On this date in 1978, BUZZCOCKS released their sixth single, EVER FALLEN IN LOVE (WITH SOMEONE YOU SHOULDN’T’VE?), (Sept 8th, 1978). “We’ve other great songs,” Pete Shelley once announced in reference to ‘Ever Fallen In Love…’, “but this is the one the man on the Clapham omnibus would recognise.” 42 years after the single was released, this two-minute 42-second melodic anthem with its edgy use of minor chords is the one that even those not enamoured with the genre or the period could declare one of their favourite songs. With its melodic hooks and emotive chorus, ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ earns a place at the very top of the punk-new wave pantheon. "The song dates back to November 1977,” said Pete Shelley in 2006. “One night in Edinburgh we were in a guest house TV lounge watching the musical Guys and Dolls. This line leaped out - "Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have?" The next day the van stopped outside a post office and I wrote the lyrics there. I did have a certain person in mind, but I'll save that for my kiss'n'tell. The music just seemed to follow, fully formed." "The opening line was originally 'You pi ss on my natural emotions,' but because 'Org asm Addict' hadn't been getting radio play because of it's title, I needed something a bit subtler. So I came up with 'spurn.' It had the same sort of disregard, but wasn't so likely to offend!" "Pete played me 'Ever Fallen In Love…' for the first time and my jaw hit the floor,” said producer Martin Rushent. “I felt it was the strongest song that they had written-clever, witty lyrics, great hooklines. I suggested backing vocals-to highlight the chorus and make it even more powerful. No one could hit the high part-so I did it. I'd sung in bands in my youth and I also worked as a backing singer." With its emotional energy and theme of unrequited teenage love, EVER FALLEN IN LOVE (WITH SOMEONE YOU SHOULDN'T'VE?) remains a classic.
1087 William the Conqueror died in Maine (France) from injuries he sustained after a fall from his horse.
1513 The Scots were heavily defeated by the English at the Battle of Flodden Field and James IV was killed, along with all his nobles.
1543 Mary Stuart, at just nine months old, was crowned 'Queen of Scots' in the Scottish town of Stirling.
1776 Congress officially renames the country as the United States of America (from the United Colonies).
1879 The death of John Smith, English brewer, best known for operating the John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. As at 2012, John Smith's was the highest selling bitter in the world.
1911 The launch of the first airmail service in England, between Hendon and Windsor.
1958 There were race riots in London's Notting Hill Gate, with television crews accused of encouraging the rioting by staging reconstructions in the streets.
1963 Scotsman Jim Clark became the youngest person to win the world motor racing championships, driving Colin Chapman’s Lotus. He was aged 27 and 188 days.
1971 John Lennon releases his "Imagine" album.
1972 Soviet Union beats the United States 51-50 in the most controversial game in international basketball history; with US leading 50-49 the final 3 seconds is replayed 3 times until the Soviets finally win.
1979 US Open Men's Tennis: John McEnroe wins first Grand Slam title; beats fellow American Vitas Gerulaitis 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
1984 US Open Men's Tennis: John McEnroe wins his 4th US title and final Grand Slam singles event; beats Ivan Lendl 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
1985 Champion jockey Lester Piggott announced his retirement, having won more than 5,000 races around the world. In 1987 he was jailed following an investigation over tax evasion, but resumed his career following his release and rode his last winner in October 1994.
1987 Twenty five English football fans involved in the Heysel stadium disaster were extradited to Belgium.
1988 The Indian cricket tour was cancelled as English cricket captain Graham Gooch and seven other members of his squad were refused visas to travel to India.
1990 US Open Men's Tennis: 19 year old Pete Sampras wins his first Grand Slam title; beats fellow American Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; Sampras youngest male US Open winner.
1996 The European Court of Human Rights agreed to hear a case in which a 12-year old boy was challenging British laws allowing parents to use corporal punishment on their children.
2015 Queen Elizabeth II overtook Queen Victoria as the longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Queen Victoria was Queen for 63 years and 216 days.
1960 The first attempt to offer the British TV public regular live League football started – and finished – on 10th September 1960 when ITV broadcast the Saturday evening fixture between Blackpool and Bolton. In 1953 those two clubs contested a famous Cup Final but by 1960 they were both struggling in the First Division and the fixture was missing its star player – Stanley Matthews – because of injury. It was a dismal match with poor TV ratings and the following Saturday (17th) Arsenal refused permission for their match against Newcastle to be televised as did Spurs the week after that (24th) for their match against Aston Villa. As a result ITV abandoned the project and nearly a quarter of a century passed before there was another live League match on British TV – Tottenham v Nottingham Forest on 2nd October 1983.
1962 The BBC bans Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Halloween novelty single "Monster Mash," finding it in poor taste. However, in 1973 the radio giant lifts the ban, sending a re-release of the holiday favorite to #3.
1963 American Express opened a credit card service in Britain.
1964 Rod Stewart records his 1st single "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"
1966 Beatles' "Revolver," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 6 weeks in the UK.
1967 Almost 100 per cent of the voters 12,138 to 44 of Gibraltar rejected Spanish rule in favour of retaining British sovereignty.
1973 Muhammad Ali defeats Ken Norton in the second of their 3 fights.
1977 Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by Guillotine in France.
1982 Decca releases Beatles audition on "Complete Silver Beatles" album, 20 years after label executives rejected them feeling that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business"
1990 Starring a young rapper named Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuts on NBC.
1991 Rock band Nirvana release their single "Smells like Teen Spirit", often dubbed the anthem of Generation X.
1993 "The X-Files", starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson debuts on Fox.
1998 Manchester United brought to us MUTV - the world’s first TV channel dedicated to a single football club.
2001 Charles Ingram won one million pounds on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He was later accused of cheating by having his wife, Diana, and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, cough as Ingram announced the correct answer from the available choices. The Ingrams and Tecwen Whittock were convicted, on 7th April 2003, by a majority verdict of 'procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception'. All three were fined and given suspended prison sentences. In October 2004 Diana and Charles Ingram were declared bankrupt.
2008 The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
2012 US Open Men's Tennis: Andy Murray of Scotland wins his first Grand Slam event; beats defending champion Novak Đoković 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Promoting the lead track on their recently released WORK, REST AND PLAY EP, Madness appeared on Top Of The Pops performing NIGHT BOAT TO CAIRO. The performance followed a period where the BBC had hesitated inviting the band back on the show. That was after their last appearance with ‘My Girl, when saxophonist Lee Thompson was berated by TOTP producers for not taking the show seriously enough. However, thanks to the band’s rapidly rising popularity the Beeb had little choice but to ask them back. Adopting the regulation Madness response and wearing an array of Arabian headdresses and fezzes, plus Suggs in an oversized pith helmet, on this occasion ALL the band refuse to take the show seriously.
1297 Scottish hero William Wallace defeated the English at Stirling Bridge. Wallace's statement before the battle was - 'We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free.'
1777 American troops led by George Washington were defeated by the British at the Battle of Brandywine Creek, in the American War of Independence.
1836 Register Office marriages were introduced in Britain.
1841 The London to Brighton commuter express train began regular service, taking just 105 minutes.
1879 268 miners died in an explosion at the Prince of Wales Colliery, at Abercarn, South Wales.
1895 The first FA Cup trophy, known as the ‘little tin idol’ and which cost £20, was stolen from the shop window of a Birmingham boot and shoe manufacturer, William Shillcock. The cup had been lent by Cup holders Aston Villa who were later fined £25 by the FA to pay for a replacement trophy. The ‘little tin idol’ was never recovered. 68 years later an 83 year old man confessed he'd melted it down to make counterfeit halfcrown coins.
