Today in History

[Daisy]

Wow - I hope they were well enough to have a joint party.

[Gemini]

1930

Morris Cars announced the arrival of the Morris Major costing £215.

[Daisy]

I never knew there was a Morris Major - it obviously didn't do as well as the Morris Minor. £215 must have been a lot of money in 1930, though.

[Oma]

£215 hahaha you wouldnt get a decent tyre for that these days

[Gemini]

1900

Coca Cola first went on sale in Britain, fourteen years after it was first sold in the U.S.A. Charles Chandler, the eldest son of the founder came to Britain with a jug of cola syrup. It proved so popular that five more gallons were ordered immediately from America.

[Daisy]

I think the recipe's changed a bit since then, though! Gosh, a whole 5 gallons!

[Gemini]

1974

Edward Heath's Morning Cloud III was sunk in a Force 9 gale in the English Channel. Two people were killed - including Mr Heath's godson.

[Daisy]

Gem - was the the Fastnet Race disaster, or was that later?

EDIT - No it wasn't - the Fastnet Race is in August - it was 1979.

[Gemini]

1939

In Britain, the formation of the Citizens' Advice Bureau - established to help people understand and comply with new rules and regulations that were introduced at the start of World War II.

[Daisy]

I didn't realise the CAB was that old. I'm sure the rules and regulations were much less complex than they are now.

[Gemini]

1955

British TV newsreaders were seen in vision for the first time. The first was the BBC's Kenneth Kendall.

[Gemini]

1968

British tennis player Virginia Wade beat American Billie Jean King to win the US Open.

[Daisy]

Wow, was it that long ago?

[Gemini]

1891

Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Di-Ay, the most popular song in Victorian England in the 1890s was written by former Canadian bandsman Henry J Sayers. Sayers later admitted to copying an Austrian song after hearing the tune being played in a brothel.

[Gemini]

2001

The '911' terrorist attacks in New York.
In the aftermath, Prime Minister Tony Blair deployed British troops in the invasion of Iraq (March 2003), supporting the US President George Bush and his 'War on Terror'.
On This Day hijackers crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and thousands of those working in the buildings. Both towers collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. A third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane was redirected towards Washington, D.C., targeting either the Capitol Building or the White House, but it crashed in a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake control of the airliner. There were no survivors from any of the flights.


We have discussed this terrible event in previous years. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news.