1215 The country was in a state of Civil War and English barons, in revolt against King John, took possession of London.
1527 Archbishop Warham began a secret inquiry into Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon, the first step in divorce proceedings.
1536 George Boleyn (an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn) along with Viscount Rochford and four other men were executed for treason.
1590 Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen of Scotland.
1649 Cromwell's troops captured 300 Levellers and locked them up in Burford church. (The Levellers believed in civil rights, a 'level' society and religious tolerance and Cromwell was determined to crush them.) Three of the Levellers were executed on Oliver Cromwell’s orders in Burford churchyard, Oxfordshire.
1861 A group of holidaymakers set off from London on the first foreign 'package trip' arranged by Thomas Cook. It was a six day holiday in Paris. Cook began his pioneering tour business 20 years previously when he organized the first publicly advertised railway excursion from Leicester to a temperance meeting at Loughborough (11 miles away).
1875 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75.
1890 The first weekly comic paper, Comic Cuts, was published by Alfred Harmsworth, in London.
1899 Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
1900 "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is first published by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in Chicago.
1900 The siege of the British garrison at Mafeking by Boer forces was broken. The commander of the garrison, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell and his forces had held firm for 217 days.
1915 The fall of the last all Liberal Party government. The poor British performance in the early months of the war forced Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith to invite the Conservatives into a coalition.
1916 The Daylight-Saving Act (‘Summer Time’) was passed in Britain.
1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th.
1969 Tom McClean from Dublin left Newfoundland aboard Super Silver and completed the first transatlantic solo crossing in a rowing boat on 27th July when he arrived at Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo.
1973 Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Love".
1975 10CC releases "I'm Not in Love".
1978 The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin, missing since his grave was pillaged nearly two months previously, was found.
1984 Prince Charles called a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend,' sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
2003 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (73,726): Arsenal beat Southampton, 1-0; Robert Pires scores 38' winner for Gunners' 9th title.
2006 14th UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1 at Saint-Denis.
2008 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (82,752): Portsmouth beat Cardiff City, 1-0; Nwankwo Kanu scores 37' winner.
2009 Video game Minecraft is first released to the public while in development.
2010 Four weeks after a volcanic ash cloud disrupted flights over much of Europe, restrictions were lifted at all UK airports after the volcanic ash cloud moved away from UK airspace.
2014 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,345): Arsenal beat Hull City, 3–2 (a.e.t.); Aaron Ramsey scores 109' winner.
2014 St Johnstone FC win the Scottish Cup for 1st time in 130 years, defeating Dundee United 2-0.
2020 Michael Jordan's autographed Air Nike 1s trainers from 1985 sell for a record $560,000 in an online auction.
Middlesbrough ended a disappointing season with a 2-0 FA Cup final defeat against Chelsea. Chelsea's first goal came from Roberto Di Matteo after just 42 seconds which at the time was the quickest FA Cup final goal - since beaten by Louis Saha for Everton in 2009 (25 seconds). Chelsea's victory saw their manager, Ruud Gullit, become the first foreign manager to lead his team to an FA Cup triumph. Apart from being beaten in their first FA Cup final the 1996/97 season had also seen Middlesbrough beaten in their first League Cup final (by Leicester) - and they suffered relegation from the Premier League. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEE57GWkm3E
Football On This Day – 17th May 2000 and 2006.
Arsenal's first two European final appearances of the 2000s were both played on the 17th of May and sadly both ended in disappointment. The first of those was the UEFA Cup final played at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on 17th May 2000 when Galatasaray provided the opposition. Not a goal in the 90 minutes of normal time and 30 minutes of extra although there were 9 yellow cards and a red card - Gheorghe Hagi of Galatasaray getting his marching orders. And then to penalties and inevitably Arsenal scored just once from their three pens while Galatasaray scored all their four to win 4-1 on penalties to become the first Turkish side to win a European tournament. On 17th May 2006 the Gunners became the first London side to appear in the Champions League final, their opponents being Barcelona at the Stade de France in Paris. The Londoners suffered a major setback when 'keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off after 18 minutes but Sol Campbell did give them the lead late in the first half but Barcelona lifted the trophy with two second-half goals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHbySBYK7io
1756 The Seven Years' War began when Britain declared war on France.
1803 Bored with nobody to fight for almost a year, Britain abandoned the Treaty of Amiens and declared war on France again, after Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy and Switzerland
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.
1812 John Bellingham was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval seven days earlier. To date, Perceval is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
1830 Briton Edwin Budding signed an agreement for his invention, the lawn mower, to go into mass production. His first customer was Regent's Park Zoo in London.
1882 The official opening of the Eddystone Lighthouse, the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site.
1897 "Dracula" by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London.
1951 Britain’s first four-engined jet bomber, the Vickers Valiant, made its maiden flight.
1954 The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.
1964 Scores of youths were given prison sentences following violent clashes between gangs of Mods and Rockers at a number of resorts on the south coast of England.
1969 Britain’s champion motor racing driver, Graham Hill, won his fifth and record-breaking Monaco Grand Prix.
1980 Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage.
1991 Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield was the first Briton to go into space, as a participant in a Soviet space mission.
1995 "Braveheart" directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mel Gibson and Sophie Marceau premieres at the Seattle Film Festival.
2014 AstraZeneca, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company with operations in over 100 countries, rejected America company Pfizer's final offer of £63bn.
2019 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (85,854): Gabriel Jesus & Raheem Sterling each score twice as Manchester City thrash Watford, 6-0, completing an unprecedented domestic treble.
When Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton went shopping in Columbia on May 18th 1970 during an England pre-World Cup tour a diplomatic incident followed. Bobby Moore was accused of stealing a bracelet and a week later was charged with theft and placed under house arrest. The case was later dropped and Moore was able to take his place in the England team in the Mexico finals.
Football On This Day – 18th May 1991.
Paul Gascoigne was carried off - and many say should have been sent off – with a torn cruciate ligament after a wild tackle on Forest’s Gary Charles at the Spurs v Nottingham Forest FA Cup Final. Was he ever the same player again? Spurs won 2-1 to deny Brian Clough success in his only FA Cup final. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aww54AjXiMA
Football On This Day – 18th May 2019.
Manchester City kicked off the 2018/19 competitive season with a victory over Chelsea at Wembley to lift the Community Shield. Their last match of the season – on Saturday 18th May – was another Wembley victory when they won the FA Cup to become the first club to complete the treble of winning the 3 major trophies in England in a season – the League, FA Cup and League Cup. Their FA Cup final victims were Watford who had finished mid-table in the Premier League although that was 48 points behind champions Manchester City. The difference in class was evident at Wembley with City lifting the cup with a convincing victory to equal the FA Cup final winning margin record of 6-0 which was originally set in Bury’s defeat of Derby County in the 1903 final.
1499 Catherine of Aragon (aged 12) was married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, the Prince of Wales (aged 12).
1536 Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife, was beheaded in London. She was 29 years old. Although the evidence against her was unconvincing, the charges brought included incest with her brother and no less than four counts of adultery.
1568 Queen Elizabeth I ordered the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics. After 18 years and 9 months in custody, Mary was tried and executed for her involvement in plots to assassinate Elizabeth.
1585 English shipping in Spanish ports was confiscated. This served as a declaration of war.
1845 Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition departed from Greenhithe in Kent. The entire crew of 129 perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy whilst attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.
1935 T.E. Lawrence, English soldier and writer (known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia) died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash close to his peaceful retreat - Clouds Hill in Dorset.
1940 Churchill made his first broadcast as Prime Minister and called Nazism "the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny that has ever darkened and stained the pages of history."
1964 US diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in Moscow embassy.
1965 West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner's Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London.
1977 Film "Smokey & the Bandit" starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason premieres in NYC.
1982 Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion.
1992 Englishman Dave Gauder pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches.
1997 "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore, premieres in the US.
1997 The newly elected Sinn Fein MPs, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, visited and enjoyed the facilities at the British House of Commons for 24 hours, before the Speaker's ruling denying them the privileges of MPs in the Palace of Westminster came into effect.
1997 Health Secretary Frank Dobson announced that the sponsorship of sports events by tobacco firms was to be outlawed. It gave a temporary exemption for Formula One motor-racing, whose owner, Bernie Ecclestone, had earlier donated £1m to the Labour Party.
2001 Manchester United lose 3-1 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane but win English Premier League title for the 3rd consecutive season.
