Today in History

[Gemini]

2015

Wing Commnder Nikki Thomas became the first woman to command an RAF fast jet squadron, taking charge of the newly reformed No. 12 Squadron at RAF Marham in Norfolk.

[Oma]

Well done that Women , hard to do in a man’s world 👏👏👏

[Gemini]

1979

'Crisis? What Crisis?' Prime Minister James Callaghan flew back into strike-torn Britain denying allegations that the country was in chaos. Callaghan was the only Prime Minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions – Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, prior to becoming Prime Minister.

[Gemini]

1978

The executors of Lady Churchill’s estate admitted that she had burnt Graham Sutherland’s portrait of Sir Winston 18 months after the House of Commons had presented it to him in 1954. Sir Winston ironically described it as ‘a remarkable example of modern art’.

[Gemini]

1859

The National Portrait Gallery opened to the public in Great George Street. There were only 56 portraits and viewing was by appointment on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[Gemini]

1769

One of the worst riots in theatre history occurred at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Crowds had packed out the venue to see a conjuror who claimed he would get himself into a quart tavern bottle.
The conjuror never arrived, and the crowd erupted.

[Daisy]

A variation on a storm in a teacup, Gem.

[Gemini]

2008

British Airways Flight 38 crash landed just short of London Heathrow Airport with no fatalities. It was the first complete hull loss of a Boeing 777, the world's largest twin jet aircraft.

[Gemini]

1988

Christopher Nolan, a 22-year-old Irish writer, won the £20,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award for his autobiography, Under the Eye of the Clock. Completely paralysed, Nolan used a ‘unicorn’ attachment on his forehead to write the novel at a painfully slow speed.

[Oma]

Amazing , he was a determined young man .

[Daisy]

Writing a book in any circumstances is an great achievement but Christopher Nolan's determination was truly amazing.

[Gemini]

2007

A three-man team of Britons, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile trek to reach the 'southern pole of inaccessibility' for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.

[Daisy]

Given how awful the recent cold weather has been, I simply can't imagine trekking one mile, let alone 1,093 in those hostile conditions.

[Gemini]

2015

Mothers invited to a Scottish Government-backed breastfeeding conference were left angry and bemused after being told that they would not be allowed to breastfeed their babies.

[Oma]

Madness 😱🤬