1942 Enid Blyton publishes "Five on a Treasure Island" first of her "Famous Five" children's novels, start of one of the best-selling children's series ever with over 100 million sold.
1962 The Beatles completed the recording of their first single 'Love Me Do' at the Abbey Road Studios in north London.
1967 Frank Sinatra, who is gambling at the Sands casino in Las Vegas, gets in a fight when he is denied credit as part of a policy put in by the new owners. He breaks two teeth in the altercation and soon takes his talents (and money) to Caesar's Palace.
1977 The Atari 2600, originally known as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) is released in North America, revolutionizing the video game industry.
1977 David Bowie joins Bing Crosby to record the crooner's Merrie Olde Christmas special. Bowie refuses to sing "Little Drummer Boy" with Crosby, so his part is rewritten as "Peace On Earth." Crosby dies a month later before the show airs, and the duet becomes a Christmas classic, growing even more popular when MTV starts playing the clip a few years later.
1987 Four men were arrested on charges of plotting to steal a dolphin worth £25,000 from the Marineland Oceanarium in Morecambe, Lancashire.
1997 In a national referendum on devolution, the people of Scotland voted 'Yes' to creating their own Parliament, for the first time in more than 300 years.
2001 Hijackers crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and thousands of those working in the buildings. Both towers collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. A third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane was redirected towards Washington, D.C., targeting either the Capitol Building or the White House, but it crashed in a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake control of the airliner. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
2001 As Gerard Way watches in horror from the Manhattan ferry as the World Trade Center's Twin Towers collapse, he realizes life is too short to not follow his dream. Shortly after, he starts his own band: My Chemical Romance.
2014 South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is found not guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (and is later found guilty of culpable homicide).
2018 James Anderson takes his 564th Test wicket to become the most prolific fast bowler in cricket history as England beats India by 118 runs in the 5th Test at The Oval for a 4-1 series victory; Alistair Cook's final Test.
IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS - I WANT TO BE STRAIGHT On this date in 1980, IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS were on Top Of The Pops performing I WANT TO BE STRAIGHT - dressed in full police uniform (September 11th 1980) In 1980, Chaz Jankel said goodbye to the Blockheads and headed off for a solo career. His replacement was Wilko Jonson. The question as to what Dury would do without Jankel was answered in the single 'I Want To Be Straight', one that initially came in a sleeve sporting a school prefect’s badge and later with a sleeve aptly sporting snaps of the whole band as every one of them now took a composing credit. Written by Ian and Mick Gallagher, the song had a bluesy tempo and was firmly tongue-in-cheek. It begins with spoken introductions from each band member over keyboards and bass. A clever touch which helped to the single rise to the top of the pile when it came to battling for airplay. Not to mention Davey Payne’s gritty sax solo played over terrace-style chants of ‘straight’ from the rest of the band. “I'm Charley, you know I'm Norman pleased to meet you I'm Mickey, hello Wilko I'm Johnny, how are you doing, alreet, champion? My name is David And I'm Ian' and ' guess what? Oi! I want to be straight, I want to be straight I'm sick and tired of taking drugs and staying up late. I wanna confirm, I wanna conform I wanna be safe and I wanna be snug and I wanna be warm”
1440 Eton College was founded by Henry VI. Prefects were warned to look out for "ill-kempt heads and unwashed faces."
1755 Giacomo Casanova is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Venice without trial for affront to religion and common decency.
1878 Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk of Thothmes II, was erected on London's Embankment.
1885 The Scottish football team of Arbroath beat Bon Accord (from Aberdeen) by 36 goals to nil in the first round of the Scottish Cup, making it a record breaking score for professional football. Thirteen goals were scored by centre-forward John Petrie.
1906 The opening of the Newport Transporter Bridge in south east Wales. Only eight such bridges remain in use worldwide and this is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain. Vehicles are tranported on the 'gondola' across the River Usk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxzOQwktMCc
1908 The marriage of Winston Churchill to Clementine Hozier.
1936 Britain’s Fred Perry won the US Tennis Championships against Donald Budge.
1960 Ministry of Transport (MoT) tests on motor vehicles were introduced in the UK.
1964 Film that started Spaghetti Western genre "A Fistful of Dollars" premieres, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role.
1966 The Monkees TV show makes its debut, with four actors chosen to portray a pop band based on The Beatles. While The Monkees are a fictional band, they become very real and eventually play on their own recordings instead of studio musicians.
1970 The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise.
1972 Two British trawlers were sunk by Icelandic gunboats during the 'cod war'
1975 Pink Floyd releases their ninth album "Wish You Were Here"
1977 Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody from his injuries after being beaten and tortured by police.
1978 Situation comedy "Taxi" premieres on ABC television.
1981 "The Smurfs" animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America.
1987 The BBC filmed the first 'Top of the Pops' to be sold in America.
2000 Britain was brought to a standstill as fuel tax protesters, backed by tanker drivers, caused petrol shortages.
2003 Johnny Cash dies of complications from diabetes in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 71.
2005 England took the Ashes from Australia for the first time since 1987.
2012 Excavators announce that they may have found the remains of King Richard III of England under a carpark in Leicester.
2015 Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader of the UK Labour party.
2017 Monster fatburg 250m long, 130 tons, size of 11 buses found in sewers under east London.
2021 All Britain's major newspapers carried the story of unseeded 18 year old Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, after beating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets. She did not drop a set through qualifying or the main draw, was the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam and was the first British woman to win a Grand Slam trophy since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
In a Scottish Cup First Round match Dundee Harp beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0, surely a record that would last for ever. But amazingly 20 miles away on the same day in the same competition Arbroath beat Bon Accord 36-0 to record what is still the highest score in a senior football match in Britain.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1974.
A sensation at Elland Road with Leeds United sacking manager Brian Clough after just 44 days in charge. Defending League champions Leeds had taken just 4 points from their first six League matches of the new season.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1989.
Liverpool had a 9-0 home League victory over Crystal Palace with 8 different players scoring the goals. Despite that scoreline Liverpool scored more goals away from home than they did at Anfield in achieving their 18th League title that season. Liverpool did the League double over Palace that season but the Londoners did record a memorable cup victory over the Merseysiders in 1989/90 - beating Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park to reach their first FA Cup Final.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1990.
The Faroe Islands had their moment of glory when they beat Austria 1-0 in their first competitive match, a Euro qualifier. The ‘home’ match was played in Sweden as the Faroes (population under 50,000) didn’t have a grass pitch to play on.
Football On This Day – 12th September 2001.
Footballers behaving badly hit the headlines again. Four Chelsea players - Frank Lampard, John Terry, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jody Morris - allegedly stripped, swore and vomited in front of Americans stranded at a Heathrow hotel because of travel chaos the day after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All four were fined two weeks wages by the club although the incident was later to revisit Lampard when in 2014 when, just before he signed for NY City, a New York newspaper ran a story about the incident under the headline 'British soccer star poised to join NY team once mocked Americans after 9/11 attacks.'
THE ALARM – SIXTY EIGHT GUNS On this date in 1983, THE ALARM released the single SIXTY EIGHT GUNS, (September 12th 1983) "The song was inspired by a book I’d read about Glasgow street gangs, in the year 1968," explained Mike Peters. "I always thought that was an important year for young people, it was the first time they really said ‘no.’ It was just when the hippie thing was ending, when peace and love was all going sour. So we’re writing about a street gang called the 68 Guns. It’s about how society reacts against the presence of these young people on the street, and how they turn to violence in response." "We just wanted to write a song about that conflict and those people who were conflicted and fighting against each of the society’s against the kids. The kids really didn’t really want to have a fight, but it was a war over who owned the space and these people just wanted to belong to themselves, these young people. Society didn’t want them so they clung to themselves and their gangs. I just made up a gang called “68 Guns” and hoped that that gang was still relevant today as it was in 1968."