2004 Security at the House of Commons came under scrutiny after Fathers For Justice protesters attacked Tony Blair, the prime minister.
2007 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,826): Chelsea beat Manchester United, 1 – 0 (a.e.t.); Didier Drogba scores 116' winner for Blues' 4th title.
2012 UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues' first title.
2014 Decorated Dutch coach Louis van Gaal confirmed as manager of Manchester United; Ryan Giggs named assistant, confirms retirement as a player at age 40 after 963 games and English record 22 major trophies.
2018 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1-0; Belgian international Eden Hazard scores 22' penalty.
2018 American actress Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry at a ceremony in Windsor Castle, making her a member of the British royal family.
The end of the 1976/77 season saw one of the closest - and most controversial - top-flight relegation battles. In the days of two points from a win Tottenham and Stoke had finished their First Division league programme and were both relegated - Spurs were bottom with 33 point and Stoke one place above them on 34 points. The remaining relegation spot would go to one of three other clubs who were also on 34 points - Sunderland, Coventry and Bristol City - and each of those had one match left to play which they were all playing on Thursday 19th May 1977 - the Saturday was reserved for the FA Cup final. Sunderland had the slightly better goal difference but had a toughie last match away to Everton while amazingly Coventry and Bristol City were paired against each at Coventry's old Highfield Road home. The permutations of scorelines to who would be relegated filled many a column inch in the newspapers but nobody would have believed what was to happen. All the matches were due to kick off at the same time but Coventry Managing Director Jimmy Hill held back the kick off of the Coventry v Bristol City match for over 10 minutes due to 'crowd congestion'. So when the full time whistle went at Goodison, where Everton had beaten Sunderland 2-0, they were still playing at Highfield Road where the scoreline was 2-2. Jimmy Hill got that result at Goodison announced over the PA system which meant that the crowd - and players - knew that if the scoreline remained at 2-2 both Coventry and Bristol City would be saved and Sunderland relegated but if a fifth goal went in at Highfield Road the losing club would go down and Sunderland would stay up. With that knowledge the players had a gentle kick-about in those remaining few minutes with no thought of scoring. So the match ended 2-2, Coventry and Bristol City stayed up, a very upset Sunderland were relegated. A Football League inquiry followed and Jimmy Hill received a reprimand but the result stood and Sunderland were even more upset.
The word most often used to describe Southampton's former home at the Dell was 'cramped' and a cramped capacity crowd of 15,252 saw a dramatic and memorable end to their 103 years at the ground. In the last competitive match at the Dell Arsenal were the visitors for a Premier League fixture with the Gunners twice taking the lead. Hassan Kachloul equalised twice for the Saints before 32-year-old Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier came on as a sub and scored an 89th minute winner. Amazing!
After 27 years as manager Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United for the last time in the League. He saw his side let in 5 goals at WBA – they drew 5-5, the first time that scoreline had been recorded in the Premier League. United finished the season as champions of the Premier League, a full 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
685 The death, in battle, of Ecgfrith of Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon King who ruled over Northumbria for 15 years. His reign ended when he fiercely attacked the Picts against all advice. Lured into a narrow mountain pass, (possibly near Forfar) Ecgfrith and his army were slain, marking the beginning of decline in Northumbrian power.
1191 English King Richard I 'the Lion Heart' conquered Cyprus on his way to join the Crusaders in north west Israel.
1217 The Second Battle of Lincoln was fought, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet.
1840 York Minster was badly damaged by fire,the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe.
1867 Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the Royal Albert Hall.
1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue jeans with copper rivets.
1903 King Edward VII opened the Kew Bridge over the River Thames. Its proper name is the Edward VII Bridge.
1913 The first Chelsea Flower Show was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, attracting around 200,000 visitors. The show started in 1827, moving to larger venues until it settled in Chelsea.
1958 The mayor and corporation of High Wycombe were weighed in, in full view of the public to see whether or not they had been getting fat at the taxpayers' expense!
1962 Bobby Moore made his England debut and Jimmy Greaves scored a hat-trick in England’s 4-0 friendly victory in Peru.
1964 Buster Mathis beats future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazer on points at trials in Flushing, NY to qualify for US Olympic boxing team; Mathis injures thumb, replaced by Frazier who wins gold medal.
1965 The Chief Inspector of Constabularies announced that Britain's police would be armed with tear gas guns and grenades for use against dangerous criminals, but that it would not be used for crowd control.
1967 BBC bans the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" because of drug references.
1983 American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.
1983 "Every Breath You Take" single released by The Police.
1985 Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.
1985 The House of Commons agreed to consider Sunday Trading proposals.
1989 Liverpool beat Everton 3-2 in an all Merseyside F.A. Cup Final.
1993 Britain finally ratified the Maastricht Treaty which allowed greater co-operation between members of the European Union.
2000 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (78,217): Chelsea beat Aston Villa, 1-0; Roberto Di Matteo scores 73' winner.
1420 The Treaty of Troyes was signed, in which it was agreed that Henry V would marry Catherine, the daughter of King Charles VI of France and that Henry and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of the French king.
1471 Henry VI, King of England, was murdered in the Tower of London where he had been imprisoned by Edward IV, who then resumed the throne.
1554 A royal Charter was granted to Derby School as a grammar school for boys, by Queen Mary I, in return for a payment of £260 13s 4d, 'for the instruction and education of boys and youths in the said town of Derby for ever to be maintained by the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the same town.'
1662 England's Charles II married Catherine de Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal.
1840 Britain claimed complete sovereignty over New Zealand.
1894 The official opening, by Queen Victoria, of the Manchester Ship Canal. At its opening it was the largest river navigation canal in the world.
1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris.
1908 1st American horror movie silent film "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" premieres in Chicago.
1917 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth military forces.
1924 Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb kidnap and kill Bobby Franks to demonstrate their supposed intellectual superiority by committing a "perfect crime".
1927 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic.
1932 American Amelia Earhart landed in Derry, Ireland, after taking off from Newfoundland the previous day. It was the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot.
1936 Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon becomes one of Japan's most notorious scandals.
1946 A world wheat shortage led to bread rationing in Britain.
1950 Two people died and more were injured as violent storms and a tornado swept through counties around London.
1958 It was announced that automated telephone connection, making calls easier and cheaper, would be introduced in December.
1966 American boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended the hopes of British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper winning the world heavyweight titles when the bout was stopped in Round 6 because of a severe cut above Cooper's eye.
1971 Chelsea win 11th European Cup Winner's Cup against Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (replay).
1980 "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America.
1981 Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral.
1982 British troops land on Falkland Islands.
1996 After the failure of EU representatives to take steps to ease the ban on British beef, John Major announced that the British government would adopt a policy of non co-operation with the EU.
2004 Sherpa Pemba Dorjie climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year..
2005 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,876): Arsenal beat Manchester United, 5-4 on penalties after 0 – 0 (a.e.t.); Gunners' 10th title.
2008 UEFA Champions League Final, Moscow: Manchester United beat Chelsea, 6-5 on penalties after scores tied at 1-1 after extra time; first all-English final in the competition's history.
2016 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Manchester United beat Crystal Palace, 2-1 (a.e.t.); Jesse Lingard scores 110' winner.
An unusual fixture at Highbury. A young apprentice by the name of Charlie George was one of those who helped turn Arsenal's former home into a boxing arena. The occasion was a World Heavyweight title bout between Henry Cooper and defending champ Muhammad Ali. Over 40,000 were present to witness Our 'Enery suffer a sixth round defeat with a badly cut eye.
Football On This Day – 21st May 1983.
The 1982/83 season was a disappointing one for Brighton. Their first stint as a top flight club (it lasted 4 seasons) came to an end when they finished rock bottom of the old First Division. But they did reach their first ever FA Cup final and on May 21st 1983 they had the chance of making history by becoming the first relegated club to win the competition....and they so nearly did it. With just seconds of extra time left against Manchester United Brighton's Gordon Smith looked certain to score and Peter Jones' BBC radio commentary of the moment passed into history - 'And Smith must score....and he hasn't scored. And Bailey has saved it' The final whistle then went confirming the 2-2 draw and five days later the replay at Wembley ended with Brighton being thumped 4-0.
Football On This Day – 21st May 2008 For the first all-English Champions League final the fans of Chelsea and Manchester United had to make the long journey to Moscow. It was also a late night - it was 7.45pm kick off for the British TV viewer but in Moscow it was 10.45pm and with the match going to extra time and penalties the cup didn't get presented until the early hours. It was presented to Manchester United who won 6-5 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1.
