Today in History

29th March 1972
A few weeks after his February separation from his wife, Priscilla, Elvis Presley records his version of "Always On My Mind" at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California.
Originally recorded by Gwen McCrae, in March 1972
This song tells the story of someone who admits that they didn't always do the things they should have to show appreciation for their partner, but wants them to know they was always thinking about them.
 

29th March 1985
The Singing Nun, whose given name was Jeanine Deckers, committed suicide after the center for autistic children in Belgium that she helped found had closed due to lack of funds.
Her 1963 hit "Dominique" went to number one in the US and sold over 1.5 million copies, winning a Grammy Award for the year's best Gospel song.
Even sadder is the fact that she was unaware that on the day of her suicide, the Belgian association that collects royalties for songwriters awarded her $300,000. At the time of her death, she was 52 years old.
 

29th March

1461 The battle of Townton, North Yorkshire, during the War of the Roses (Lancaster against York). It is described as 'probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil'. The Lancastrians, under Henry VI, were crushed and the throne was claimed by Edward IV.

1632 The Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.

1644 The battle of Cheriton (near Alresford in Hampshire). Sir Ralph Hopton’s 6,000 strong Royalist army faced a Parliamentarian force of 10,000 men commanded by Sir William Waller. It was a major turning point in the English Civil War and resulted in an important Parliamentarian victory that helped shape the future of England.

1927 Sir Henry Segrave beat Malcolm Campbell’s land speed record in his 'Mystery' car (a 1,000 hp Sunbeam with a World War I aircraft engine) on the Daytona Beach, clocking 203.79 mph. He became the first driver to exceed 200 mph.

1981 The first London marathon took place, with around 7,000 entrants.

2014 The first same sex marriage eremonies took place in England and Wales, with same-sex couples vying to claim the title of being the first to be married in Britain by timing their vows to finish just as the clock struck midnight.
 
31st March

1855 Charlotte Bronte, Yorkshire novelist and author of Jane Eyre, died during her pregnancy, aged 38.

1924 The first British national airline, Imperial Airways, was founded at Croydon Airport.

1953 Queen Mary was laid to rest next to her late husband following a funeral service at Windsor Castle. More than 1,500 mourners, including many royal dignitaries from around the world, attended the service at St George's Chapel in Windsor.

1959 The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, crossed the border into India after an epic 15-day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains.There had been no news of his safety or whereabouts since he left Lhasa on 17 March with an entourage of 20 men, including six Cabinet ministers.

1990 Violence flared in poll tax demonstration. An anti-poll tax rally in central London erupted into the worst riots seen in the city for a century. Forty-five police officers were among the 113 people injured as well as 20 police horses. A total of 340 people were arrested in the heart of London's West End, popular with musical and theatre goers, as cars were overturned and set alight.
 
1st April

1873 The British steamer RMS Atlantic ran onto rocks and sank off Nova Scotia, killing 547.

1918 The Royal Air Force was formed. It incorporated the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.

2000 The Enigma machine, used by the Germans to encrypt messages in the Second World War, was stolen from Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire and a ransom was demanded for its return. The ransom was not paid, but in October 2000 the machine was sent, anonymously and with three of its rotors missing, to BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman.

2001 Ex-Yugoslav leader arrested after siege. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested and taken to prison, ending a heavily-armed standoff at his Belgrade villa.
 
On This Day In History, April 2nd

2002 Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
The Israel Defense Force had occupied Bethlehem to capture wanted Palestinians. The 39-day siege ensued after some militants fled into the church, which is believed to stand on the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth.

1982 Argentina occupies the Falkland Islands
The invasion escalated a long-standing conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the archipelago in the South Atlantic. It triggered the Falklands War, which was won by the U.K.

1968 Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey receives its world premiere
Upon release, the epic about human evolution, technology, and extraterrestrial life polarized audiences and critics alike. Today, it is considered a classic in its genre.

1800 Ludwig van Beethoven's First Symphony is premiered
The German composer conducted the orchestra himself. The premiere received exceptionally positive reviews.

1792 The U.S. dollar is introduced
The Mint Act of 1792 established the Dollar as a U.S. currency. About two-thirds of global trade today is based on the U.S. Dollar.
 

Births On This Day, April 2nd 🎂

1939 Marvin Gaye
American singer-songwriter

1891 Max Ernst
German painter, sculptor, poet

1840 Émile Zola
French author, critic

1805 Hans Christian Andersen
Danish author, poet

1725 Giacomo Casanova
Italian explorer, author

Deaths On This Day, April 2nd 🪦

2015 Manoel de Oliveira
Portuguese director, screenwriter

2005 Pope John Paul II
1974 Georges Pompidou
French politician, Prime Minister, and President of France

1933 Ranjitsinhji
Indian cricketer

1872 Samuel Morse
American painter, inventor, co-invented the M
 
On This Day In History, April 3rd

1996 The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is arrested
The mathematician who was driven by anarchist ideas sent out 16 letter bombs between 1978 and 1995, killing 3 people and injuring 23.

1973 The first public mobile telephone call is placed on a Manhattan sidewalk
Motorola's Martin Cooper called Joel Engel of Bell Labs. He later told the BBC that his first words were “Joel, I'm calling you from a 'real' cellular telephone. A portable handheld telephone.”

1948 Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan
$12.4 billion was allocated to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II and prevent communists from seizing control.

1940 Soviet troops massacre about 22,000 Polish nationals
The Katyn massacre is considered the worst massacre of prisoners of war in history. The order to execute all captive members of the Polish Officer Corps was signed by Joseph Stalin.

