Today in History

[Gemini]

1969 Britain's first live quintuplets this century were born, at Queen Charlotte's maternity hospital in London.

[ZIZI]

Well not really history but a year ago yesterday I fell off my wedges in Barbados and have only recently got back on them 😍

[Gemini]

LOL, Zizi

1928 The RNLI Lifeboat Mary Stanford capsized in Rye Harbour with the loss of the entire 17 man crew, practically the whole male fishing population of the small town of Rye.

[Gemini]

1963 The BBC broadcast the first ever episode of Doctor Who, starring William Hartnell as the Doctor, and Ann Ford as his first female companion. It is the world's longest running science fiction drama.The producer, Sydney Newman, thought the Daleks, designed by Ray Cusick, were ‘bug-eyed monsters’ and totally wrong for the series.

[Gemini]

2005 New laws came in force in England and Wales allowing 'round-the-clock drinking'.

[Daisy]

A timely anniversary:

1949 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" first appeared in the music charts.

[Gemini]

2001 George Harrison, musician, actor, songwriter and former lead guitarist with the Beatles died of lung cancer, aged 58. Often referred to as the 'quiet Beatle', Harrison became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, and introduced it to the other Beatles, as well as to their Western audiences.

How sad

[Daisy]

1 December 1990

Channel Tunnel sections from France and the UK meet beneath the English Channel.

[Gemini]

1960 The first episode of Coronation Street was screened on ITV. It is the world's longest-running television soap opera

[Daisy]

I remember watching that! It was very grimy and scruffy in those days. Now most of the houses look quite good and the characters are smartly dressed (most of them!). Social history in the making.

[Gemini]

1868 The first traffic lights were installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they used semaphore arms and were illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

[Gemini]

1982 30,000 women formed a 9 mile human chain that encircled Greenham Common air base in Berkshire, in protest against the proposed siting of US Cruise missiles there.

[Daisy]

Gosh, the Greenham Common protest lasted for ages, didn't it. We went to the last air show there just before the camp was set up.

[Gemini]

2014 A grey seal was spotted in a farmer's field in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, 20 miles inland. The disorientated animal was captured and transferred to a wildlife centre in Nantwich, Cheshire.

[Daisy]

26 December 2004


What became known as the Boxing Day Tsunami was triggered by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean, killing over 200,000 people and leaving many more homeless and devastated.