1455 Opening battle in England's 30-year Wars of the Roses.Richard of York and the Nevilles attacked the court at St Albans, capturing Henry VI and killing Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.
1623 British Forces made a treaty with the 'Potomac River tribes' proposing a toast to perpetual friendship. The Indian chief and 200 men then dropped dead from poisoned wine.
1807 Most of the town of Chudleigh in Devon was destroyed by a fire that started in the bakery. After the fire, only the church and seven houses were left standing.
1816 A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, rioted over high unemployment and rising grain costs. The rioting spread to Ely (6 miles away) the next day.
1840 Britain ended the practice of sending convicts to the penal colony of Australia.
1859 The birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, novelist who created the detective Sherlock Holmes.
1892 Dr Washington Sheffield invents the toothpaste tube.
1897 The official opening of the Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames in London.
1906 Wright Brothers are granted a patent for their "flying machine," having applied for one 3 years earlier.
1915 The worst rail disaster in Britain took place at Quintinshill (Gretna Green) in Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246. The accident involved a special troop train carrying a Royal Scots battalion, two goods trains, a local train and an express from London Euston. The cause of the accident was poor working practices on the part of the two signalmen involved, which resulted in their imprisonment for culpable homicide.
1927 The world’s first ‘open plan’ zoo, Whipsnade, opened in Bedfordshire.
1931 Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida.
1933 First modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster by Aldie and John Mackay saw "something resembling a whale".
1936 Aer Lingus was founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
1946 George Best, former Northern Ireland and Manchester United football player was born.
1977 Final European scheduled run of the Orient Express (after 94 years).
1981 Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, was sentenced to life imprisonment after the judge described him as 'an unusually dangerous man'. He was found guilty of killing 13 women and the attempted murder of 7 others.
1982 Tottenham drew 1-1 with Second Division QPR at Wembley in the FA Cup Final but Spurs were without their Argentine player Ricky Villa who had withdrawn from the squad because of the Falklands War. Spurs won the replay at Wembley five days later.
1985 "A View to a Kill", 14th James Bond film, last to star Roger Moore, also starring Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, premieres in San Francisco.
1993 Riddick Bowe TKOs Jesse Ferguson in 2 for heavyweight boxing title.
2004 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,350): Manchester United beat Millwall 3-0 Ruud van Nistelrooy scores 2 and Cristiano Ronaldo 1 in Red Devils' 11th title win.
2013 British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby was attacked and killed near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, British and of Nigerian descent, ran the off duty soldier down with a car, then used knives and a cleaver to hack him to death. The two men made no attempt to flee, encouraged people to take pictures of them and their victim and told passers-by that they had killed a soldier to avenge the killing of Muslims by the British armed forces.
2017 Twenty two people were killed and more than 200 injured when a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb was detonated as people were leaving Manchester Arena following a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande. The youngest victim, Saffie Roussos, was just eight years old. It was the deadliest terror attack on British soil since the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005.
878 The Saxon King Alfred defeated the Danes at Edington, Wiltshire. As part of the peace agreement, the Danish King, Guthrum, accepted Christianity and was baptized as a Christian.
1169 'The First Conquerors' landed in Ireland. They were Normans from Wales enlisted by Dermot MacMurrough to recover his kingdom of Leinster.
1430 Burgundian troops captured Joan of Arc and delivered her to the English.
1533 To the annoyance of the Pope, the English Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be void and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, to be legal. The result was a break with the church in Rome despite Henry’s title as ‘Protector of the Faith’.
1701 At London's Execution Dock, British privateer Captain Kidd was hanged for piracy and murder. Commissioned by the British crown in 1695 to apprehend pirates in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, Kidd apparently turned to piracy himself in 1697.
1797 A cartoon by Gilray was published which gave the Bank of England its nickname, 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.'
1918 The birth of Denis Compton CBE, English cricketer and footballer He played in 78 Test matches, spent the whole of his cricket career with Middlesex and most of his football career at Arsenal F.C.
1922 Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films.
1931 The official opening of Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, in Bedfordshire.
1933 Joan Collins, English actress was born.
1934 American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow - Bonnie and Clyde - are killed by police in an ambush near Sailes, Louisiana.
1945 World War II: Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, committed suicide by means of a potassium cyanide capsule while in Allied custody, awaiting trial with other German leaders as a war criminal at Nuremberg.
1956 The first large-scale nuclear power station was opened at Calder Hall, Cumbria. It was decommissioned after producing electricity for almost 50 years.
1966 The British government declared a state of emergency a week after the nation's seamen strike began.
1969 BBC orders 13 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
1980 Horror film "The Shining" released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King.
1984 Sixteen people died and dozens more were injured in an underground explosion whilst visiting a water treatment plant in the village of Abbeystead, near Lancaster.
1995 Twelve members of a Royal British Legion tour party on a day trip were killed when their coach plunged down an embankment on the M4 near the Severn Bridge.
2007 UEFA Champions League Final, Athens: Filippo Inzaghi scores twice as AC Milan beat Liverpool, 2-1 for 7th title.
2014 Judges ruled that the remains of Richard III should be given a dignified reburial in Leicester.
In his day Roy Keane was considered a great footballer in a playing career which included him playing 67 times for his country, the Republic of Ireland, and making over 300 League matches for Manchester United.. He was also known as someone who had his say! The Republic of Ireland had qualified for the 2002 World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan with Roy Keane due to captain his country. But he wasn’t happy with his country’s preparations for the finals and came close to packing his bags and returning home from Ireland’s pre-tournament training camp on the Pacific island of Saipan such was his disillusionment with those preparations. But on May 23rd came the ‘Saipan Incident’ when Keane and Irish manager Mick McCarthy had a public row of serious proportions. Roy Keane wasn’t happy with the tournament preparations, the training camp, the playing strategy and tactics, the food, the travel arrangements etc etc. He also told Mick McCarthy that he never ranked him as a person, as a manager or as a player and that he wasn’t Irish anyway with McCarthy being a former Irish international player who was born in very un-Irish Barnsley. There was inevitably only one possible outcome of the ‘Saipan Incident’ – Keane was told to pack his bags and return home!
1487 The ten-year-old imposter Lambert Simnel was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII's reign.
1809 Dartmoor Prison was opened to accommodate French prisoners of war. From 1850 it becomes a prison for convicts.
1819 Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born at Kensington Palace in London, the only daughter of the Duke of Kent. As Queen Victoria, she reigned for 63 years, from 1837 until her death in 1901. She married Prince Albert in 1840 and had four sons and five daughters. After Albert’s death in 1861, she went into virtual retirement.
1836 The birth, in York, of Joseph Rowntree, Quaker philanthropist, social reformer and chocalatier businessman.
1844 Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message.
1862 Westminster Bridge across The Thames opens in London, England, second bridge replacing earlier bridge fallen into decay.
1873 Alexandra Palace opens on Queen Victoria's 54th birthday with a grand celebration including concerts, recitals and fireworks.
1901 Seventy eight miners died in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
1902 Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain.
1930 Amy Johnson landed at Darwin, Australia and became the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
1941 World War II: The German battleship Bismarck sank the Royal Navy's largest warship HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. The ship exploded when a German shell hit the Hood's ammunition store.
1956 1st Eurovision Song Contest: Lys Assia for Switzerland wins singing "Refrain" in Lugano.
1959 Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in Great Britain.
1970 Peter Green quits Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult.
1972 Glasgow Rangers of Scotland win 12th European Cup Winner's Cup against Dynamo Moscow 3-2 of the Soviet Union 3-2 in Barcelona.
1976 Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title in Munich.
1976 British Airways and Air France Concordes arrived at Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C. having made their first commercial crossing of the North Atlantic.
1995 The death of Harold Wilson, Huddersfield born Labour politician and Prime Minister from 1964-1970 and again from 1974-1976.
2003 Britain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest failed to score a single point, a fact later blamed on the UK's stance during the Iraq conflict.
2009 Manchester United win 1-0 at Hull City Stadium to win English Premier League title for 3rd consecutive season, for a second time; equals Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.
2017 UEFA Europa League won by Manchester United 2-0 against Ajax in Stockholm.
2019 At just after 10:00am Theresa May announced that she would stand down as Conservative leader on 7th June, over her failure to deliver Brexit and after losing the support of her own MPs. She continued to serve as Prime Minister while a Conservative leadership contest took place.
