Today in History

[Oma]

I watched a programme about that Gem , must have been quite a shock , I think it was done early morning too so lots of people at home

[Gemini]

2013

The Bank of England announced its plans to press ahead with switching to plastic banknotes, starting with the new Sir Winston Churchill £5 note in 2016. The decision will mark the beginning of the end of 320 years of paper notes from the Bank.

[Daisy]

They seemed really strange at first, but I hardly notice now - not that many of us are spending cash at the moment, it's all plastic one way or another.

[Oma]

I like them although they are a B****r for sticking together when new , as you say Daisy hardly notice now , isnt it strange how we adapt so easy

[Gemini]

1955

Cardiff was officially named the capital of Wales.

[Gemini]

1620

The Pilgrim Fathers arrived at Plymouth Rock , Massachusetts aboard The Mayflower. Passengers & crew increased to 103 after 2 births on the voyage from Plymouth, England. They had originally set sail from Southampton on 5th August but were beset with problems.

[Daisy]

I've always been fascinated by the information that two babies were born on the voyage. Imagine what that must have been like for the two mothers - giving birth in the middle of the Atlantic, facing the unknown as they were.

[Gemini]

1965

The government introduced an 'experimental' speed limit of 70mph on motorways in England. The limit is still in force.

[Gemini]

1992

The BBC investigated a leak which led to the Queen's Christmas speech being published in the Sun newspaper, ahead of its broadcast on the BBC. The leak led to a clampdown on the future advance availability of the speech to the world's press.

[Gemini]

1904

The London Coliseum opened with the first revolving stage in Britain.

[Gemini]

DECEMBER 25th

440
Church leaders agreed to fix the date of the birth of Christ. Previously some people had celebrated it in May, others in January.


1643
Christmas Island (a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean) was discovered and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Company.

1800
The first Christmas tree in Britain was erected at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor by the German-born Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. She brought the idea over from Germany where the first reports of Christmas trees go back to 1521

1914
The Christmas truce between British and German troops continued. At 2 a.m. a German band went along the trenches playing Home Sweet Home and God Save the King.

1932
King George V made the first Royal Christmas broadcast to the Empire. Queen Elizabeth II made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952, and her first television Christmas message was broadcast in 1957.

[Daisy]

How Christmas must have changed over the centuries. 🤔😁

[Gemini]

1879

The Tay railway bridge collapsed whilst the Edinburgh to Dundee train was crossing. The original crossing was the longest railway bridge in the world but during the storm the wind was said to have blown the iron girders in the central section away 'like matchwood. The engine and carriages plummeted into the icy river below killing 59 people.
In 1979 British Rail commissioned a special train to take people across the new bridge at the exact time of the original accident ....... 19:15 GMT.
On 28th December 2013 granite memorials to commemorate the disaster were unveiled on both sides of the river.

[Daisy]

That must have been horrific - like one of those disaster schemes from old Holywood movies.

[Gemini]

1675

Parliament ordered the closing of all coffee houses on the basis that they were centres of malicious gossip about the Government.