Today in History

[Gemini]

1935

The first 'League of Ovaltineys' created by the manufacturer of the drink Ovaltine. It became a children's 'secret society', promoting high morals and consideration towards others. At the height of its popularity, there were over five million members.
In 1975 the song 'We Are The Ovaltineys' came back to a new audience when it was used by Ovaltine in a TV advertisement and also released as a single record.


My mum, born in 1928, often talked about this.

[Daisy]

I remember the Ovlatineys song being on the radio when I was little. And I had an Ovaltine mug.

[Gemini]

1971

At the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, a British plastics firm making educational toys was shown a board game which had been rejected by established companies. Invented by an Israeli telecommunications expert, Mordecai Meirowitz, the game, renamed ‘Mastermind’ by Invicta Plastics, sold over 55 million sets in some 80 countries, making it the most successful new game of the 70s.


My ex OH and I loved this game! When I was pregnant with DD1 we lived with my in laws for a few weeks. My 17 year old BIL and I played it together for hours

[Gemini]

2015

Seven straw houses went on sale at Shirehampton - Bristol, clad in brick to fit in with the surroundings. Declared to be safe from 'huffing and puffing' the prefabricated timber walls, filled with straw bales were said to be 90% cheaper in terms of heating costs than traditional brick houses.

[Daisy]

Gem, a friend of ours wanted to build himself a straw house. He went on a course about it and was convinced they could change the way we think about buildings and insulation. Sadly, he couldn't find a suitable plot of land and he had to abandon the idea.

[Gemini]

1840

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, both aged 20, were married in St James' Palace, London.

[Daisy]

I didn't realise they were both so young when they got married.

[Gemini]

1971

Eighty-seven countries, including the UK, the United States and the USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty. It outlawed nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.

[Gemini]

1978

Tomorrow's World presenter Anna Ford was officially announced as ITN's first female newsreader.

[Gemini]

1852

London’s famous children’s hospital in Great Ormond Street accepted its first patient, three year-old Eliza Armstrong. It was the first hospital in the English speaking world providing in-patient beds specifically for children.

[Daisy]

Gem, whenever I hear anything about the incredible work of GOS, I always remember Tizzy's grandson, whose life they undoubtedly saved many times. I think Nannycuddles' GS was also treated there.

[Gemini]

1941

World War 2: The first postwomen began work in Salford, due to lack of men.

[Gemini]

1901

Winston Churchill made his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

[Gemini]

1547

Edward VI, aged 9 years old, was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Edward, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant.

[Gemini]

1963

Peter Hicks, a farmer who electrified his car to ward off traffic wardens in London's Covent Garden had to wait nine months before police returned his electric device and told him they would not be prosecuting.