2020 At the Government's daily coronavirus briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave full support to his adviser Dominic Cummings, who had driven 250 miles to his parents’ house in Durham after strict lockdown rules had been imposed on the UK. Cummings said that he travelled to Durham to self isolate whilst he was recovery from coronavirus. Further allegations were made that Cummings left isolation to go 30 miles to a popular tourist town and that he also made a second trip to Durham during the lockdown period. Johnson said the Cummings had acted 'responsibly, legally and with integrity' at a time when others were being told they must stay at home to protect lives.
Celtic were the first Scottish side to win a European competition when they won the European Cup with a victory over Inter Milan in the 1967 final. But on this day in 1972 their great rivals Rangers won their first Euro title and also became the first Scottish side to win the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Moscow in the Nou Camp, Barcelona. Rangers had twice previously lost in ECWC finals - beaten by Fiorentina in 1961 and Bayern Munich in 1967. Ironically Rangers were only in the ECWC this time because of the success of Celtic who had recorded a League and Cup double in Scotland in 1970/71. Because of that Celtic were in the European Cup in 1971/72 leaving beaten Scottish Cup finalists Rangers with a place in the ECWC, Sadly though Rangers were badly let down by their fans in the Nou Camp. Just before the final whistle and again after the final whistle their fans invaded the pitch prompting violent clashes with the Spanish police. The result of that was Rangers received a 12-month UEFA ban meaning that they were unable to defend the trophy the following season.
Terry Venables was appointed the new manager of Barcelona on a salary reported to be around £150,000 a year. ‘El Tel’ lasted three years in Spain.
Football On This Day – 24th May 2015.
Steven Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on November 29th 1998 in a Premier League match against Blackburn at Anfield and on 24th May 2015 he played his 504th and last League match for the club. He scored Liverpool's only goal at Stoke but it wasn't a memorable last game for the Reds' legend. In fact the match saw a scoreline he hadn't experienced in any of his previous 503 League matches for the club (and hadn't happened in his lifetime) - a 6-1 defeat.
Steven Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on November 29th 1998 in a Premier League match against Blackburn at Anfield and on 24th May 2015 he played his 504th and last League match for the club. He scored Liverpool's only goal at Stoke but it wasn't a memorable last game for the Reds' legend. In fact the match saw a scoreline he hadn't experienced in any of his previous 503 League matches for the club (and hadn't happened in his lifetime) - a 6-1 defeat.
Worth repeating the above . I was actually with the lads in Blackpool at the time (taking in museums and tea rooms) and had to double check the result the morning after as I thought I was dreaming it.
PS.....we let him score that one as a leaving present.
946 The death of Edmund I, from the House of Wessex and King of the English from 939. His qualities characterized him as Edmund the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, and the Magnificent.
1659 Lord protector Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver, resigned his position earning the nickname "Tumbledown ****" as a result of his abrupt fall from power. Leading to the restoration of the monarchy and the crowning of Charles II in 1660.
1768 Captain James Cook sailed on his first voyage of discovery, on which he explored the Society Islands and charted the coasts of New Zealand and West Australia.
1871 The House of Commons passed the Bank Holiday Act, creating public holidays on Easter Monday, Whit Monday and Christmas Day.
1895 At the end of a sensational trial, Irish writer Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency in his relations with the son of the Marquess of Queensberry. He was sentenced to two years hard labour.
1927 Henry Ford announces that he is ending production of the Model T Ford.
1951 British diplomats Burgess and Maclean were reported missing. It was later discovered that both were Soviet spies and had defected to Moscow.
1961 JFK announces US goal of putting a man on the Moon before the end of decade.
1965 Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston at 2:12 of round 1 at Central Maine Civic Center, Lewiston to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing title.
1967 Glasgow Celtic became the first British football club to win the European Cup beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon.
1967 John Lennon takes delivery of his psychedelically painted Rolls Royce.
1969 "Midnight Cowboy" directed by John Schlesinger and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman is released.
1977 Original "Star Wars" movie (Episode IV – A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, first released.
1977 21st European Cup: Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 at Rome.
1979 "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver is released.
1982 HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine Skyhawks during the Falklands War. Nineteen of her crew were lost and a further thirty injured.
1983 "Return of the Jedi" (Star Wars Part VI), produced by George Lucas first released.
1994 The Camelot consortium won the contract to run Britain's first national lottery, starting in November.
2005 13th UEFA Champions League Final: Liverpool beat Milan (3-3, 3-2 on penalties).
2020 Video of African American George Floyd's arrest and murder while restrained in Minneapolis police custody shows he was pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin's knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, ignites widespread condemnation and nationwide protests.
Celtic beat Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon to become the first British club to win the European Cup. The Italians - twice European Cup winners in the previous three seasons - took the lead from a Sandro Mazzola penalty after just seven minutes before Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers scored second half goals to take the trophy to Glasgow. The victorious Celtic team became known as the Lisbon Lions and given the international nature of players in the top European teams nowadays it's hard to believe that every one of those Lisbon Lions were born in Scotland. In fact every member of Celtic's 15 man first team squad was born with 30 miles of Celtic Park.
At half time at the Champions League final at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul AC Milan were leading Liverpool 3-0 - Liverpool were poor and were going to get hammered. In one of the most amazing turn-rounds though second half goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso put Liverpool level. No more goals in extra time and so it went to penalties. And yep, Liverpool won 3-2 to complete what was genuinely The Miracle of Istanbul.
604 St. Augustine, the first archbishop of Canterbury died.
1647 Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.
1670 Charles II and Louis XIV signed a secret treaty in Dover, ending hostilities between England and France.
1733 John Kay, assistant to Richard Arkwright, patented the 'Flying Shuttle' to operate on Arkwright's cotton spinning frame.
1798 Income Tax was introduced into Britain - a 10% tax on all incomes over £200 a year.
1805 Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy.
1868 In the last public execution in England, Irish terrorist Michael Barrett was hanged outside Newgate Prison for causing an explosion in London which left 13 dead.
1897 Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker was published.
1904 The birth, in Wigan, of George Formby, English singer and comedian. He was famous for his comic songs, full of double entendre, to his own accompaniment on the banjo ukulele.
1906 Vauxhall Bridge is opened in London, England.
1913 The birth of Peter Cushing, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films.
1923 Inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for cars starts through public roads around Le Mans, France; inaugural winners: André Lagache and René Léonard (France) for Chenard & Walcker.
1927 Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie.
1936 In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson began speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sat down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for an incredible 10 hours. At that point it was the longest speech in any British legislature.
1940 At 18:57 the signal was received to start 'Operation Dynamo', the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and French troops from Dunkirk's beaches. Besides the efforts of the Royal Navy, 700 small ships were assembled in Sheerness dockyard before making the hazardous crossing to Dunkirk. In total, 338,226 troops were safely returned to England between 27th May and 4th June
1950 Long queues appeared at garages and motorists tore their ration books into confetti after the end to petrol rationing.
1967 EMI releases "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" a few days early in the UK; it would go to number one for 15 weeks in the US and 22 weeks in the UK.
1969 Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono staged a public 'bed in' for world peace - staying in bed for a week in a hotel in Montreal.
1972 Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.
1972 State-owned travel firm Thomas Cook & Son was sold to a consortium of private businesses headed by the Midland Bank.
1975 "Rhinestone Cowboy" single released by Glen Campbell.
1978 1st legal gambling casino opens in Atlantic City.
1982 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam.
1989 The BBC broadcast the 10,000th episode of the daily radio serial The Archers.
1993 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich.
1998 Emperor Akihito of Japan spoke of his "deep sorrow and pain" over the suffering inflicted by his country during World War II, but war veterans felt he did not go far enough and turned their backs on him.
1999 Manchester United became the first British club to win the European Cup for 15 years, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in the final in Barcelona. This gave them the coveted 'treble' - the Premier League, the FA Cup and the European Cup.
2012 The seemingly never-ending task of painting the Forth Bridge was finally completed, following a 10-year programme of work and 240,000 litres of 'epoxy glass plate paint' that should last for 20 years. More than 1,500 people worked on the bridge during its restoration, with as many as 400 workers on the bridge in a single day at the peak of activity.
2018 UEFA Champions League Final, Kiev: Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 3-1 for third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles.
2019 Nine climbers die in a week on Mt Everest after overcrowding leads to a huge queue to reach the summit.
Comments
Just two days after winning the FA Cup.
