On this day…in 2005
On the morning of July 7, 2005, bombs are detonated in three crowded London Underground stations and one bus during the peak of the city’s rush hour. The synchronized suicide bombings, which were thought to be the work of al-Qaida, killed 56 people including the bombers and injured another 700. It was the largest attack … [Read the full story]
On the 20th of June…
1627 – Ottoman pirates begin raids on Icelandic villages, eventually capturing over 400 people to sell to slavery. 1756 – Black Hole of Calcutta: 146 British soldiers, Anglo-Indian soldiers and Indian civilians are imprisoned in a small dungeon in Calcutta in India, where most of them die of suffocation and heat exhaustion. 1837 – Queen … [Read the full story]
On this day…in 1885
On this day in 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrives in New York Harbor after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than 200 cases. The copper and iron statue, which was reassembled and … [Read the full story]
On this day…in 1979
Judge John Wood, known as “Maximum John,” is assassinated outside his San Antonio, Texas, home as he bent down to look at a flat tire on his car. Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson was charged with the murder after evidence revealed that drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra, whose case was about to come up … [Read the full story]
On this day…in 1977
On this day in 1977, the weekend opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theatres. The incredible success of Star Wars…it received seven Oscars, and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close to $800 million worldwide…began with an extensive, coordinated … [Read the full story]
On this day in…1859
It’s the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later. After medical school, Doyle moved … [Read the full story]
On this day…2nd May
1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. 1536 – Anne Boleyn is arrested and taken to the Tower of London. 1780 – William Herschel discovers the first binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris. 1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in … [Read the full story]
On this day…28th April
In 1996 – The Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, where 35 people were murdered. In 1973 – Bobby Charlton played in his 606th and last League match for Manchester United. In 1945 – Benito Mussolini is executed. In 1923 – The first match at Wembley when Bolton beat West Ham United 2-0 in the FA … [Read the full story]
Here’s a little history lesson for you
The next time you are washing your hands (all the time at the moment) and complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500’s: Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and … [Read the full story]
Why so many disasters…did we anger the Gods?
It seems today we have more and more terrible disasters occurring every day. Yes, TV live coverage shows us more of life and death today than ever before and history in the past was recalled usually by story-telling or eye witness accounts. Either could be open to questions of accuracy. But given modern technology, don’t … [Read the full story]
