On this day

44 BC – Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March.

1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

1672 - King Charles II enacted the 'Declaration of Indulgence'. It was a first step at establishing freedom of religion in England.

1824 - Building work started on the London Bridge designed by John Rennie.

1892 - American inventor Jesse Reno patented the first escalator.

1906 - Rolls-Royce Limited, the British car and aero-engine manufacturing company was founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls.

1964 - Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married for the first time.

1985 – The first Internet domain name is registered - symbolics.com.

1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.

(15-03-2011 11:46 )skully Wrote:  1892 - American inventor Jesse Reno patented the first escalator.

The first ever working escalator actually goes back as far as 1859 and - don't ask me how - it was steam-driven!

The escalator that was patented by Reno in 1892 had no practical or commercial use and was only used as an attraction at the Coney Island Funfair.

The escalator as we know it was later re-designed by Charles Seeberger in 1897, who created the name 'escalator' from the word 'scala', which is Latin for steps and the word 'elevator', which had already been invented.

Seeberger, together with the Otis Elevator Company produced the first commercial escalator in 1899 at the Otis factory in Yonkers, N.Y. The Seeberger-Otis wooden escalator won first prize at the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle in France. Jesse Reno's Coney Island ride success briefly made Jesse Reno into "the" escalator designer and he founded the Reno Electric Stairways and Conveyors company in 1902.

Charles Seeberger sold his patent rights for the escalator to the Otis Elevator Company in 1910, who also bought Jesse Reno's escalator patent in 1911. Otis then came to dominate escalator production, and combined and improved the various designs of escalators.

37 – Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great uncle, Tiberius.

1815 – Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

1910 - Harry Houdini became the first man to fly an airplane in Australia.

1926 - American Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.

1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.

1973 - Queen Elizabeth II opened the new London Bridge. The old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for £1m and transported to the United States.

1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.

1998 – Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.

2001 - According to a health survey, 16th March 2001 was the only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves.

(16-03-2011 12:01 )skully Wrote:  2001 - According to a health survey, 16th March 2001 was the only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves.

The story goes that an Irishman did actually intend to kill himself on that day, so he went out and bought 100 asprin.....

...but after taking the first two he felt better!

St Patrick's Day. St. Patrick was born Circa 385 and is the Patron Saint of Ireland.

1328 - Scotland won its independence from England - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_E...orthampton

1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.

1649 - Oliver Cromwell abolished the position of King of England and the House of Lords and declared England a Commonwealth.

1762 - Irish soldiers serving in the British army held the first parade honoring St. Patrick, in New York City.

1899 - The first-ever radio distress call was sent, summoning assistance for a merchant ship off the coast of England.

1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.

1951 - The comic strip character Dennis the Menace appeared for the first time.

1958 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.

1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.

(16-03-2011 12:01 )skully Wrote:  1815 – Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

So why is The Netherlands called Holland and what difference does it make?

The Netherlands is made up of 13 provinces, and the one which was by far the biggest, richest and most influential and also the seat of Government was called Holland (it got so big it was later split into two - North Holland and South Holland). This caused (and still causes) resentment amongst some of the other provinces in the same way as there is supposed to be a North/South divide or bias towards London & the SE in the UK.

So in its simplest terms, to refer to the Netherlands as "Holland" would be like us calling Great Britain "England". If you visit Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Den Haag (The Hague) you are indeed in "Holland" and will see the name everywhere, but if you go further afield you may find some local animosity, particularly amongst the more vociferous (or beered up!) who will point out to you that you are NOT in Holland but in The Netherlands.

You may not be familiar with Dutch geography but you will know the names from the UEFA Cup so whereas Ajax, Feyenoord and AZ 67 are in "Holland", PSV Eindhoven are in the province of North Brabant, which confusingly is in the south of the country and not to be confused with South Brabant which is er...in the north of Belgium. North Brabant and the neighbouring province of Limburg are - unusually and suprisingly for the Protestant Netherlands - overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Twente Enschede are right out east on the German border in the province of OverIJssel (that's not a typo, you can have a capital IJ together in some Dutch words), Gronigen is right up north and Utrecht slap bang in the middle of the country in provinces which share the names of the cities.

One point of trivia is that whilst Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands it is not the capital of North Holland. That distiction goes to the city of Haarlem and similarly the second biggest city Rotterdam is not the capital of the biggest province (by population) South Holland, being usurped by Den Haag.

The biggest province in area is Gelderland, taking in the cities of Arnham, Apuldoorf and Nijmegen, and large tracts of agricultural land alongside the rivers Waal and Rhine. As I am constantly being reminded, Gelderland's most famous export, and the reason why I know so much about and spend so much time in The Netherlands.....is mrs w

So although the other Dutch regions do not have the same national identities or political status as eg Scotland and Wales a little discretion and respect isn't a bad idea if you should find yourself in the provinces (and advisable if you're following the football as the provincial fans hate Ajax (Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (Rotterdam) in the same way as many over here hate Man Utd) and if you think that's petty or nit-picking, well, I challenge you to walk into a pub in Glasgow on a Saturday night and tell them they're in England...and see how long you live!!!