Did you ever make any of your Dad's birthday party's
1215 The country was in a state of Civil War and English barons, in revolt against King John, took possession of London.
1527 Archbishop Warham began a secret inquiry into Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon, the first step in divorce proceedings.
1536 George Boleyn (an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn) along with Viscount Rochford and four other men were executed for treason.
1590 Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen of Scotland.
1649 Cromwell's troops captured 300 Levellers and locked them up in Burford church. (The Levellers believed in civil rights, a 'level' society and religious tolerance and Cromwell was determined to crush them.) Three of the Levellers were executed on Oliver Cromwell’s orders in Burford churchyard, Oxfordshire.
1861 A group of holidaymakers set off from London on the first foreign 'package trip' arranged by Thomas Cook. It was a six day holiday in Paris. Cook began his pioneering tour business 20 years previously when he organized the first publicly advertised railway excursion from Leicester to a temperance meeting at Loughborough (11 miles away).
1875 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75.
1890 The first weekly comic paper, Comic Cuts, was published by Alfred Harmsworth, in London.
1899 Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
1900 "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is first published by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in Chicago.
1900 The siege of the British garrison at Mafeking by Boer forces was broken. The commander of the garrison, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell and his forces had held firm for 217 days.
1915 The fall of the last all Liberal Party government. The poor British performance in the early months of the war forced Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith to invite the Conservatives into a coalition.
1916 The Daylight-Saving Act (‘Summer Time’) was passed in Britain.
1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th.
1969 Tom McClean from Dublin left Newfoundland aboard Super Silver and completed the first transatlantic solo crossing in a rowing boat on 27th July when he arrived at Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo.
1973 Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Love".
1975 10CC releases "I'm Not in Love".
1978 The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin, missing since his grave was pillaged nearly two months previously, was found.
1984 Prince Charles called a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend,' sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
2003 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (73,726): Arsenal beat Southampton, 1-0; Robert Pires scores 38' winner for Gunners' 9th title.
2006 14th UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1 at Saint-Denis.
2008 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (82,752): Portsmouth beat Cardiff City, 1-0; Nwankwo Kanu scores 37' winner.
2009 Video game Minecraft is first released to the public while in development.
2010 Four weeks after a volcanic ash cloud disrupted flights over much of Europe, restrictions were lifted at all UK airports after the volcanic ash cloud moved away from UK airspace.
2014 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,345): Arsenal beat Hull City, 3–2 (a.e.t.); Aaron Ramsey scores 109' winner.
2014 St Johnstone FC win the Scottish Cup for 1st time in 130 years, defeating Dundee United 2-0.
2020 Michael Jordan's autographed Air Nike 1s trainers from 1985 sell for a record $560,000 in an online auction.
Middlesbrough ended a disappointing season with a 2-0 FA Cup final defeat against Chelsea. Chelsea's first goal came from Roberto Di Matteo after just 42 seconds which at the time was the quickest FA Cup final goal - since beaten by Louis Saha for Everton in 2009 (25 seconds). Chelsea's victory saw their manager, Ruud Gullit, become the first foreign manager to lead his team to an FA Cup triumph. Apart from being beaten in their first FA Cup final the 1996/97 season had also seen Middlesbrough beaten in their first League Cup final (by Leicester) - and they suffered relegation from the Premier League.
Football On This Day – 17th May 2000 and 2006.
Arsenal's first two European final appearances of the 2000s were both played on the 17th of May and sadly both ended in disappointment. The first of those was the UEFA Cup final played at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on 17th May 2000 when Galatasaray provided the opposition. Not a goal in the 90 minutes of normal time and 30 minutes of extra although there were 9 yellow cards and a red card - Gheorghe Hagi of Galatasaray getting his marching orders. And then to penalties and inevitably Arsenal scored just once from their three pens while Galatasaray scored all their four to win 4-1 on penalties to become the first Turkish side to win a European tournament. On 17th May 2006 the Gunners became the first London side to appear in the Champions League final, their opponents being Barcelona at the Stade de France in Paris. The Londoners suffered a major setback when 'keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off after 18 minutes but Sol Campbell did give them the lead late in the first half but Barcelona lifted the trophy with two second-half goals.
1756 The Seven Years' War began when Britain declared war on France.
1803 Bored with nobody to fight for almost a year, Britain abandoned the Treaty of Amiens and declared war on France again, after Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy and Switzerland
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.
1812 John Bellingham was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval seven days earlier. To date, Perceval is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
1830 Briton Edwin Budding signed an agreement for his invention, the lawn mower, to go into mass production. His first customer was Regent's Park Zoo in London.
1882 The official opening of the Eddystone Lighthouse, the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site.
1897 "Dracula" by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London.
1951 Britain’s first four-engined jet bomber, the Vickers Valiant, made its maiden flight.
1954 The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.
1964 Scores of youths were given prison sentences following violent clashes between gangs of Mods and Rockers at a number of resorts on the south coast of England.
1969 Britain’s champion motor racing driver, Graham Hill, won his fifth and record-breaking Monaco Grand Prix.
1980 Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage.
1991 Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield was the first Briton to go into space, as a participant in a Soviet space mission.
1995 "Braveheart" directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mel Gibson and Sophie Marceau premieres at the Seattle Film Festival.
2014 AstraZeneca, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company with operations in over 100 countries, rejected America company Pfizer's final offer of £63bn.
2019 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (85,854): Gabriel Jesus & Raheem Sterling each score twice as Manchester City thrash Watford, 6-0, completing an unprecedented domestic treble.
When Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton went shopping in Columbia on May 18th 1970 during an England pre-World Cup tour a diplomatic incident followed. Bobby Moore was accused of stealing a bracelet and a week later was charged with theft and placed under house arrest. The case was later dropped and Moore was able to take his place in the England team in the Mexico finals.
Football On This Day – 18th May 1991.
Paul Gascoigne was carried off - and many say should have been sent off – with a torn cruciate ligament after a wild tackle on Forest’s Gary Charles at the Spurs v Nottingham Forest FA Cup Final. Was he ever the same player again? Spurs won 2-1 to deny Brian Clough success in his only FA Cup final.
Football On This Day – 18th May 2019.
Manchester City kicked off the 2018/19 competitive season with a victory over Chelsea at Wembley to lift the Community Shield. Their last match of the season – on Saturday 18th May – was another Wembley victory when they won the FA Cup to become the first club to complete the treble of winning the 3 major trophies in England in a season – the League, FA Cup and League Cup. Their FA Cup final victims were Watford who had finished mid-table in the Premier League although that was 48 points behind champions Manchester City. The difference in class was evident at Wembley with City lifting the cup with a convincing victory to equal the FA Cup final winning margin record of 6-0 which was originally set in Bury’s defeat of Derby County in the 1903 final.
1499 Catherine of Aragon (aged 12) was married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, the Prince of Wales (aged 12).
1536 Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife, was beheaded in London. She was 29 years old. Although the evidence against her was unconvincing, the charges brought included incest with her brother and no less than four counts of adultery.
1568 Queen Elizabeth I ordered the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics. After 18 years and 9 months in custody, Mary was tried and executed for her involvement in plots to assassinate Elizabeth.
1585 English shipping in Spanish ports was confiscated. This served as a declaration of war.
1845 Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition departed from Greenhithe in Kent. The entire crew of 129 perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy whilst attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.
1897 Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.
1900 World's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) linking Italy and Switzerland opens.
1935 T.E. Lawrence, English soldier and writer (known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia) died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash close to his peaceful retreat - Clouds Hill in Dorset.
1940 Churchill made his first broadcast as Prime Minister and called Nazism "the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny that has ever darkened and stained the pages of history."
1964 US diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in Moscow embassy.
1965 West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner's Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London.
1977 Film "Smokey & the Bandit" starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason premieres in NYC.
1982 Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion.
1992 Englishman Dave Gauder pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches.
1997 "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore, premieres in the US.
1997 The newly elected Sinn Fein MPs, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, visited and enjoyed the facilities at the British House of Commons for 24 hours, before the Speaker's ruling denying them the privileges of MPs in the Palace of Westminster came into effect.
1997 Health Secretary Frank Dobson announced that the sponsorship of sports events by tobacco firms was to be outlawed. It gave a temporary exemption for Formula One motor-racing, whose owner, Bernie Ecclestone, had earlier donated £1m to the Labour Party.