SCUM (1979) This date in 1979 saw the release of SCUM, a British drama film directed by Alan Clarke and starring Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth and John Blundell, (September 12th 1979) Alan Clarke first released Scum in 1977 as a BBC TV-film, yet the BBC disapproved of the film due to the amount of raw, harrowing realism which had been packed into a short running-time. Therefore the BBC banned the version, and it was not until fifteen years later that the TV-version was aired on the UK's Channel 4. Though, to get around not being able to release the TV version of Scum Alan Clarke opted in for developing a remade, feature-length version to be aired at cinemas, this was released in 1979. The film sent shockwaves through cinemas across Britain, causing huge controversy from the media, government and British public. Some people saw the film as a "visceral image of a flawed system", while others saw the film as "exploitive trash in the form of a documentary". Scum was a disturbing look at a British Borstal's futile attempt at rehabilitating young offenders, the inmates of the Borstal ranged from adolescent teen to young adult. Most of them (if not all) had little hope in achieving anything in their life, except for just moving from prison to prison for their antisocial crimes. The film focused on the brutality of a flawed and corrupt system whereby the inmates had no hope of rehabilitation due to the infantile regimes. It showed how survival through brutality was the only way of getting through the system and even then there was still no sign of release for any of the prisoners. Scum was undoubtedly a film which prompted viewers to question the entire rehabilitation process for young offenders. It detailed what men will do to "comply" with a system they loathe and how they will form their own rules and beliefs to suit the system in a way which will benefit them. There was a strong element of wasted talent etched into the film - the respect of intelligent men who have potential, yet do not know how to use it. The performances from the entire cast were pulled off with raw, natural intensity. Ray Winstone's debut performance as "the daddy"- Carlin is one of the most unflinching and uncompromising performances ever commited to film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzEo5DWL-Qc
Released this day at The Toronto International Film Festival. THIS IS ENGLAND, the 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows that told the story of a young boy who becomes friends with a gang of skinheads in 1983. Friends soon become like family and relationships are pushed to the very limit.
122 Building begins on Hadrian's Wall, Northern England.
1759 British troops, under the command of General Wolfe, secured Canada for the British Empire after defeating the French at the Battle of Quebec. Wolfe and the French commander were killed during the battle.
1814 Francis Scott Key is inspired to write "The Star Spangled Banner" during the British attack of Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814, and the courageous defense made by American force.
1902 The first conviction in Britain using finger-prints as evidence was in the case against Harry Jackson by the Metropolitan Police at the Old Bailey. He had left his thumbprint in wet paint on a window sill and was tracked down through it. He was sentenced to seven years.
1922 The Straw Hat Riot begins in New York City as people protest the right to wear straw hats beyond the accepted end date of September 15.
1940 Buckingham Palace was hit by a bomb during 'The Blitz'.
1957 The Mousetrap became Britain's longest running play, reaching its 1,998th performance.
1958 Cliff Richard made his British TV debut on Jack Good's Oh Boy, performing Move It.
1959 Elvis Presley meets his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu at a party at his house in Germany, where he is serving in the US Army. They hit it off that night, with Elvis playing her some songs on guitar. At the time, she was only 14 years old and he was 24.
1960 A movement to ban Ray Peterson's new single "Tell Laura I Love Her" begins in the UK when it is feared that the song's powerful story of a stock-car driver who dies young while racing for his girl's love will inspire a "death cult" amongst teens.
1969 At the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, host Kim Fowley starts a rock tradition when he asks the crowd to hold up lighters for Eric Clapton and John Lennon.
1969 "Scooby-Doo Where are You" by Hanna-Barbera debuts on CBS in the US.
1980 Hercules, the bear who went missing on Benbecula (in the Outer Hebrides) while being filmed for a Kleenex television commercial, was recaptured after 24 days 'on the run'.
1985 Super Mario Bros game first appears, created by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo.
1989 Britain's biggest ever banking computer error gave customers an extra £2 billion in a period of 30 minutes; 99.3 per cent of the money was reportedly returned.
1997 Elton John's rewritten version of "Candle In The Wind" that he played at Princess Diana's funeral a week earlier is released as a single. It sells a record 600,000 copies the first day in Britain alone, where it becomes the best selling single of all time. Worldwide, it sells over 30 million copies, second only to "White Christmas."
2006 The shirt worn by George Best when he scored six goals in Manchester United's 8-2 FA Cup victory at Northampton in February 1970 was sold at auction at Christie's for £24,000.
2010 US Open Men's Tennis: Rafael Nadal wins his first US crown; beats Novak Đoković 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
2017 One of those 'injuries' which the whole world soon found out about. Spanish international Marco Asensio missed Real Madrid's first Champions League match of 2017/18 because of a leg injury. He had shaved his legs - the razor was dirty - a hair follicle on his leg became infected causing a pimple - and so he couldn't pull one of his socks up.
If someone is going to make a public announcement it's important to make sure they get the facts right. Back in 1946 when Cliff Bastin played his last match for Arsenal he had set the first-team goalscoring record for the Gunners with 178 goals to his name. Fast forward to 1997 and another Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, was getting close to breaking that record. On 13th September 1997 Wrighty was in the Arsenal line-up for the Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers having scored 177 goals for the Gunners. After 20 minutes Ian Wright scored and immediately removed his Arsenal shirt to reveal a T-shirt underneath with the message printed on it '179 Just Done It'. Except that he hadn't done it. 177 plus 1 = 178 and so he had equalled the record not beaten it. Mind you the T-shirt was on show again five minutes later when he scored a second to break that record and later increased the total to 180 when he completed a hat-trick.
1752 The 3rd of September became the 14th as the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain. Crowds of people rioted on the streets demanding, 'Give us back our 11 days.'
1759 The earliest dated board game in England was sold on this day by its inventor John Jeffreys, from his house in Chapel Street, Westminster. The game was called 'A Journey Through Europe', or 'The play of Geography'.
1868 At the Open Championships at Prestwick, the legendary Scottish golfer Tom Morris scored the first recorded hole-in-one, on the 8th hole (166 yards).
1891 The first penalty kick in an English League football game was taken by Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington.
1905 Motorcycling's Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is first contested.
1956 IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton.
1963 George Best makes his debut for Manchester United against West Brom at Old Trafford, watched by 50,453 fans.
1964 The British daily newspaper, the Daily Herald, ceased publication and was replaced by the Sun.
1969 Genesis take the stage for the first time, playing at the cottage owned by leader Peter Gabriel's former Sunday School teacher.
1972 "The Waltons" TV program premieres on CBS.
1974 Two giant pandas, Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching, arrived at London Zoo.
1979 The film "Quadrophenia", loosely based on The Who's 1973 rock opera of the same name is released.
1982 Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies the day after suffering a stroke at the wheel and driving her car off a cliff.
1984 1st MTV Video Music Awards: The Cars win with "You Might Think" it beats Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video.
1830 George Stephenson's Manchester and Liverpool railway opened. During the ceremony, William Huskisson, MP, became the first person to be killed by a train when he crossed the track to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington.
1871 The first British-based international mail order business was begun by the Army and Navy Co-operative. They published their first catalogue in February 1872.
1916 First use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme.
1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza.
