Today in History

July 15th
1815www.beautifulbritain.co.ukFrench Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to Captain Maitland aboard the English ship Bellerophon, at Rochefort, before being sent into exile on the island of St Helena.

1857www.beautifulbritain.co.uk200 British men, women and children were chopped up by local butchers and thrown down a well at Cawnpore, as the Indian Mutiny continued.

1858www.beautifulbritain.co.ukThe birth of the British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst. Emmeline and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia lived for 10 years on 62 Nelson Street, Manchester. It was the birthplace of the Suffragette movement and is now the Pankhurst Centre
 

1799
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Capt,Pierre Francois Bouchard
1916
The Boeing Comp was formed by William Boeing in Seattle,Washington
1972
"Honky Chateau' became Elton John's 1st #1 album in U.S. featuring hit'Rocketman"
 
1790
Congress declares Washington,DC as permanent capital of U.S.
1935
first automatic parking meter stalled in Oaklahoma City,Oaklahoma
1999
John F.Kennedy,Jr,his wife,Carolyn Bessette,her sister,Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.Jr was the pilot of the plane
2004
Martha Stewart is sent to prison for 5 months and 5 months of home confinement for lying to federal investagators
 
July 17th

1717King George I sailed down the River Thames for a concert, in a barge with 50 musicians. It was the premiere of Frideric Handel's Water Music which George I was said to have enjoyed so much that he made the exhausted musicians play the three suites three times over the course of the outing.

1761The official opening of the Bridgewater canal, built to transport the Duke of Bridgewater's coal from his mine at Worsley, near Manchester.
 
1861
U.S. Congress authorizes paper money
1941
NY Yankee,Joe DiMaggio's 56 game winning streak is ended by Cleveland Indians
1955
Disneyland officially opens in Anaheim,Calif
 
July 18
1932
U.S. &Canada sign treaty to develop St. Lawrence Seaway
1968
Intel Corp founded by CEO Andrew Grove in Santa Clara,Calif
1976
Nadia Comaneci become 1st gymnast in Olympic history to score a perfect 10 at Montreal Summer Games
1994
Crayola introduces scented crayons
 
July 18th
1970
www.beautifulbritain.co.uk
Radio 1 DJ Kenny Everett was sacked after he joked on air that the wife of the conservative transport minister Mary Peyton had 'crammed a fiver into the examiner's hand', when taking her driving test.
The BBC were so staid then!
 
19th
1837
www.beautifulbritain.co.uk
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's 236 ft steamship, the Great Western, was launched at Bristol. She was the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and was also the largest vessel in the world. On the same day in 1843, Brunel's 'SS Great Britain', (see ©BB picture) the first Atlantic liner built of iron, was also launched. She is now restored and can be viewed at the Great Western Dockyard in Bristol.
 
1848
1st U. S. Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls,NY organized by women's rights actvists,Eliz. Cady Stanton,Lucretia Mott
1930
Richard Byrd,Laurence Gould and their team return to U.S. after their 1st exploration of interior of Antarctica
 
July 20th
July 20th
1807Round-arm (over-arm) bowling was introduced to English cricket by John Willes in the Kent v England match at Fenenden Heath.

1837London’s first railway station opened, in Euston Grove. The new Euston station was described as ‘mightier than the pyramids of Egypt’.
 
1940
Billboard publishes its 1st singles record chart,#1 is "I'll never Smile Again" by Tommy Dorsey
1976
U.S. Viking 1 robot space craft makes a successful first ever landing on Mars
The Johnstown,PA flash flood kills 80,causes $380 mil in damages
 
1853
Central Park in NYC was created by famed landscape architect,Frederick Law Olmstead after NYS legislature set aside 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island
1861
1st major battle in U.S. Civil War was fought near Manassas,Virginia
1973
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 700th home run
 
July 23rd-bad day in history
1148 Crusaders attack Damascus
1215 Frederick II crowned King of the Romans (King of the Germans) in Aachen
1253 Jews are expelled from Vienne France by order of Pope Innocent IV
1298 Rindfleisch ("Beef") Persecutions - Jewish community in Wurzburg Germany massacred
 
1829
William Austin Burr patents America's 1st typewriter
1868
All England Lawn Tennis Club founded
1904
the ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the St. Louis,MO world's fair
1966
Frank Sinatra's album'Strangers in the Night' was #1 on music charts. It won 2 grammys,for Record of the Year,Best Male Performance
 
On This Day - 24th July

1411www.beautifulbritain.co.ukThe Battle of Harlaw, took place On This Day, just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland against those from the west coast and was one of the bloodiest battles in Scottish history.

1567www.beautifulbritain.co.ukMary Queen of Scots, imprisoned at Lochlevan Castle, was forced to abdicate her throne to her 1 year old son, James VI of Scotland - (James I of England).

1837www.beautifulbritain.co.ukRobert Cocking made a parachute jump from a hot air balloon 5,000 feet above Kennington Common. Unfortunately the cone-shaped parachute inverted and he became the first person to die in a parachute jump.

1851www.beautifulbritain.co.ukThe window tax in Britain was abolished.(houses built around the period still have bricked up windows!)
 


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