2001 Manchester United lose 3-1 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane but win English Premier League title for the 3rd consecutive season.
2004 Security at the House of Commons came under scrutiny after Fathers For Justice protesters attacked Tony Blair, the prime minister.
2007 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,826): Chelsea beat Manchester United, 1 – 0 (a.e.t.); Didier Drogba scores 116' winner for Blues' 4th title.
2012 UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues' first title.
2014 Decorated Dutch coach Louis van Gaal confirmed as manager of Manchester United; Ryan Giggs named assistant, confirms retirement as a player at age 40 after 963 games and English record 22 major trophies.
2018 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1-0; Belgian international Eden Hazard scores 22' penalty.
2018 American actress Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry at a ceremony in Windsor Castle, making her a member of the British royal family.
West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner's Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London
Football On This Day – 19th May 1977.
The end of the 1976/77 season saw one of the closest - and most controversial - top-flight relegation battles. In the days of two points from a win Tottenham and Stoke had finished their First Division league programme and were both relegated - Spurs were bottom with 33 point and Stoke one place above them on 34 points. The remaining relegation spot would go to one of three other clubs who were also on 34 points - Sunderland, Coventry and Bristol City - and each of those had one match left to play which they were all playing on Thursday 19th May 1977 - the Saturday was reserved for the FA Cup final. Sunderland had the slightly better goal difference but had a toughie last match away to Everton while amazingly Coventry and Bristol City were paired against each at Coventry's old Highfield Road home. The permutations of scorelines to who would be relegated filled many a column inch in the newspapers but nobody would have believed what was to happen. All the matches were due to kick off at the same time but Coventry Managing Director Jimmy Hill held back the kick off of the Coventry v Bristol City match for over 10 minutes due to 'crowd congestion'. So when the full time whistle went at Goodison, where Everton had beaten Sunderland 2-0, they were still playing at Highfield Road where the scoreline was 2-2. Jimmy Hill got that result at Goodison announced over the PA system which meant that the crowd - and players - knew that if the scoreline remained at 2-2 both Coventry and Bristol City would be saved and Sunderland relegated but if a fifth goal went in at Highfield Road the losing club would go down and Sunderland would stay up. With that knowledge the players had a gentle kick-about in those remaining few minutes with no thought of scoring. So the match ended 2-2, Coventry and Bristol City stayed up, a very upset Sunderland were relegated. A Football League inquiry followed and Jimmy Hill received a reprimand but the result stood and Sunderland were even more upset.
Football On This Day – 19th May 2001.
The word most often used to describe Southampton's former home at the Dell was 'cramped' and a cramped capacity crowd of 15,252 saw a dramatic and memorable end to their 103 years at the ground. In the last competitive match at the Dell Arsenal were the visitors for a Premier League fixture with the Gunners twice taking the lead. Hassan Kachloul equalised twice for the Saints before 32-year-old Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier came on as a sub and scored an 89th minute winner. Amazing!
Football On This Day – 19th May 2013.
After 27 years as manager Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United for the last time in the League. He saw his side let in 5 goals at WBA – they drew 5-5, the first time that scoreline had been recorded in the Premier League. United finished the season as champions of the Premier League, a full 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
685 The death, in battle, of Ecgfrith of Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon King who ruled over Northumbria for 15 years. His reign ended when he fiercely attacked the Picts against all advice. Lured into a narrow mountain pass, (possibly near Forfar) Ecgfrith and his army were slain, marking the beginning of decline in Northumbrian power.
1191 English King Richard I 'the Lion Heart' conquered Cyprus on his way to join the Crusaders in north west Israel.
1217 The Second Battle of Lincoln was fought, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet.
1840 York Minster was badly damaged by fire,the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe.
1867 Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the Royal Albert Hall.
1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue jeans with copper rivets.
1903 King Edward VII opened the Kew Bridge over the River Thames. Its proper name is the Edward VII Bridge.
1913 The first Chelsea Flower Show was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, attracting around 200,000 visitors. The show started in 1827, moving to larger venues until it settled in Chelsea.
1958 The mayor and corporation of High Wycombe were weighed in, in full view of the public to see whether or not they had been getting fat at the taxpayers' expense!
1962 Bobby Moore made his England debut and Jimmy Greaves scored a hat-trick in England’s 4-0 friendly victory in Peru.
1964 Buster Mathis beats future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazer on points at trials in Flushing, NY to qualify for US Olympic boxing team; Mathis injures thumb, replaced by Frazier who wins gold medal.
1965 The Chief Inspector of Constabularies announced that Britain's police would be armed with tear gas guns and grenades for use against dangerous criminals, but that it would not be used for crowd control.
1967 BBC bans the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" because of drug references.
1983 American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.
1983 "Every Breath You Take" single released by The Police.
1985 Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.
1985 The House of Commons agreed to consider Sunday Trading proposals.
1989 Liverpool beat Everton 3-2 in an all Merseyside F.A. Cup Final.
1993 Britain finally ratified the Maastricht Treaty which allowed greater co-operation between members of the European Union.
2000 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (78,217): Chelsea beat Aston Villa, 1-0; Roberto Di Matteo scores 73' winner.
1420 The Treaty of Troyes was signed, in which it was agreed that Henry V would marry Catherine, the daughter of King Charles VI of France and that Henry and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of the French king.
1471 Henry VI, King of England, was murdered in the Tower of London where he had been imprisoned by Edward IV, who then resumed the throne.
1554 A royal Charter was granted to Derby School as a grammar school for boys, by Queen Mary I, in return for a payment of £260 13s 4d, 'for the instruction and education of boys and youths in the said town of Derby for ever to be maintained by the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the same town.'
1662 England's Charles II married Catherine de Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal.
1840 Britain claimed complete sovereignty over New Zealand.
1894 The official opening, by Queen Victoria, of the Manchester Ship Canal. At its opening it was the largest river navigation canal in the world.
1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris.
1908 1st American horror movie silent film "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" premieres in Chicago.
1917 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth military forces.
1924 Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb kidnap and kill Bobby Franks to demonstrate their supposed intellectual superiority by committing a "perfect crime".
1927 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic.
1932 American Amelia Earhart landed in Derry, Ireland, after taking off from Newfoundland the previous day. It was the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot.
1936 Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon becomes one of Japan's most notorious scandals.
1946 A world wheat shortage led to bread rationing in Britain.
1950 Two people died and more were injured as violent storms and a tornado swept through counties around London.
1958 It was announced that automated telephone connection, making calls easier and cheaper, would be introduced in December.
1966 American boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended the hopes of British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper winning the world heavyweight titles when the bout was stopped in Round 6 because of a severe cut above Cooper's eye.
1971 Chelsea win 11th European Cup Winner's Cup against Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (replay).
1980 "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America.
1981 Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral.
1982 British troops land on Falkland Islands.
1996 After the failure of EU representatives to take steps to ease the ban on British beef, John Major announced that the British government would adopt a policy of non co-operation with the EU.
2004 Sherpa Pemba Dorjie climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year..
2005 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,876): Arsenal beat Manchester United, 5-4 on penalties after 0 – 0 (a.e.t.); Gunners' 10th title.
2008 UEFA Champions League Final, Moscow: Manchester United beat Chelsea, 6-5 on penalties after scores tied at 1-1 after extra time; first all-English final in the competition's history.
2016 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Manchester United beat Crystal Palace, 2-1 (a.e.t.); Jesse Lingard scores 110' winner.
An unusual fixture at Highbury. A young apprentice by the name of Charlie George was one of those who helped turn Arsenal's former home into a boxing arena. The occasion was a World Heavyweight title bout between Henry Cooper and defending champ Muhammad Ali. Over 40,000 were present to witness Our 'Enery suffer a sixth round defeat with a badly cut eye.
Football On This Day – 21st May 1983.
The 1982/83 season was a disappointing one for Brighton. Their first stint as a top flight club (it lasted 4 seasons) came to an end when they finished rock bottom of the old First Division. But they did reach their first ever FA Cup final and on May 21st 1983 they had the chance of making history by becoming the first relegated club to win the competition....and they so nearly did it. With just seconds of extra time left against Manchester United Brighton's Gordon Smith looked certain to score and Peter Jones' BBC radio commentary of the moment passed into history - 'And Smith must score....and he hasn't scored. And Bailey has saved it' The final whistle then went confirming the 2-2 draw and five days later the replay at Wembley ended with Brighton being thumped 4-0.