1885 Gottlieb Daimler patents his engine design
The German engineer's so-called “grandfather clock engine” was lighter than previous four-stroke engines and is considered a milestone for the invention of the automobile.
 
Births On This Day, April 3rd 🎂

1961 Eddie Murphy
American actor, director, screenwriter

1958 Francesca Woodman
American photographer

1958 Alec Baldwin
American actor, producer

1930 Helmut Kohl
German politician, Chancellor of Germany

1924 Marlon Brando
American actor

Deaths On This Day, April 3rd 🪦

1991 Graham Greene
English author, playwright, critic

1990 Sarah Vaughan
American singer

1950 Kurt Weill
German/American composer

1897 Johannes Brahms
German pianist, composer

1882 Jesse James
American criminal, murderer
 
3rd April

1043 Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England in Winchester Cathedral.

1693 The birth, on the Nostell estate (Wakefield) of John Harrison, self-educated carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer. Harrison's solution revolutionised navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel. His 300 year old, fully working, almost entirely wooden mechanism clock is at Nostell Priory.

1895 The trial of the libel case instigated by Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.

1913 English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to 3 years in prison for inciting supporters to place explosives at the London home of British politician David Lloyd George. The Home Secretary banned all future public meetings of suffragettes.

1933 The first flight over Mount Everest was undertaken. 2 specially built British planes made aviation history by flying over the summit. The pilots were the Marquis of Douglas and Clydesdale and Flight Lieutenant David McIntyre.

1987 The late Duchess of Windsor's jewellery was sold for £31m ($50m) - six times the expected figure during an auction in Switzerland.

2014 A 25 year old student was fined and given penalty points after he was caught driving a car with all 4 doors removed, along with the headlights, front and rear indicators, bonnet, grille, and rear brake lights which he had removed to sell on-line. He had been attempting to take the car to a recycling centre five miles from his home in Nottinghamshire, to sell for scrap.
 
1860
the start of Pony Express mail service with horse/ rider relay teams. It began in St Joseph, Missouri- Sacramento, Calif
1930
The 2nd Academy Awards which for the 1st time were broadcast on the radio, winners were
Picture' The Broadway Melody', actor- Warner Baxter' In Old Arizona, actress, Mary Pickford'Coquette
1948
U.S. Pres Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan to help rebuild war torn Western Europe after WWII. Truman signed $ 5 billion in aid to 16 European countries
1953
the 1st issue of TV Guide ,magazine, on the cover was Lucille Ball&Desi Arnaz's baby boy, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz known professionally as Desi Arnaz,Jr. The price of magazine was 15 cents, today its much larger, cost is $7
1975
Bobby Fisher is stripped of his world chess title because he refused to defend it,title was awarded to Russian, Anatoly Karpov
2023
NASA announced 4 astronauts for 2024 Artemis II lunar mission around the moon. They are Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen
 
On This Day In History, April 4th

1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed
The former President of Pakistan had been deposed by a coup d'etat. He was hanged despite international calls to stop the execution.

1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft
Microsoft has developed into a multinational corporation, and it is the world's largest software maker by revenue.

1969 Denton Cooley implants the first artificial heart
The machine kept patient Haskell Karp alive for 65 hours until he received a human heart transplant. His body rejected the transplant and he died on April 8, 1969.

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
The civil rights activist was killed by James Earl Ray. Ray, a segregationist, received a 99-year prison sentence. He died in jail in 1998.

1949 NATO is formed
12 nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty to establish what is today one of the world's most important military alliances.
 
Births On This Day, April 4th 🎂

1979 Heath Ledger
Australian actor, director

1979 Roberto Luongo
Canadian ice hockey player

1952 Gary Moore
Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

1928 Maya Angelou
American author, poet, actress, director

1875 Pierre Monteux
French conductor

Deaths On This Day, April 4th 🪦

2013 Roger Ebert
American journalist, critic, screenwriter

1984 Oleg Antonov
Soviet aircraft designer founded the Antonov Aircraft Company

1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Pakistani politician, 4th President of Pakistan

1968 Martin Luther King, Jr.
American minister, activist, Nobel Prize laureate

1929 Karl Benz
German engineer, businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz
 
4th April

1581 Queen Elizabeth I knighted Francis Drake aboard his ship the Golden Hind at Deptford after his circumnavigation of the world.

1660 The 'Declaration of Breda' was proclaimed by King Charles II in which he promised a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War.

1958 The first Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) protest march left Hyde Park in London towards Aldermaston in Berkshire.

1984 The women from the main peace camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire were evicted, but said it would not end their protest against nuclear weapons being sited at the RAF base.

2007 Fifteen British Royal Navy personnel from HMS Cornwall who had been held in Iran, were released by the Iranian President. In the course of events the Iranians claimed that the British forces had been sailing in Iranian waters.
 
Pam said:
4th April

1581 Queen Elizabeth I knighted Francis Drake aboard his ship the Golden Hind at Deptford after his circumnavigation of the world.

1660 The 'Declaration of Breda' was proclaimed by King Charles II in which he promised a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War.

1958 The first Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) protest march left Hyde Park in London towards Aldermaston in Berkshire.

1984 The women from the main peace camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire were evicted, but said it would not end their protest against nuclear weapons being sited at the RAF base.

2007 Fifteen British Royal Navy personnel from HMS Cornwall who had been held in Iran, were released by the Iranian President. In the course of events the Iranians claimed that the British forces had been sailing in Iranian waters.
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1981 : Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin, Ireland with the UK entry 'Making Your Mind Up'.
 
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