On this day........

[atdc21]

I Remember our schoolboy joke about Jeremey Thorpe and Norman Scott.
apparently they bought a pub in Cheddar called The Mendip Inn. Childish but i still lol at it now. LOL

[tikay]

1980


The Iranian Embassy siege ended in quite spectacular fashion, when the SAS forced entry, & killed five Iranian gunmen.

It was widely believed at the time that the SAS deliberately killed them, rather than capture them, to avoid the inevitable headache of a trial & imprisonment, which would prompt further hostage taking.

A dreadful affair all round, but nevertheless, one that enthralled us all, we had never seen anything like this covered "Live" on TV before, & it became one of the most iconic news stories of our lifetime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege

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Click to see full-size image.

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One of those "I remember where I was when it happened" jobs, too.

It was Bank Holiday Monday, at 7.30pm in the evening, & we had all settled down to watch the flamboyant Alex Hurricane Higgins give the dour grinder Cliff Thorburn a good thrashing in the Final of the World Snooker Championships. (Thorburn ran out an 18-16 winner). Live coverage of the Snooker was interrupted by the news coverage of the siege ending. It was several hours before Snooker coverage was resumed, but by then, all the zing had been taken out of it, & I never even watched the end.  

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

2001

The Foot & Mouth disease, which had near paralyzed the UK for 4 months, was officially declared to be at an end. This allowed the imminent General Election to go ahead. The Election could not have been held if restrictions on movement remained in place.

6 million cattle were slaughtered, & the carcasses burned & buried.

Farmers received compensation to the tune of over £1.3 billion.

A dreadful affair all round, though I never understood why the farmers were entitled to Government compensation. 

[tikay]

1981

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[tikay]

2005

Labour won the General Election, & so Tony Blair became Prime Minister for the third time.






This time, however, he had to do without Alastair Campbell, who had been forced to resign after the David Kelly affair.

It is often said that the character Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It was based upon Alastair.

Click to see full-size image.

[TightEnd]

2011

Exactly 4 years ago Britain voted by 2 to 1 against AV thus retaining FPTP which was said to give clearer cut general election outcomes

Click to see full-size image.

[redsimon]

2011

Exactly 4 years ago Britain voted by 2 to 1 against AV thus retaining FPTP which was said to give clearer cut general election outcomes

Click to see full-size image.

[celtic]

1980


The Iranian Embassy siege ended in quite spectacular fashion, when the SAS forced entry, & killed five Iranian gunmen.

It was widely believed at the time that the SAS deliberately killed them, rather than capture them, to avoid the inevitable headache of a trial & imprisonment, which would prompt further hostage taking.

A dreadful affair all round, but nevertheless, one that enthralled us all, we had never seen anything like this covered "Live" on TV before, & it became one of the most iconic news stories of our lifetime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

One of those "I remember where I was when it happened" jobs, too.

It was Bank Holiday Monday, at 7.30pm in the evening, & we had all settled down to watch the flamboyant Alex Hurricane Higgins give the dour grinder Cliff Thorburn a good thrashing in the Final of the World Snooker Championships. (Thorburn ran out an 18-16 winner). Live coverage of the Snooker was interrupted by the news coverage of the siege ending. It was several hours before Snooker coverage was resumed, but by then, all the zing had been taken out of it, & I never even watched the end.  

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Probably my first ever memory of watching something on the telly and thinking wow. (Other than George & zippy) was a sunny evening, even in Glasgow.

[tikay]

1954

Roger Bannister became the first athlete ever to run a mile in 4 minutes.

The "Official Timekeeper" is the fella crouched right by the white post.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

1960

Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones.

She had previously been engaged to a divorcee, Peter Townsend, but the Church of England disapproved of such an outrageous union, so that got called off.

The marriage lasted 14 years before, ironically, they divorced, amid rumours that Princess Margaret had been seeing a bloke, Roddy Llewellyn,  on the side.  Anyway, she hooked up with Roddy, but he eventually married someone else.

She was quite the character, & always in the headlines.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

1966

The so-called "Moors Murderers" were sent to prison, found guilty of killing 3 children, after sexually torturing them, & then burying the bodies on Saddleworth Moor. It was believed they murdered 2 other children, but the bodies were never found.

Saddleworth Moor, adjacent the M62, is a bleak & forbidding place, & even now, driving past it sends shivers down my spine.



https://crimethroughtimecollection.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/brady_1799677b.jpg?w=584&h=365

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Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

1994

The Channel Tunnel was opened. It was commonly called the "chunnel" then, a nick which seems to have long disappeared.

[tikay]

1945

Germany officially surrendered.

Strange to think everything was so ordered & formal in those days.

Here, sign this receipt please.

Could or would that happen now?

[tikay]

1956

The Health Minister, RH Turton, has rejected calls for a government campaign against smoking, saying no ill-effects have actually been proven.

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Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

1945


Britain celebrated the end of the war in Europe.

It's hard to imagine the sheer happiness of the people, & the hard times they had endured.

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Click to see full-size image.

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Click to see full-size image.

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Click to see full-size image.