1940 The tide turned in the Battle of Britain as the German air force sustained heavy losses inflicted by the Royal Air Force. The defeat was serious enough to convince Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to abandon his plans for an invasion of Britain. The day was chosen as "Battle of Britain Day".
1960 London introduced Traffic Wardens onto the streets of the capital.
1965 Ford offers factory-installed 8-track tape players in its Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. This marks the first time 8-track players are widely available, so you can only get the tapes in auto parts stores or Ford dealers. The players have a tendency to chew up the tapes, leading to 8-track roadkill as drivers throw the tangled tapes out their windows.
1966 The launch at Barrow of HMS Resolution, the first of a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme.
1971 1st broadcast of "Columbo" starring Peter Falk on NBC.
1978 Muhammad Ali beats Leon Spinks in 15 rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
1984: Lester Piggott breaks Frank Buckle's record of 27 Classic wins when he rides Commanche Run to victory in the St Leger.
1985 Tony Jacklin's team of golfers beat the United States in the Ryder Cup for the first time in 28 years (1957).
1988 Mark Knopfler announces that Dire Straits has disbanded. He re-forms the group in 1991.
1993 Single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" sung by Meat Loaf and composed by Jim Steinman is released. Goes on to be No. 1 in 28 countries.
2000 The fuel protests which had paralysed Britain for seven days, ended.
2019 UK PM Boris Johnson compares himself to Marvel's Hulk character in newspaper interview "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets" about UK exiting the EU.
1387 King Henry V was born at Monmouth Castle. He went on to win the Battle of Agincourt against the French on St Crispin’s Day.
1485 Yeomen Warders, the bodyguard of the English Crown - popularly known as 'Beefeaters' - was established by King Henry VII. Yeoman Warders work full time at the Tower of London. They are retired from the Armed Forces, have at least 22 years of service and must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal they work on a voluntary basis, around 10 days a year.
1620 The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. On board were 102 men, women and children and a small crew, a large group of whom were Puritans (who become known as the Pilgrim Fathers). Their hope was to reach the New World, where they could have religious freedom, and continue using their native language, culture, and customs. After 65 grueling days they dropped anchor off Cape Cod on 21st November, before landing on the coast of Massachusetts on 21st December 1620 at a spot now called Plymouth Rock, where they established their own government.
1847 The United Shakespeare Company bought the house in which playwright William Shakespeare was born at Stratford Upon Avon in Warwickshire for £3,000. It became the first building in Britain to be officially preserved.
1861 The Post Office Savings Banks opened in Britain.
1915 The opening of Britain’s first Women’s Institute, (regularly referred to as simply the WI) at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Anglesey, Wales. Its two aims were to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. It is now the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK.
1920 The "Wall Street bombing" occurs at 12:01 when a horse-drawn wagon explodes on Wall Street, New York, killing 38 and injuring 143.
1941 Adolf Hitler orders that for every dead German, 100 Yugoslavs should be killed.
1945 World War II: Japanese troops in Hong Kong surrendered. The surrender was accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1947 John Cobb set a world land speed record of 394.2mph.
1960 Donald Campbell destroyed Bluebird in a crash at 350mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in north west Utah. He was only slightly hurt.
1968 Britain introduced a 'two tier' postal system - First and Second Class. Letters and parcels bearing the more expensive 1st class stamps would be given priority of delivery.
1977 Marc Bolan of T. Rex dies in a car accident at age 29.
1979 Ryder Cup Golf, The Greenbrier: US wins, 17-11; new Team Europe replaces Great Britain & Ireland as official opposition to the United States.
1981 Two British political parties - the SDP and the Liberals - voted for an alliance.
1984 1st broadcast of "Miami Vice" on NBC-TV.
1992 Black Wednesday, when the GB Pound Sterling was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and was forced to devalue against the German mark.
1996 Courtroom reality show "Judge Judy" premieres in the US.
1999 1st ever season of "Big Brother" reality show begins on the Veronica channel in The Netherlands.
2002 The world's first self cleaning glass was launched after being developed by scientists at the leading glass company of Pilkington's in St Helens.
2018 Cycling land speed record broken for men and women by Denise Mueller-Korenek riding 183.932 mph Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6y_G_DJAzM
2019 Guantánamo Bay is the world's most expensive prison at US$13 million per prisoner according to investigation by "The New York Times"
There only a few thousand TV sets in the country in those days but on this day in 1937 Highbury hosted the first live TV broadcast of a football match to test the technology of the time – Arsenal playing Arsenal Reserves in a match arranged for the cameras.
Football On This Day – 16th September 1972.
Jimmy Hill seemed to be football's been there, done that sort of guy. On Saturday September 16th 1972 at the Arsenal v Liverpool fixture the football personality stepped in, superman-like, to prevent the match being abandoned when he took over as a substitute linesman. The original linesman, Dennis Drewitt, suffered torn knee ligaments in the first half and was unable to continue. Those were the days before we had extra officials at each game and an announcement was made to the crowd appealing for a qualified referee to take over on the line. Up stepped Jimmy Hill who had been at the match as a spectator and the day was saved.
Football On This Day – 16th September 1992.
On this day in 1992 Leeds United became the first English club to play in the Champions League but in their first match were hammered 3-0 by Stuttgart in Germany. They went on to win the return leg 4-1 to go out on away goals but the Germans had broken the rules and Leeds were re-instated and won a play-off match. But in the next round they were beaten in both legs by Rangers.
Football On This Day - 16th September 1996.
Patrick Vieira makes his Arsenal debut v Sheffield Wednesday coming on as a substitute in a 4-1 win.
1745 Prince Charles Edward Stewart or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' as he was better known, arrived in Edinburgh and declared his father to be the rightful King of Scotland. He could not capture Edinburgh Castle so he set up his Court in Holyrood Palace.
1827 'Wides' in cricket were first scored in the Sussex v Kent game at Brighton.
1944 Blackout regulations eased in Britain to allow lights on buses, trains and at railway stations for the first time since the beginning of World War II in 1939.
1961 Police made 1,314 arrests during sit-down demonstrations by CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) members in Trafalgar Square, London.
1967 Keith Moon of The Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of "My Generation" during the group's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, but he doesn't realize that the stage crew has already set the charge. The resulting explosion cuts Moon's leg, singes Pete Townshend's hair, and startles fellow guests Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney.
1976 NASA publicly unveils space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, California, named after Star Trek Enterprise.
1998 There was chaos in Staffordshire, when animal rights activists release around 6,000 animals from a mink farm. Mink are now devastating British wildlife, so it was not a particularly wise or humanitarian move.
2000 Paula Yates, television personality and former wife of Bob Geldof, was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. She was 40 years old.
2007 Worried savers continued to flock to some Northern Rock bank branches to withdraw their savings when the bank applied to the Bank of England for emergency funds. Chancellor Alistair Darling appealed for calm, nevertheless £2bn was withdrawn from Northern Rock accounts in just 3 days.
2014 A businessman gambled £900,000, the biggest amount of money ever staked on a political event, on Scotland staying in the United Kingdom. He called it an ‘investment’ rather than a gamble, with a profit of £193,333.33 in the event of a 'No' vote, and it was.
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(Sept 8th, 1978).
“We’ve other great songs,” Pete Shelley once announced in reference to ‘Ever Fallen In Love…’, “but this is the one the man on the Clapham omnibus would recognise.”
42 years after the single was released, this two-minute 42-second melodic anthem with its edgy use of minor chords is the one that even those not enamoured with the genre or the period could declare one of their favourite songs. With its melodic hooks and emotive chorus, ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ earns a place at the very top of the punk-new wave pantheon.
