known as Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury.

 

On This Day - 6th September: (MUSIC)

1963 - Cilla Black
Cilla Black signed a management contract with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Cilla changed her name to Black, (it was white), after a misprint in the music paper 'Mersey Beat'.

1975 - Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Sutherland Brothers song 'Sailing'.
The song had been featured in the BBC TV series about HMS Ark Royal.

1985 - Madonna
'Desperately Seeking Susan' went on general release in the UK, the movie featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.
The filmmakers had initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan, but the director decided to cast newcomers Rosanna Arquette and Madonna instead.

1997 - Elton John
Elton John recorded a new version of 'Candle In The Wind' after performing the song live at Diana Princess of Wales funeral.
An estimated 2.5 billion people around the world watched Elton play the special tribute to Diana. The track went on to become the biggest selling single of all-time.

2004 - Jay Kay
Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay was banned for six months and fined £750 after being clocked driving at more than 100mph.
His lawyers had argued at Perth Sheriff Court that he needed his licence so he could have "respite" from his busy professional life. But Sheriff Robert McCreadie said his conduct was "entirely unacceptable". Jay Kay admitted driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle at 105mph on the A9 in Perthshire in February while overtaking.

2010 - Morrissey
Morrissey caused controversy after he claimed that the Chinese were a "sub-species" because of the way they treat animals.
In an interview with UK paper The Guardian, the former Smiths frontman said: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a sub-species."