17thMarch is St Patrick's Day. St. Patrick was born Circa AD 387 and is the Patron Saint of Ireland. The South Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church in Bury has an alterpiece (see picture) that features Mary and child, flanked by the patron saints of Britain and Ireland. See close-up picture of St. Patrick.
--------------

1040 The death of Harold 'Harefoot' (Harold I), aged just 24, who was King of England for just 5 years. Harold was originally buried in Westminster Abbey, but his half-brother, Harthacnut, who succeeded him, had the body exhumed. Harold I was then beheaded and thrown into a fen bordering the Thames. The body was later recovered by fishermen and reburied in the churchyard of St. Clement Danes, in the City of Westminster.

1337Edward, the Black Prince was made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England; a duchy being a territory or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.

1473The birth of King James IV of Scotland. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field. See picture.

1649Oliver Cromwell abolished the position of King of England and the House of Lords and declared England a Commonwealth. See picture of Oliver Cromwell's house in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

1873The birth of Margaret Grace Bondfield, Labour politician who became chairman of the TUC in 1923 and Minister of Labour in 1929. She was the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs.

1891SS Utopia collided with HMS Anson (a pre-dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy) in the Bay of Gibraltar and sank in less than 20 minutes, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

1899The first-ever radio distress call was sent, summoning assistance to a merchant ship aground on the Goodwin Sands, Kent.

1912The death of Lawrence Oates, a member of Scott’s ill-fated South Pole expedition who was suffering serious frostbite and hampering the progress of his companions. He had left his tent the previous night saying ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.' Scott recorded 'A very gallant gentleman.’ Oates' body was never found. Date of birth 17th March 1880 - Died 17th March 1912.

1939The birth of Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail single handed, non stop around the world.

1951The comic strip character Dennis the Menace appeared in the Beano for the first time. His red and black striped jumper did not feature until a few weeks later and his pet dog Gnasher did not make an appearance until 31st August 1968.

1957British European Airways withdrew their Viscount 701s from service after one of them crashed at Manchester Airport 4 days previously, killing 21 people.

1968More than 200 people were arrested after demonstrators clashed in an anti Vietnam war protest outside the US embassy in London.

1978The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany. Over 220,000 tons of crude oil seeped out of the crippled ship, causing serious pollution in Britain and France..

1984The 130th Boat Race was postponed (for 24 hours) an hour before the start, after the Cambridge boat was in collision with a barge and sank.

1993The death of Charlotte Hughes, aged 115 at St David's Nursing home in Redcar, Cleveland. At the time of her death she was not only the oldest person in Britain, but the second oldest person in the world.

1995Gangster Ronnie Kray died in Broadmoor hospital. He was serving a life sentence for heinous crimes after being arrested by Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read.

1996The Queen visited Dunblane - Scotland, (see picture of Dunblane Cathedral) following the massacre, on 13th March, of 16 children and their teacher at the local school.

2013The last TV network news from Television Centre in west London was broadcast on BBC One. Mishal Husain presented the programme from studio N6 at 22:00 GMT, signing off nearly 45 years of bulletins after the Centre had been sold for redevelopment.

2015 The UK's first Bio-Bus, nicknamed 'the poo bus' was officially launched in Bristol as Service Number 2. Powered entirely on gas generated by human and food waste it went into regular service on 25th March.

2022P&O Ferries sacked 800 staff with immediate effect, amidst plans to replace them with cheaper, agency workers. At 11am, ratings and officers were informed that there was going to be a short, pre-recorded Zoom meeting, after which all the crew were made redundant. Some refused to leave their ships in protest and were forcibly removed. Unions called it ".... one of the most shameful acts in the history of British industrial relations".

• Contact Form