"The song dates back to November 1977,” said Pete Shelley in 2006.
“One night in Edinburgh we were in a guest house TV lounge watching the musical Guys and Dolls. This line leaped out - "Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have?" The next day the van stopped outside a post office and I wrote the lyrics there. I did have a certain person in mind, but I'll save that for my kiss'n'tell. The music just seemed to follow, fully formed."
"The opening line was originally 'You pi ss on my natural emotions,' but because 'Org asm Addict' hadn't been getting radio play because of it's title, I needed something a bit subtler. So I came up with 'spurn.' It had the same sort of disregard, but wasn't so likely to offend!"
"Pete played me 'Ever Fallen In Love…' for the first time and my jaw hit the floor,” said producer Martin Rushent.
“I felt it was the strongest song that they had written-clever, witty lyrics, great hooklines. I suggested backing vocals-to highlight the chorus and make it even more powerful. No one could hit the high part-so I did it. I'd sung in bands in my youth and I also worked as a backing singer."
With its emotional energy and theme of unrequited teenage love, EVER FALLEN IN LOVE (WITH SOMEONE YOU SHOULDN'T'VE?) remains a classic.
1087 William the Conqueror died in Maine (France) from injuries he sustained after a fall from his horse.
1513 The Scots were heavily defeated by the English at the Battle of Flodden Field and James IV was killed, along with all his nobles.
1543 Mary Stuart, at just nine months old, was crowned 'Queen of Scots' in the Scottish town of Stirling.
1776 Congress officially renames the country as the United States of America (from the United Colonies).
1879 The death of John Smith, English brewer, best known for operating the John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. As at 2012, John Smith's was the highest selling bitter in the world.
1911 The launch of the first airmail service in England, between Hendon and Windsor.
1958 There were race riots in London's Notting Hill Gate, with television crews accused of encouraging the rioting by staging reconstructions in the streets.
1963 Scotsman Jim Clark became the youngest person to win the world motor racing championships, driving Colin Chapman’s Lotus. He was aged 27 and 188 days.
1971 John Lennon releases his "Imagine" album.
1972 Soviet Union beats the United States 51-50 in the most controversial game in international basketball history; with US leading 50-49 the final 3 seconds is replayed 3 times until the Soviets finally win.
1979 US Open Men's Tennis: John McEnroe wins first Grand Slam title; beats fellow American Vitas Gerulaitis 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
1984 US Open Men's Tennis: John McEnroe wins his 4th US title and final Grand Slam singles event; beats Ivan Lendl 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
1985 Champion jockey Lester Piggott announced his retirement, having won more than 5,000 races around the world. In 1987 he was jailed following an investigation over tax evasion, but resumed his career following his release and rode his last winner in October 1994.
1987 Twenty five English football fans involved in the Heysel stadium disaster were extradited to Belgium.
1988 The Indian cricket tour was cancelled as English cricket captain Graham Gooch and seven other members of his squad were refused visas to travel to India.
1990 US Open Men's Tennis: 19 year old Pete Sampras wins his first Grand Slam title; beats fellow American Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; Sampras youngest male US Open winner.
1996 The European Court of Human Rights agreed to hear a case in which a 12-year old boy was challenging British laws allowing parents to use corporal punishment on their children.
2015 Queen Elizabeth II overtook Queen Victoria as the longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Queen Victoria was Queen for 63 years and 216 days.
1897 George Smith, a London cab driver, became the first person to be convicted for drunken driving. He was fined £1.
1933 English tennis player Fred Perry became the first Briton to win the US Open men's singles championship since Laurence "Laurie" Doherty in 1903.
1942 In a single raid, the RAF dropped 100,000 bombs on Dusseldorf.
1945 Mike the Headless Chicken is decapitated in Fruita, Colorado; he survives for another 18 months before choking to death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken
1960 The first attempt to offer the British TV public regular live League football started – and finished – on 10th September 1960 when ITV broadcast the Saturday evening fixture between Blackpool and Bolton. In 1953 those two clubs contested a famous Cup Final but by 1960 they were both struggling in the First Division and the fixture was missing its star player – Stanley Matthews – because of injury. It was a dismal match with poor TV ratings and the following Saturday (17th) Arsenal refused permission for their match against Newcastle to be televised as did Spurs the week after that (24th) for their match against Aston Villa. As a result ITV abandoned the project and nearly a quarter of a century passed before there was another live League match on British TV – Tottenham v Nottingham Forest on 2nd October 1983.
1962 The BBC bans Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Halloween novelty single "Monster Mash," finding it in poor taste. However, in 1973 the radio giant lifts the ban, sending a re-release of the holiday favorite to #3.
1963 American Express opened a credit card service in Britain.
1964 Rod Stewart records his 1st single "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"
1966 Beatles' "Revolver," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 6 weeks in the UK.
1967 Almost 100 per cent of the voters 12,138 to 44 of Gibraltar rejected Spanish rule in favour of retaining British sovereignty.
1973 Muhammad Ali defeats Ken Norton in the second of their 3 fights.
1977 Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by Guillotine in France.
1982 Decca releases Beatles audition on "Complete Silver Beatles" album, 20 years after label executives rejected them feeling that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business"
1990 Starring a young rapper named Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuts on NBC.
1991 Rock band Nirvana release their single "Smells like Teen Spirit", often dubbed the anthem of Generation X.
1993 "The X-Files", starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson debuts on Fox.
1998 Manchester United brought to us MUTV - the world’s first TV channel dedicated to a single football club.
2001 Charles Ingram won one million pounds on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He was later accused of cheating by having his wife, Diana, and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, cough as Ingram announced the correct answer from the available choices. The Ingrams and Tecwen Whittock were convicted, on 7th April 2003, by a majority verdict of 'procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception'. All three were fined and given suspended prison sentences. In October 2004 Diana and Charles Ingram were declared bankrupt.
2008 The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
2012 US Open Men's Tennis: Andy Murray of Scotland wins his first Grand Slam event; beats defending champion Novak Đoković 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Promoting the lead track on their recently released WORK, REST AND PLAY EP, Madness appeared on Top Of The Pops performing NIGHT BOAT TO CAIRO.
The performance followed a period where the BBC had hesitated inviting the band back on the show. That was after their last appearance with ‘My Girl, when saxophonist Lee Thompson was berated by TOTP producers for not taking the show seriously enough.
However, thanks to the band’s rapidly rising popularity the Beeb had little choice but to ask them back.
Adopting the regulation Madness response and wearing an array of Arabian headdresses and fezzes, plus Suggs in an oversized pith helmet, on this occasion ALL the band refuse to take the show seriously.
1297 Scottish hero William Wallace defeated the English at Stirling Bridge. Wallace's statement before the battle was - 'We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free.'
1777 American troops led by George Washington were defeated by the British at the Battle of Brandywine Creek, in the American War of Independence.
1836 Register Office marriages were introduced in Britain.
1841 The London to Brighton commuter express train began regular service, taking just 105 minutes.
1879 268 miners died in an explosion at the Prince of Wales Colliery, at Abercarn, South Wales.
1895 The first FA Cup trophy, known as the ‘little tin idol’ and which cost £20, was stolen from the shop window of a Birmingham boot and shoe manufacturer, William Shillcock. The cup had been lent by Cup holders Aston Villa who were later fined £25 by the FA to pay for a replacement trophy. The ‘little tin idol’ was never recovered. 68 years later an 83 year old man confessed he'd melted it down to make counterfeit halfcrown coins.