Football On This Day – 21st May 2008
For the first all-English Champions League final the fans of Chelsea and Manchester United had to make the long journey to Moscow. It was also a late night - it was 7.45pm kick off for the British TV viewer but in Moscow it was 10.45pm and with the match going to extra time and penalties the cup didn't get presented until the early hours. It was presented to Manchester United who won 6-5 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1.
1455 Opening battle in England's 30-year Wars of the Roses.Richard of York and the Nevilles attacked the court at St Albans, capturing Henry VI and killing Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.
1623 British Forces made a treaty with the 'Potomac River tribes' proposing a toast to perpetual friendship. The Indian chief and 200 men then dropped dead from poisoned wine.
1807 Most of the town of Chudleigh in Devon was destroyed by a fire that started in the bakery. After the fire, only the church and seven houses were left standing.
1816 A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, rioted over high unemployment and rising grain costs. The rioting spread to Ely (6 miles away) the next day.
1840 Britain ended the practice of sending convicts to the penal colony of Australia.
1859 The birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, novelist who created the detective Sherlock Holmes.
1892 Dr Washington Sheffield invents the toothpaste tube.
1897 The official opening of the Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames in London.
1906 Wright Brothers are granted a patent for their "flying machine," having applied for one 3 years earlier.
1915 The worst rail disaster in Britain took place at Quintinshill (Gretna Green) in Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246. The accident involved a special troop train carrying a Royal Scots battalion, two goods trains, a local train and an express from London Euston. The cause of the accident was poor working practices on the part of the two signalmen involved, which resulted in their imprisonment for culpable homicide.
1927 The world’s first ‘open plan’ zoo, Whipsnade, opened in Bedfordshire.
1931 Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida.
1933 First modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster by Aldie and John Mackay saw "something resembling a whale".
1936 Aer Lingus was founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
1946 George Best, former Northern Ireland and Manchester United football player was born.
1977 Final European scheduled run of the Orient Express (after 94 years).
1981 Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, was sentenced to life imprisonment after the judge described him as 'an unusually dangerous man'. He was found guilty of killing 13 women and the attempted murder of 7 others.
1982 Tottenham drew 1-1 with Second Division QPR at Wembley in the FA Cup Final but Spurs were without their Argentine player Ricky Villa who had withdrawn from the squad because of the Falklands War. Spurs won the replay at Wembley five days later.
1985 "A View to a Kill", 14th James Bond film, last to star Roger Moore, also starring Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, premieres in San Francisco.
1993 Riddick Bowe TKOs Jesse Ferguson in 2 for heavyweight boxing title.
2004 English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,350): Manchester United beat Millwall 3-0 Ruud van Nistelrooy scores 2 and Cristiano Ronaldo 1 in Red Devils' 11th title win.
2013 British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby was attacked and killed near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, British and of Nigerian descent, ran the off duty soldier down with a car, then used knives and a cleaver to hack him to death. The two men made no attempt to flee, encouraged people to take pictures of them and their victim and told passers-by that they had killed a soldier to avenge the killing of Muslims by the British armed forces.
2017 Twenty two people were killed and more than 200 injured when a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb was detonated as people were leaving Manchester Arena following a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande. The youngest victim, Saffie Roussos, was just eight years old. It was the deadliest terror attack on British soil since the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005.
878 The Saxon King Alfred defeated the Danes at Edington, Wiltshire. As part of the peace agreement, the Danish King, Guthrum, accepted Christianity and was baptized as a Christian.
1169 'The First Conquerors' landed in Ireland. They were Normans from Wales enlisted by Dermot MacMurrough to recover his kingdom of Leinster.
1430 Burgundian troops captured Joan of Arc and delivered her to the English.
1533 To the annoyance of the Pope, the English Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be void and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, to be legal. The result was a break with the church in Rome despite Henry’s title as ‘Protector of the Faith’.
1701 At London's Execution Dock, British privateer Captain Kidd was hanged for piracy and murder. Commissioned by the British crown in 1695 to apprehend pirates in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, Kidd apparently turned to piracy himself in 1697.
1797 A cartoon by Gilray was published which gave the Bank of England its nickname, 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.'
1918 The birth of Denis Compton CBE, English cricketer and footballer He played in 78 Test matches, spent the whole of his cricket career with Middlesex and most of his football career at Arsenal F.C.
1922 Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films.
1931 The official opening of Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, in Bedfordshire.
1933 Joan Collins, English actress was born.
1934 American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow - Bonnie and Clyde - are killed by police in an ambush near Sailes, Louisiana.
1945 World War II: Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, committed suicide by means of a potassium cyanide capsule while in Allied custody, awaiting trial with other German leaders as a war criminal at Nuremberg.
1956 The first large-scale nuclear power station was opened at Calder Hall, Cumbria. It was decommissioned after producing electricity for almost 50 years.
1966 The British government declared a state of emergency a week after the nation's seamen strike began.
1969 BBC orders 13 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
1980 Horror film "The Shining" released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King.
1982 Colin Wilson rides a surfboard 294 miles.
1984 Crime epic film "Once Upon a Time in America" directed by Sergio Leone starring Robert De Niro and James Woods premieres at Cannes.
1984 Sixteen people died and dozens more were injured in an underground explosion whilst visiting a water treatment plant in the village of Abbeystead, near Lancaster.
1995 Twelve members of a Royal British Legion tour party on a day trip were killed when their coach plunged down an embankment on the M4 near the Severn Bridge.
2007 UEFA Champions League Final, Athens: Filippo Inzaghi scores twice as AC Milan beat Liverpool, 2-1 for 7th title.
2014 Judges ruled that the remains of Richard III should be given a dignified reburial in Leicester.
In his day Roy Keane was considered a great footballer in a playing career which included him playing 67 times for his country, the Republic of Ireland, and making over 300 League matches for Manchester United.. He was also known as someone who had his say! The Republic of Ireland had qualified for the 2002 World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan with Roy Keane due to captain his country. But he wasn’t happy with his country’s preparations for the finals and came close to packing his bags and returning home from Ireland’s pre-tournament training camp on the Pacific island of Saipan such was his disillusionment with those preparations. But on May 23rd came the ‘Saipan Incident’ when Keane and Irish manager Mick McCarthy had a public row of serious proportions. Roy Keane wasn’t happy with the tournament preparations, the training camp, the playing strategy and tactics, the food, the travel arrangements etc etc. He also told Mick McCarthy that he never ranked him as a person, as a manager or as a player and that he wasn’t Irish anyway with McCarthy being a former Irish international player who was born in very un-Irish Barnsley. There was inevitably only one possible outcome of the ‘Saipan Incident’ – Keane was told to pack his bags and return home!
1487 The ten-year-old imposter Lambert Simnel was crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII's reign.
1809 Dartmoor Prison was opened to accommodate French prisoners of war. From 1850 it becomes a prison for convicts.
1819 Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born at Kensington Palace in London, the only daughter of the Duke of Kent. As Queen Victoria, she reigned for 63 years, from 1837 until her death in 1901. She married Prince Albert in 1840 and had four sons and five daughters. After Albert’s death in 1861, she went into virtual retirement.
1836 The birth, in York, of Joseph Rowntree, Quaker philanthropist, social reformer and chocalatier businessman.
1844 Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message.
1862 Westminster Bridge across The Thames opens in London, England, second bridge replacing earlier bridge fallen into decay.
1873 Alexandra Palace opens on Queen Victoria's 54th birthday with a grand celebration including concerts, recitals and fireworks.
1901 Seventy eight miners died in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
1902 Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain.
1930 Amy Johnson landed at Darwin, Australia and became the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
1941 World War II: The German battleship Bismarck sank the Royal Navy's largest warship HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. The ship exploded when a German shell hit the Hood's ammunition store.
1956 1st Eurovision Song Contest: Lys Assia for Switzerland wins singing "Refrain" in Lugano.
1959 Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in Great Britain.
1970 Peter Green quits Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult.
1972 Glasgow Rangers of Scotland win 12th European Cup Winner's Cup against Dynamo Moscow 3-2 of the Soviet Union 3-2 in Barcelona.
1976 Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title in Munich.
1976 British Airways and Air France Concordes arrived at Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C. having made their first commercial crossing of the North Atlantic.
1995 The death of Harold Wilson, Huddersfield born Labour politician and Prime Minister from 1964-1970 and again from 1974-1976.
2003 Britain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest failed to score a single point, a fact later blamed on the UK's stance during the Iraq conflict.
