|
1
Feb. |
1901 |
The royal yacht Alberta brings the body of Queen Victoria
into Portsmouth harbour en route to her funeral in London tomorrow.
The Queen, aged 82, died on January 22, at Osborne on the Isle of
Wight. |
|
2 Feb. |
1665 |
British
forces capture New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in
North America. The trading settlement on the island of Manhattan is
to be renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new
governor. |
|
3 Feb. |
1730 |
The London Daily Advertiser newspaper publishes the first
stock exchange quotations. |
|
4 Feb. |
1926 |
Malcolm Campbell sets a new world land speed record of 174 mph (278
kmph) in Wales.
|
|
5 Feb. |
1958 |
Parking meters first appear on the streets of London's exclusive
Mayfair district. The meters were first used in America in 1935. |
 |
|
6 Feb. |
1783 |
Death of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown the greatest English landscape gardener. His
work lives on today throughout the great estates of England. |
|
7 Feb.
|
1301
|
The son of King Edward I of
England becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
|
|
8 Feb.
|
1587
|
Mary Queen of Scots is
beheaded on the orders of her cousin England's Queen Elizabeth I.
|
|
9 Feb. |
1964 |
73 million Americans tune in to the Ed Sullivan Show to watch
four lads from Liverpool appear for the first time - The Beatles.
|
|
10 Feb. |
1354 |
Students at Oxford University fight a street battle with local
townspeople resulting in several deaths and many people injured.
|
|
11 Feb. |
1975 |
Iron Lady Margaret
Thatcher, becomes the first woman leader of the British Conservative
Party.
|
|
12
Feb.
|
1554
|
At the tender age
of 16, the "nine days queen", Lady Jane Grey is beheaded
at the tower of London.
|
|
|
13
Feb.
|
1688
|
A "Glorious
Revolution" brings the Protestant William of Orange and his
wife Mary (daughter of James II) to the throne of England after the
Catholic King James II flees to France.
|
| 14
Feb.
|
1933
|
Students at Oxford University, obviously bored fighting the local
townspeople, declare that they would not fight for "King and
Country".
|
| 15
Feb.
|
1971
|
Pennies, bobs and half-crowns all disappear as Britain goes decimal.
|
|
16
Feb.
|
1659
|
A cheque is used for the first time in Britain as Mr Nicholas Vanacker
settles a debt.
|
|
17
Feb.
|
1461
|
Lancastrian forces defeated the Yorkists at the Battle of St. Albans.
|
|
18
Feb. |
1478
|
George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence died in the Tower of London said
to have been drowned in a butt of his favourite malmsey wine.
|
|
19
Feb.
|
1897
|
The Women's Institute is founded in Ontario, Canada, by Mrs Adelaide
Hoodless.
|
|
20
Feb.
|
1938
|
Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary after the prime
minister Neville Chamberlain decided to negotiate with Italian Fascist
leader Benito Mussolini.
|
|
21
Feb.
|
1804
|
British engineer Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first steam
engine to run on rails.
|
|
22
Feb.
|
1790
|
Over 1,000 French troops attempted to invade Britain, landing on the
Welsh coast. The brave ladies of Fishguard saved the day!
|
|
|
23
Feb.
|
1863
|
Lake Victoria, in Africa, was declared to be the source of the River
Nile by British explorers John Speke and J A Grant.
|
|
24
Feb.
|
1917
|
President Woodrow Wilson informs the US nation of the contents of an
intercepted message from the German foreign minister offering Mexico
an alliance against the US.
|
|
25
Feb. |
1570
|
England's Queen Elizabeth I is excommunicated by Pope Pius V.
|
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26
Feb.
|
1791
|
The Bank of England issues the first ever one pound note, in part a
result of the panic in London caused by the French invasion of Fishguard.
|
|
27
Feb.
|
1782
|
The British
Parliament votes to abandon the American War of Independence.
Perhaps they were more concerned about the potential threat to Fishguard!
|
|
28
Feb. |
1900
|
The four-month siege of the British garrison at Ladysmith in
Natal, South Africa, ended as a relief force broke through the Boers
at Spion Kop.
|