1625King Charles I of England married Henrietta Maria of France.

1652 George Fox preached from this wild and remote spot (see picture) on Firbank Fell, Cumbria to a congregation of about 1,000 for 3 hours. "The meeting proved of first importance in gathering the Society of Friends, known as Quakers." See also the picture of the commemorative plaque.

1665The Great Plague began to take hold, as the official death toll reached 112. By the end of August 1665 the Plague reached the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. You can read about the tragedy and the villagers' self-sacrifice at this page of my website.

1795The birth of Dr. Thomas Arnold, English educationalist and reformer of the Public School system whilst he was headmaster of Rugby School.

1842Queen Victoria travelled by train for the first time, from Slough (near Windsor Castle) to Paddington, accompanied by Prince Albert. A special coach had been built earlier, but the Queen had been reluctant to try this new form of travel. On her first journey, the engine driver was assisted by the great civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

1910Birth of Mary Whitehouse, English co-founder of the ‘Clean up TV campaign’ and Honorary General Secretary of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association.

1917The deadliest German air raid on London during World War I was carried out by Gotha G bombers and resulted in 162 deaths, including 46 children, with a further 432 people injured.

1930Henry Seagrave, British racing driver died.

1931Jesse Boot, (Boots - the chemist) English pharmacist, drug manufacturer, and philanthropist died.

1942British forces lost 230 tanks in desert fighting.

1944World War II: the first German V1 flying bomb, or 'doodlebug' landed in Britain - killing three people in a house in the coastal city of Southampton. Only four of the eleven bombs hit their targets.

1951Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) laid the foundation stone for what was to become the Royal National Theatre.

1970'The Long and Winding Road' became the Beatles' last Number 1 single in the United States. McCartney originally wrote the song at his farm in Scotland saying 'I have always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and again it proved the place where I found inspiration.' The released version of the song was very successful, but the post-production modifications to the song by producer Phil Spector angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court for breaking up The Beatles as a legal entity, McCartney cited the treatment of 'The Long and Winding Road' as one of six reasons for doing so.

1974Prince Charles made his maiden speech in the House of Lords. It was the first such royal speech in 90 years.

1981 17 year-old Marcus Sarjeant was arrested for shooting a replica gun at the Queen as she rode past crowds in London during the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Sarjeant was prosecuted under the Treason Act 1842 and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

1987Princess Anne was given the title Princess Royal.

1996French and British researchers injected material from cows suffering from BSE into the brains of macaque monkeys and found the same disease patterns as in patients suffering from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

2013Dale Cregan was given a whole life sentence for killing PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, father and son David and Mark Short and the attempted murders of three others.

2013A man was given a warning after he dialled 999 to complain about a prostitute's looks. A police spokesperson said "The caller claimed that the woman had made out that she was better looking than she actually was and he wished to report her for breaching the Sale of Goods Act." The Sale of Goods Act 1979 gives consumers legal rights, stipulating goods which are sold must be of satisfactory quality, be fit for purpose and must match the seller's description.

2014Retired bus driver Frederick Smith, aged 94 was jailed for twelve months after admitting he sexually abused a schoolgirl over a 10-year period nearly four decades previously. He become the oldest sex offender jailed in Britain.

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