2009 Manchester United win 1-0 at Hull City Stadium to win English Premier League title for 3rd consecutive season, for a second time; equals Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.
2017 UEFA Europa League won by Manchester United 2-0 against Ajax in Stockholm.
2019 At just after 10:00am Theresa May announced that she would stand down as Conservative leader on 7th June, over her failure to deliver Brexit and after losing the support of her own MPs. She continued to serve as Prime Minister while a Conservative leadership contest took place.
2020 At the Government's daily coronavirus briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave full support to his adviser Dominic Cummings, who had driven 250 miles to his parents’ house in Durham after strict lockdown rules had been imposed on the UK. Cummings said that he travelled to Durham to self isolate whilst he was recovery from coronavirus. Further allegations were made that Cummings left isolation to go 30 miles to a popular tourist town and that he also made a second trip to Durham during the lockdown period. Johnson said the Cummings had acted 'responsibly, legally and with integrity' at a time when others were being told they must stay at home to protect lives.
Celtic were the first Scottish side to win a European competition when they won the European Cup with a victory over Inter Milan in the 1967 final. But on this day in 1972 their great rivals Rangers won their first Euro title and also became the first Scottish side to win the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 3-2 victory over Dynamo Moscow in the Nou Camp, Barcelona. Rangers had twice previously lost in ECWC finals - beaten by Fiorentina in 1961 and Bayern Munich in 1967. Ironically Rangers were only in the ECWC this time because of the success of Celtic who had recorded a League and Cup double in Scotland in 1970/71. Because of that Celtic were in the European Cup in 1971/72 leaving beaten Scottish Cup finalists Rangers with a place in the ECWC, Sadly though Rangers were badly let down by their fans in the Nou Camp. Just before the final whistle and again after the final whistle their fans invaded the pitch prompting violent clashes with the Spanish police. The result of that was Rangers received a 12-month UEFA ban meaning that they were unable to defend the trophy the following season.
Football On This Day – 24th May 1984.
Terry Venables was appointed the new manager of Barcelona on a salary reported to be around £150,000 a year. ‘El Tel’ lasted three years in Spain.
Football On This Day – 24th May 2015.
Steven Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on November 29th 1998 in a Premier League match against Blackburn at Anfield and on 24th May 2015 he played his 504th and last League match for the club. He scored Liverpool's only goal at Stoke but it wasn't a memorable last game for the Reds' legend. In fact the match saw a scoreline he hadn't experienced in any of his previous 503 League matches for the club (and hadn't happened in his lifetime) - a 6-1 defeat.
Worth repeating the above
PS.....we let him score that one as a leaving present.
946 The death of Edmund I, from the House of Wessex and King of the English from 939. His qualities characterized him as Edmund the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, and the Magnificent.
1659 Lord protector Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver, resigned his position earning the nickname "Tumbledown ****" as a result of his abrupt fall from power. Leading to the restoration of the monarchy and the crowning of Charles II in 1660.
1768 Captain James Cook sailed on his first voyage of discovery, on which he explored the Society Islands and charted the coasts of New Zealand and West Australia.
1871 The House of Commons passed the Bank Holiday Act, creating public holidays on Easter Monday, Whit Monday and Christmas Day.
1895 At the end of a sensational trial, Irish writer Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency in his relations with the son of the Marquess of Queensberry. He was sentenced to two years hard labour.
1927 Henry Ford announces that he is ending production of the Model T Ford.
1951 British diplomats Burgess and Maclean were reported missing. It was later discovered that both were Soviet spies and had defected to Moscow.
1961 JFK announces US goal of putting a man on the Moon before the end of decade.
1965 Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston at 2:12 of round 1 at Central Maine Civic Center, Lewiston to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing title.
1967 Glasgow Celtic became the first British football club to win the European Cup beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon.
1967 John Lennon takes delivery of his psychedelically painted Rolls Royce.
1969 "Midnight Cowboy" directed by John Schlesinger and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman is released.
1977 Original "Star Wars" movie (Episode IV – A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, first released.
1977 21st European Cup: Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 at Rome.
1979 "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver is released.
1982 HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine Skyhawks during the Falklands War. Nineteen of her crew were lost and a further thirty injured.
1983 "Return of the Jedi" (Star Wars Part VI), produced by George Lucas first released.
1994 The Camelot consortium won the contract to run Britain's first national lottery, starting in November.
2005 13th UEFA Champions League Final: Liverpool beat Milan (3-3, 3-2 on penalties).
2020 Video of African American George Floyd's arrest and murder while restrained in Minneapolis police custody shows he was pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin's knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, ignites widespread condemnation and nationwide protests.
Celtic beat Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon to become the first British club to win the European Cup. The Italians - twice European Cup winners in the previous three seasons - took the lead from a Sandro Mazzola penalty after just seven minutes before Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers scored second half goals to take the trophy to Glasgow. The victorious Celtic team became known as the Lisbon Lions and given the international nature of players in the top European teams nowadays it's hard to believe that every one of those Lisbon Lions were born in Scotland. In fact every member of Celtic's 15 man first team squad was born with 30 miles of Celtic Park.
Football On This Day – 25th May 2005.
At half time at the Champions League final at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul AC Milan were leading Liverpool 3-0 - Liverpool were poor and were going to get hammered. In one of the most amazing turn-rounds though second half goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso put Liverpool level. No more goals in extra time and so it went to penalties. And yep, Liverpool won 3-2 to complete what was genuinely The Miracle of Istanbul.
604 St. Augustine, the first archbishop of Canterbury died.
1647 Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.
1670 Charles II and Louis XIV signed a secret treaty in Dover, ending hostilities between England and France.
1733 John Kay, assistant to Richard Arkwright, patented the 'Flying Shuttle' to operate on Arkwright's cotton spinning frame.
1798 Income Tax was introduced into Britain - a 10% tax on all incomes over £200 a year.
1805 Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy.
1868 In the last public execution in England, Irish terrorist Michael Barrett was hanged outside Newgate Prison for causing an explosion in London which left 13 dead.
1897 Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker was published.
1904 The birth, in Wigan, of George Formby, English singer and comedian. He was famous for his comic songs, full of double entendre, to his own accompaniment on the banjo ukulele.
1906 Vauxhall Bridge is opened in London, England.
1913 The birth of Peter Cushing, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films.
1923 Inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for cars starts through public roads around Le Mans, France; inaugural winners: André Lagache and René Léonard (France) for Chenard & Walcker.
1927 Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie.
1936 In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson began speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sat down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for an incredible 10 hours. At that point it was the longest speech in any British legislature.
1940 At 18:57 the signal was received to start 'Operation Dynamo', the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and French troops from Dunkirk's beaches. Besides the efforts of the Royal Navy, 700 small ships were assembled in Sheerness dockyard before making the hazardous crossing to Dunkirk. In total, 338,226 troops were safely returned to England between 27th May and 4th June
1950 Long queues appeared at garages and motorists tore their ration books into confetti after the end to petrol rationing.
1967 EMI releases "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" a few days early in the UK; it would go to number one for 15 weeks in the US and 22 weeks in the UK.
1969 Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono staged a public 'bed in' for world peace - staying in bed for a week in a hotel in Montreal.
1972 Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.
1972 State-owned travel firm Thomas Cook & Son was sold to a consortium of private businesses headed by the Midland Bank.
1975 "Rhinestone Cowboy" single released by Glen Campbell.
1978 1st legal gambling casino opens in Atlantic City.
1982 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam.
1989 The BBC broadcast the 10,000th episode of the daily radio serial The Archers.
1993 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich.
1998 Emperor Akihito of Japan spoke of his "deep sorrow and pain" over the suffering inflicted by his country during World War II, but war veterans felt he did not go far enough and turned their backs on him.
1999 Manchester United became the first British club to win the European Cup for 15 years, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in the final in Barcelona. This gave them the coveted 'treble' - the Premier League, the FA Cup and the European Cup.
2012 The seemingly never-ending task of painting the Forth Bridge was finally completed, following a 10-year programme of work and 240,000 litres of 'epoxy glass plate paint' that should last for 20 years. More than 1,500 people worked on the bridge during its restoration, with as many as 400 workers on the bridge in a single day at the peak of activity.
2018 UEFA Champions League Final, Kiev: Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 3-1 for third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles.
2019 Nine climbers die in a week on Mt Everest after overcrowding leads to a huge queue to reach the summit.