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1995: Killer Ronnie Kray dies
Notorious gangland killer Ronnie Kray has died in hospital two days after he collapsed in his ward at Broadmoor where he was serving a life sentence for murder.
Police said 61-year-old Ronnie died at 0907 GMT after being transferred to Wexham Park hospital, Slough, from a hospital in Ascot.

The man, once part of the infamous gang "The Firm", is understood to have suffered a heart attack.

Ronnie, a homosexual who had been married, was taken to Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, two days ago after collapsing in his room at Broadmoor.

Reign of terror

He was transferred to Wexham Park hospital last night after his condition deteriorated, and he later died there.

Kray and his twin brother Reggie were sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1969, which ended a 10 year bloody reign of terror in London.

Ronnie had shot George Cornell in the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel in 1966 for calling him a "fat poof".

And a year later Reggie stabbed Jack "The Hat" McVitie in a flat in North London.

Ronnie was later judged to be criminally insane and sent to the Broadmoor secure hospital.

He told friends and family he expected to die a prisoner.

Kray, who shared the ward with Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, had suffered two earlier heart attacks, the latest in September 1993 after which doctors warned his rumoured 100 cigarettes a day habit would kill him.

The Krays have reached iconic status, revered by some and scorned by others.

They ran a brutal gang in London's East End during the late 1950s and 1960s which netted them a fortune and allowed them to live a life of luxury.

Since their conviction, an industry has grown around them with books, T-shirts, television specials and a film starring pop star twins Gary and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet.

Reggie is understood to have learnt of his twin's death from a fellow prisoner in Maidstone jail who had heard it on the radio and was described as "absolutely distraught".

Their elder brother Charlie, who served seven years for his part in the crimes, said he was saddened by the loss and that his late brother had been misunderstood.


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Watch/Listen

Kray suffered a heart attack



Obituary of Ronnie Kray





In Context
Scotland Yard had been on the trail of the Krays for many years and finally caught up with them and their accomplices in 1968.
In June 1997 Charlie was found guilty of masterminding a £39m cocaine plot and jailed for 12 years. He died in hospital as an inmate in April 2000.

The surviving brother Reggie, who had hoped for parole after serving 30 years in prison, got release as a dying wish when Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered his freedom when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just weeks to live.

He died in October 2000.

Neither the Krays' incarceration or death has suppressed their legend.

Many people had campaigned for their release as they were seen as having a sense of honour by ridding London's streets of criminals.

Despite using violence many insisted women and children were safe as long as the Krays prowled the streets.



Stories From 17 Mar
1978: Civilians flee southern Lebanon

1957: BEA withdraws Viscount aircraft

1995: Killer Ronnie Kray dies

1968: Anti-Vietnam demo turns violent

1984: Boat race halted before starting

It used to be one of the great one-line put downs:

-he's as funny as "The Two Ronnies"

- Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker?

- no - Ronnie Biggs and Ronnie Kray!!

978 - Edward, King of England was murdered at Corfe Castle. The murder is thought to have been ordered by his stepmother Aelfryth (mother of Ethelred the Unready) who was eager to see her son crowned.

1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.

1662 - The first public bus service began operating, in Paris.

1766 - Britain's Parliament repealed the Stamp Act after widespread protest in America.

1922 - Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years imprisonment for civil disobedience, he was released after serving two years.

1944 – The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.

1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed.

1965 – Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.

1992 – White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid.

(18-03-2011 12:10 )skully Wrote:  1965 – Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

Leonov was one of the giants of the early days of space exploration. In the early days the Soviets beat the Americans hands-down, and it was no surprise that Leonov did the first space walk eleven weeks before Ed White in Gemini 4.

However, after 1967 the US not only drew level but pulled ahead. The main problem for the Soviets was that they could just not get their N-1 moon rocket to work (their equivalent of the Saturn 5) so whereas Leonov was down to command the first mission to orbit the moon that flight never took place, and in December 1968 it fell to Frank Bormann's Apollo 8 crew to win that honour.

After further failures the N-1 was scrapped, and the Soviets had to abandon all plans for manned lunar flights which was a shame for Leonov as he had also been given the first moon landing and had the N-1 worked he might well have been the first man on the moon.

Those of you who have seen the film "Apollo 13" will recall that the astronaut Ken Mattingly was dropped from the flight at the last moment and replaced by Jim Swigert after being exposed to measles. In 1971 Leonov was preparing to command Soyuz 11 when his colleague Valery Kubasov was found to have been exposed to tuberculosis and the entire crew was stood down. The back-up crew, led by Georgi Dobrobolski, took over the flight and in a strange twist also hit serious trouble when a docking valve failed as they disengaged from the Salyut space station and re-entered the atmosphere.

Unlike Apollo 13, there was no happy ending. The capsule suddenly depressurised, the crew were not in their spacesuits (which would have saved them) and could not manually close off the valves in time. Although the capsule landed perfectly on auto-pilot when the recovery team opened the hatch they found the three men dead inside.

Leonov's escape meant that he went on to command the historic Apollo-Soyuz link up in 1975. Leonov is an accomplished artist whose published books include albums of his artistic works and works he did in collaboration with his friend Andrei Sokolov.

He retired from the Soviet Airforce in 1991 with the rank of General and now (aged 76) lives in retirement outside Moscow.