1942 Enid Blyton publishes "Five on a Treasure Island" first of her "Famous Five" children's novels, start of one of the best-selling children's series ever with over 100 million sold.
1962 The Beatles completed the recording of their first single 'Love Me Do' at the Abbey Road Studios in north London.
1967 Frank Sinatra, who is gambling at the Sands casino in Las Vegas, gets in a fight when he is denied credit as part of a policy put in by the new owners. He breaks two teeth in the altercation and soon takes his talents (and money) to Caesar's Palace.
1977 The Atari 2600, originally known as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) is released in North America, revolutionizing the video game industry.
1977 David Bowie joins Bing Crosby to record the crooner's Merrie Olde Christmas special. Bowie refuses to sing "Little Drummer Boy" with Crosby, so his part is rewritten as "Peace On Earth." Crosby dies a month later before the show airs, and the duet becomes a Christmas classic, growing even more popular when MTV starts playing the clip a few years later.
1987 Four men were arrested on charges of plotting to steal a dolphin worth £25,000 from the Marineland Oceanarium in Morecambe, Lancashire.
1997 In a national referendum on devolution, the people of Scotland voted 'Yes' to creating their own Parliament, for the first time in more than 300 years.
2001 Hijackers crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and thousands of those working in the buildings. Both towers collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. A third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane was redirected towards Washington, D.C., targeting either the Capitol Building or the White House, but it crashed in a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake control of the airliner. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
2001 As Gerard Way watches in horror from the Manhattan ferry as the World Trade Center's Twin Towers collapse, he realizes life is too short to not follow his dream. Shortly after, he starts his own band: My Chemical Romance.
2014 South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is found not guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (and is later found guilty of culpable homicide).
2018 James Anderson takes his 564th Test wicket to become the most prolific fast bowler in cricket history as England beats India by 118 runs in the 5th Test at The Oval for a 4-1 series victory; Alistair Cook's final Test.
On this date in 1980, IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS were on Top Of The Pops performing I WANT TO BE STRAIGHT - dressed in full police uniform (September 11th 1980)
In 1980, Chaz Jankel said goodbye to the Blockheads and headed off for a solo career. His replacement was Wilko Jonson.
The question as to what Dury would do without Jankel was answered in the single 'I Want To Be Straight', one that initially came in a sleeve sporting a school prefect’s badge and later with a sleeve aptly sporting snaps of the whole band as every one of them now took a composing credit.
Written by Ian and Mick Gallagher, the song had a bluesy tempo and was firmly tongue-in-cheek.
It begins with spoken introductions from each band member over keyboards and bass. A clever touch which helped to the single rise to the top of the pile when it came to battling for airplay.
Not to mention Davey Payne’s gritty sax solo played over terrace-style chants of ‘straight’ from the rest of the band.
“I'm Charley, you know
I'm Norman pleased to meet you
I'm Mickey, hello
Wilko
I'm Johnny, how are you doing, alreet, champion?
My name is David
And I'm Ian' and ' guess what?
Oi!
I want to be straight, I want to be straight
I'm sick and tired of taking drugs and staying up late.
I wanna confirm, I wanna conform
I wanna be safe and I wanna be snug and I wanna be warm”
1440 Eton College was founded by Henry VI. Prefects were warned to look out for "ill-kempt heads and unwashed faces."
1755 Giacomo Casanova is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Venice without trial for affront to religion and common decency.
1878 Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk of Thothmes II, was erected on London's Embankment.
1885 The Scottish football team of Arbroath beat Bon Accord (from Aberdeen) by 36 goals to nil in the first round of the Scottish Cup, making it a record breaking score for professional football. Thirteen goals were scored by centre-forward John Petrie.
1906 The opening of the Newport Transporter Bridge in south east Wales. Only eight such bridges remain in use worldwide and this is the oldest and largest of the three historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain. Vehicles are tranported on the 'gondola' across the River Usk.
1908 The marriage of Winston Churchill to Clementine Hozier.
1936 Britain’s Fred Perry won the US Tennis Championships against Donald Budge.
1960 Ministry of Transport (MoT) tests on motor vehicles were introduced in the UK.
1964 Film that started Spaghetti Western genre "A Fistful of Dollars" premieres, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role.
1966 The Monkees TV show makes its debut, with four actors chosen to portray a pop band based on The Beatles. While The Monkees are a fictional band, they become very real and eventually play on their own recordings instead of studio musicians.
1970 The supersonic Concorde passenger jet landed at Heathrow Airport for the first time to a barrage of complaints from nearby residents about noise.
1972 Two British trawlers were sunk by Icelandic gunboats during the 'cod war'
1975 Pink Floyd releases their ninth album "Wish You Were Here"
1977 Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody from his injuries after being beaten and tortured by police.
1978 Situation comedy "Taxi" premieres on ABC television.
1981 "The Smurfs" animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America.
1987 The BBC filmed the first 'Top of the Pops' to be sold in America.
2000 Britain was brought to a standstill as fuel tax protesters, backed by tanker drivers, caused petrol shortages.
2003 Johnny Cash dies of complications from diabetes in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 71.
2005 England took the Ashes from Australia for the first time since 1987.
2012 Excavators announce that they may have found the remains of King Richard III of England under a carpark in Leicester.
2015 Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader of the UK Labour party.
2017 Monster fatburg 250m long, 130 tons, size of 11 buses found in sewers under east London.
2021 All Britain's major newspapers carried the story of unseeded 18 year old Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, after beating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets. She did not drop a set through qualifying or the main draw, was the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam and was the first British woman to win a Grand Slam trophy since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
In a Scottish Cup First Round match Dundee Harp beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0, surely a record that would last for ever. But amazingly 20 miles away on the same day in the same competition Arbroath beat Bon Accord 36-0 to record what is still the highest score in a senior football match in Britain.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1974.
A sensation at Elland Road with Leeds United sacking manager Brian Clough after just 44 days in charge. Defending League champions Leeds had taken just 4 points from their first six League matches of the new season.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1989.
Liverpool had a 9-0 home League victory over Crystal Palace with 8 different players scoring the goals. Despite that scoreline Liverpool scored more goals away from home than they did at Anfield in achieving their 18th League title that season. Liverpool did the League double over Palace that season but the Londoners did record a memorable cup victory over the Merseysiders in 1989/90 - beating Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park to reach their first FA Cup Final.
Football On This Day – 12th September 1990.
The Faroe Islands had their moment of glory when they beat Austria 1-0 in their first competitive match, a Euro qualifier. The ‘home’ match was played in Sweden as the Faroes (population under 50,000) didn’t have a grass pitch to play on.
Football On This Day – 12th September 2001.
Footballers behaving badly hit the headlines again. Four Chelsea players - Frank Lampard, John Terry, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jody Morris - allegedly stripped, swore and vomited in front of Americans stranded at a Heathrow hotel because of travel chaos the day after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All four were fined two weeks wages by the club although the incident was later to revisit Lampard when in 2014 when, just before he signed for NY City, a New York newspaper ran a story about the incident under the headline 'British soccer star poised to join NY team once mocked Americans after 9/11 attacks.'
On this date in 1983, THE ALARM released the single SIXTY EIGHT GUNS, (September 12th 1983)
"The song was inspired by a book I’d read about Glasgow street gangs, in the year 1968," explained Mike Peters.
"I always thought that was an important year for young people, it was the first time they really said ‘no.’ It was just when the hippie thing was ending, when peace and love was all going sour. So we’re writing about a street gang called the 68 Guns. It’s about how society reacts against the presence of these young people on the street, and how they turn to violence in response."
