Today in History

[Gemini]

Lots of memories there Daisy

[Gemini]

2018

The death, aged 76, of the world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. At the age of 22 Professor Hawking was given only a few years to live, after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease.


Amazing man

[Daisy]

He truly was amazing, and a great thinker.

[Gemini]

1967

The Torrey Canyon oil tanker, with a cargo of 100,000 gallons of crude oil, ran aground on rocks between Land's End and the Scilly Isles and its cargo discharged into the sea. The RAF and the Royal Navy were called in to napalm bomb the slick in an attempt to reduce the risk of pollution. In the weeks that followed the accident, oil escaped and spread along the shores of the south coast of England and the Normandy coast of France. Worst hit were the Cornish beaches of Marazion and Prah Sands, where sludge was up to a foot deep.

[Oma]

It must have been devastating, you can't imagine the damage it did to wild life etc and the clean up on the beaches must have taken months.

[Daisy]

Oma. I think it did take months to clean up the sea and the beaches.

[Gemini]

2015

A solar eclipse in the UK peaked at around 9.30am. Totality nowhere touched land in the United Kingdom but on the Isle of Lewis, coverage of the sun reached 98%.

[Gemini]

2020

Day one of the government 'lockdown' of Britain to try and curb the coronavirus epidemic. Yesterday evening's announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered people to stay at home, except for shopping for basic necessities, daily exercise, any medical need and for travelling to and from essential work for an initial period of three weeks. Shops selling non-essential goods were told to shut and gatherings in public of more than two people who do not live together were prohibited. The public were warned that if they did not follow the rules, police would have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.

[Daisy]

The most striking thing I remember about the day lockdown started was the silence. We live in a very quiet area where most visitors come to enjoy the "peace and quiet", yet the contrast between normal and lockdown was noticeable.

[Gemini]

Absolutely Daisy.
Also when we had to go out, (which we did as mum was still at home and needed support) the roads were so quiet.

[Daisy]

Driving must have been much less stressful though, Gem.

[Oma]

To be honest I think we coped better than we thought ,
We missed seeing the family but we face timed,
The plus side we spent very little.

I have very sad memories of my brother dying and not being allowed to the funeral.
But a happy memory was the first time we were allowed visitors as long as they kept their distance.
My DD SIL & GS came and had tea in our garden we sat in the dinning room with the patio doors open
It was lovely but I really wanted to hug them .

[Gemini]

1609

English navigator Henry Hudson (Hudson Bay in Canada was named after him) set off on his third voyage in an attempt to find the north west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

[Gemini]

1841

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew were opened to the public.

Somewhere we have still yet to visit!

[Daisy]

Gem, it's well worth a visit, but don't choose a very hot day or you won't want to go into the glasshouses. And wear very comfortable shoes/sandals.