"We just wanted to write a song about that conflict and those people who were conflicted and fighting against each of the society’s against the kids. The kids really didn’t really want to have a fight, but it was a war over who owned the space and these people just wanted to belong to themselves, these young people. Society didn’t want them so they clung to themselves and their gangs. I just made up a gang called “68 Guns” and hoped that that gang was still relevant today as it was in 1968."
This date in 1979 saw the release of SCUM, a British drama film directed by Alan Clarke and starring Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth and John Blundell, (September 12th 1979)
Alan Clarke first released Scum in 1977 as a BBC TV-film, yet the BBC disapproved of the film due to the amount of raw, harrowing realism which had been packed into a short running-time.
Therefore the BBC banned the version, and it was not until fifteen years later that the TV-version was aired on the UK's Channel 4.
Though, to get around not being able to release the TV version of Scum Alan Clarke opted in for developing a remade, feature-length version to be aired at cinemas, this was released in 1979.
The film sent shockwaves through cinemas across Britain, causing huge controversy from the media, government and British public. Some people saw the film as a "visceral image of a flawed system", while others saw the film as "exploitive trash in the form of a documentary".
Scum was a disturbing look at a British Borstal's futile attempt at rehabilitating young offenders, the inmates of the Borstal ranged from adolescent teen to young adult.
Most of them (if not all) had little hope in achieving anything in their life, except for just moving from prison to prison for their antisocial crimes.
The film focused on the brutality of a flawed and corrupt system whereby the inmates had no hope of rehabilitation due to the infantile regimes.
It showed how survival through brutality was the only way of getting through the system and even then there was still no sign of release for any of the prisoners.
Scum was undoubtedly a film which prompted viewers to question the entire rehabilitation process for young offenders. It detailed what men will do to "comply" with a system they loathe and how they will form their own rules and beliefs to suit the system in a way which will benefit them.
There was a strong element of wasted talent etched into the film - the respect of intelligent men who have potential, yet do not know how to use it.
The performances from the entire cast were pulled off with raw, natural intensity.
Ray Winstone's debut performance as "the daddy"- Carlin is one of the most unflinching and uncompromising performances ever commited to film.
THIS IS ENGLAND, the 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows that told the story of a young boy who becomes friends with a gang of skinheads in 1983. Friends soon become like family and relationships are pushed to the very limit.
122 Building begins on Hadrian's Wall, Northern England.
1759 British troops, under the command of General Wolfe, secured Canada for the British Empire after defeating the French at the Battle of Quebec. Wolfe and the French commander were killed during the battle.
1814 Francis Scott Key is inspired to write "The Star Spangled Banner" during the British attack of Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814, and the courageous defense made by American force.
1902 The first conviction in Britain using finger-prints as evidence was in the case against Harry Jackson by the Metropolitan Police at the Old Bailey. He had left his thumbprint in wet paint on a window sill and was tracked down through it. He was sentenced to seven years.
1922 The Straw Hat Riot begins in New York City as people protest the right to wear straw hats beyond the accepted end date of September 15.
1940 Buckingham Palace was hit by a bomb during 'The Blitz'.
1957 The Mousetrap became Britain's longest running play, reaching its 1,998th performance.
1958 Cliff Richard made his British TV debut on Jack Good's Oh Boy, performing Move It.
1959 Elvis Presley meets his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu at a party at his house in Germany, where he is serving in the US Army. They hit it off that night, with Elvis playing her some songs on guitar. At the time, she was only 14 years old and he was 24.
1960 A movement to ban Ray Peterson's new single "Tell Laura I Love Her" begins in the UK when it is feared that the song's powerful story of a stock-car driver who dies young while racing for his girl's love will inspire a "death cult" amongst teens.
1969 At the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, host Kim Fowley starts a rock tradition when he asks the crowd to hold up lighters for Eric Clapton and John Lennon.
1969 "Scooby-Doo Where are You" by Hanna-Barbera debuts on CBS in the US.
1980 Hercules, the bear who went missing on Benbecula (in the Outer Hebrides) while being filmed for a Kleenex television commercial, was recaptured after 24 days 'on the run'.
1985 Super Mario Bros game first appears, created by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo.
1989 Britain's biggest ever banking computer error gave customers an extra £2 billion in a period of 30 minutes; 99.3 per cent of the money was reportedly returned.
1997 Elton John's rewritten version of "Candle In The Wind" that he played at Princess Diana's funeral a week earlier is released as a single. It sells a record 600,000 copies the first day in Britain alone, where it becomes the best selling single of all time. Worldwide, it sells over 30 million copies, second only to "White Christmas."
2006 The shirt worn by George Best when he scored six goals in Manchester United's 8-2 FA Cup victory at Northampton in February 1970 was sold at auction at Christie's for £24,000.
2010 US Open Men's Tennis: Rafael Nadal wins his first US crown; beats Novak Đoković 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
2017 One of those 'injuries' which the whole world soon found out about. Spanish international Marco Asensio missed Real Madrid's first Champions League match of 2017/18 because of a leg injury. He had shaved his legs - the razor was dirty - a hair follicle on his leg became infected causing a pimple - and so he couldn't pull one of his socks up.
If someone is going to make a public announcement it's important to make sure they get the facts right. Back in 1946 when Cliff Bastin played his last match for Arsenal he had set the first-team goalscoring record for the Gunners with 178 goals to his name. Fast forward to 1997 and another Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, was getting close to breaking that record. On 13th September 1997 Wrighty was in the Arsenal line-up for the Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers having scored 177 goals for the Gunners. After 20 minutes Ian Wright scored and immediately removed his Arsenal shirt to reveal a T-shirt underneath with the message printed on it '179 Just Done It'. Except that he hadn't done it. 177 plus 1 = 178 and so he had equalled the record not beaten it. Mind you the T-shirt was on show again five minutes later when he scored a second to break that record and later increased the total to 180 when he completed a hat-trick.
1752 The 3rd of September became the 14th as the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain. Crowds of people rioted on the streets demanding, 'Give us back our 11 days.'
1759 The earliest dated board game in England was sold on this day by its inventor John Jeffreys, from his house in Chapel Street, Westminster. The game was called 'A Journey Through Europe', or 'The play of Geography'.
1868 At the Open Championships at Prestwick, the legendary Scottish golfer Tom Morris scored the first recorded hole-in-one, on the 8th hole (166 yards).
1891 The first penalty kick in an English League football game was taken by Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington.
1905 Motorcycling's Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is first contested.
1956 IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage, weighs over a ton.
1963 George Best makes his debut for Manchester United against West Brom at Old Trafford, watched by 50,453 fans.
1964 The British daily newspaper, the Daily Herald, ceased publication and was replaced by the Sun.
1969 Genesis take the stage for the first time, playing at the cottage owned by leader Peter Gabriel's former Sunday School teacher.
1972 "The Waltons" TV program premieres on CBS.
1974 Two giant pandas, Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching, arrived at London Zoo.
1979 The film "Quadrophenia", loosely based on The Who's 1973 rock opera of the same name is released.
1982 Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies the day after suffering a stroke at the wheel and driving her car off a cliff.
1984 1st MTV Video Music Awards: The Cars win with "You Might Think" it beats Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video.
1985 "The Golden Girls" debuts on NBC.
1988 A London taxi reached New Delhi with the meter showing a fare of £13,200. It was part of a six-man expedition on the way to Sydney.
1998 British TV show "The Royle Family" premieres on BBC Two.
1830 George Stephenson's Manchester and Liverpool railway opened. During the ceremony, William Huskisson, MP, became the first person to be killed by a train when he crossed the track to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington.
1871 The first British-based international mail order business was begun by the Army and Navy Co-operative. They published their first catalogue in February 1872.
1916 First use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme.
1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza.
1940 The tide turned in the Battle of Britain as the German air force sustained heavy losses inflicted by the Royal Air Force. The defeat was serious enough to convince Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to abandon his plans for an invasion of Britain. The day was chosen as "Battle of Britain Day".
1960 London introduced Traffic Wardens onto the streets of the capital.
1965 Ford offers factory-installed 8-track tape players in its Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. This marks the first time 8-track players are widely available, so you can only get the tapes in auto parts stores or Ford dealers. The players have a tendency to chew up the tapes, leading to 8-track roadkill as drivers throw the tangled tapes out their windows.
1966 The launch at Barrow of HMS Resolution, the first of a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme.
1971 1st broadcast of "Columbo" starring Peter Falk on NBC.
1978 Muhammad Ali beats Leon Spinks in 15 rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
1984: Lester Piggott breaks Frank Buckle's record of 27 Classic wins when he rides Commanche Run to victory in the St Leger.
1985 Tony Jacklin's team of golfers beat the United States in the Ryder Cup for the first time in 28 years (1957).
1988 Mark Knopfler announces that Dire Straits has disbanded. He re-forms the group in 1991.
1993 Single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" sung by Meat Loaf and composed by Jim Steinman is released. Goes on to be No. 1 in 28 countries.
2000 The fuel protests which had paralysed Britain for seven days, ended.
2019 UK PM Boris Johnson compares himself to Marvel's Hulk character in newspaper interview "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets" about UK exiting the EU.
1387 King Henry V was born at Monmouth Castle. He went on to win the Battle of Agincourt against the French on St Crispin’s Day.
1485 Yeomen Warders, the bodyguard of the English Crown - popularly known as 'Beefeaters' - was established by King Henry VII. Yeoman Warders work full time at the Tower of London. They are retired from the Armed Forces, have at least 22 years of service and must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal they work on a voluntary basis, around 10 days a year.
1620 The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. On board were 102 men, women and children and a small crew, a large group of whom were Puritans (who become known as the Pilgrim Fathers). Their hope was to reach the New World, where they could have religious freedom, and continue using their native language, culture, and customs. After 65 grueling days they dropped anchor off Cape Cod on 21st November, before landing on the coast of Massachusetts on 21st December 1620 at a spot now called Plymouth Rock, where they established their own government.
1847 The United Shakespeare Company bought the house in which playwright William Shakespeare was born at Stratford Upon Avon in Warwickshire for £3,000. It became the first building in Britain to be officially preserved.
1861 The Post Office Savings Banks opened in Britain.
1915 The opening of Britain’s first Women’s Institute, (regularly referred to as simply the WI) at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Anglesey, Wales. Its two aims were to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. It is now the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK.
1920 The "Wall Street bombing" occurs at 12:01 when a horse-drawn wagon explodes on Wall Street, New York, killing 38 and injuring 143.
1941 Adolf Hitler orders that for every dead German, 100 Yugoslavs should be killed.
1945 World War II: Japanese troops in Hong Kong surrendered. The surrender was accepted by Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1947 John Cobb set a world land speed record of 394.2mph.
1960 Donald Campbell destroyed Bluebird in a crash at 350mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in north west Utah. He was only slightly hurt.
1968 Britain introduced a 'two tier' postal system - First and Second Class. Letters and parcels bearing the more expensive 1st class stamps would be given priority of delivery.
1977 Marc Bolan of T. Rex dies in a car accident at age 29.
1979 Ryder Cup Golf, The Greenbrier: US wins, 17-11; new Team Europe replaces Great Britain & Ireland as official opposition to the United States.
1979"Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang is released.
1981 Two British political parties - the SDP and the Liberals - voted for an alliance.
1984 1st broadcast of "Miami Vice" on NBC-TV.
1992 Black Wednesday, when the GB Pound Sterling was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and was forced to devalue against the German mark.
1996 Courtroom reality show "Judge Judy" premieres in the US.
1999 1st ever season of "Big Brother" reality show begins on the Veronica channel in The Netherlands.
2002 The world's first self cleaning glass was launched after being developed by scientists at the leading glass company of Pilkington's in St Helens.
2018 Cycling land speed record broken for men and women by Denise Mueller-Korenek riding 183.932 mph Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.
2019 Guantánamo Bay is the world's most expensive prison at US$13 million per prisoner according to investigation by "The New York Times"
There only a few thousand TV sets in the country in those days but on this day in 1937 Highbury hosted the first live TV broadcast of a football match to test the technology of the time – Arsenal playing Arsenal Reserves in a match arranged for the cameras.
Football On This Day – 16th September 1972.
Jimmy Hill seemed to be football's been there, done that sort of guy. On Saturday September 16th 1972 at the Arsenal v Liverpool fixture the football personality stepped in, superman-like, to prevent the match being abandoned when he took over as a substitute linesman. The original linesman, Dennis Drewitt, suffered torn knee ligaments in the first half and was unable to continue. Those were the days before we had extra officials at each game and an announcement was made to the crowd appealing for a qualified referee to take over on the line. Up stepped Jimmy Hill who had been at the match as a spectator and the day was saved.
Football On This Day – 16th September 1992.
On this day in 1992 Leeds United became the first English club to play in the Champions League but in their first match were hammered 3-0 by Stuttgart in Germany. They went on to win the return leg 4-1 to go out on away goals but the Germans had broken the rules and Leeds were re-instated and won a play-off match. But in the next round they were beaten in both legs by Rangers.
Football On This Day - 16th September 1996.
Patrick Vieira makes his Arsenal debut v Sheffield Wednesday coming on as a substitute in a 4-1 win.
1745 Prince Charles Edward Stewart or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' as he was better known, arrived in Edinburgh and declared his father to be the rightful King of Scotland. He could not capture Edinburgh Castle so he set up his Court in Holyrood Palace.
1827 'Wides' in cricket were first scored in the Sussex v Kent game at Brighton.
1944 Blackout regulations eased in Britain to allow lights on buses, trains and at railway stations for the first time since the beginning of World War II in 1939.
1961 Police made 1,314 arrests during sit-down demonstrations by CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) members in Trafalgar Square, London.
1967 Keith Moon of The Who rigs his bass drum to explode at the end of "My Generation" during the group's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, but he doesn't realize that the stage crew has already set the charge. The resulting explosion cuts Moon's leg, singes Pete Townshend's hair, and startles fellow guests Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney.
1972 TV comedy "M*A*S*H" debuts on CBS in the US.
1973 Billy Joel records "Piano Man."
1976 NASA publicly unveils space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, California, named after Star Trek Enterprise.
1998 There was chaos in Staffordshire, when animal rights activists release around 6,000 animals from a mink farm. Mink are now devastating British wildlife, so it was not a particularly wise or humanitarian move.
2000 Paula Yates, television personality and former wife of Bob Geldof, was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. She was 40 years old.
2007 Worried savers continued to flock to some Northern Rock bank branches to withdraw their savings when the bank applied to the Bank of England for emergency funds. Chancellor Alistair Darling appealed for calm, nevertheless £2bn was withdrawn from Northern Rock accounts in just 3 days.
2014 A businessman gambled £900,000, the biggest amount of money ever staked on a political event, on Scotland staying in the United Kingdom. He called it an ‘investment’ rather than a gamble, with a profit of £193,333.33 in the event of a 'No' vote, and it was.