On this day in UK history – 30th January

On this day in UK history:

30^th January 1937 – British actress Vanessa Redgrave was born. She is the only British actress to ever win the following awards:

• Oscar
• Emmy
• Tony
• Cannes
• Golden Globe
• Screen Actors Guild

 In 2012 she was the recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship “in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film”. 

On this day in UK history – 29th January

On this day in UK history:

29^th January 1856 – Queen Victoria instituted Britain’s highest military decoration – the Victoria Cross (VC).

The Victoria Cross is awarded to British and Commonwealth armed forces for outstanding bravery “on the field of battle”.

Originally the medal was made from the metal of a cannon captured from the Russians at Sevastopol (1854/1855) – until the supply ended in 1942.

On this day in UK history – 28th January

On this day in UK history:

28^th January 1807 - London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight.

On this day in UK history – 27th January

On this day in UK history:

27^th January 1926 - John "Logie" Baird - a Scottish inventor demonstrated a pictorial transmission machine. We call it a “television”. 

On this day in UK history – 26th January

On this day in UK history:

26^th January 1871 – The Rugby Football Union was formed. It was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1886.  

On this day in UK history – 25th January

On this day in UK history:

25^th January 1919 – The League of Nations was founded. It was the forerunner of the United Nations and the first permanent international organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.

On this day in UK history – 24th January

On this day in UK history:

24^th January 1930 – Bernard Matthews (poultry farmer) was born. He won a scholarship to the City of Norwich School however he found it very difficult to settle. Due to this he regularly failed his exams and so left school with no qualifications.

Nevertheless when he died (aged 80) in November 2010 he had amassed an estimated fortune of over £300 million and was the owner of a motor yacht / a Cessna private jet and a Rolls-Royce motor car.

Most people living in this area (Cambridgeshire) will have heard of Bernard Matthews.

On this day in UK history – 23rd January

On this day in UK history:

23^rd January 1931 – Whipsnade Zoo officially opened in Bedfordshire.

On this day in UK history – 22nd January

On this day in UK history:

22^nd January 1901 – Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight aged 81. Her reign spanning 63 years is the longest in British history (so far) and saw the growth of “an empire on which the sun never set”

On this day in UK history - 21st January

On this day in UK history:

21^st January 1846 – The first edition of the Daily News was published. The newspaper was edited by Charles Dickens. The Daily News merged with the Daily Chronicle to form the News Chronicle in 1930 however in 1960 the newspaper was ultimately absorbed by the Daily Mail (and dependent on your point of view – it has all been downhill ever since) 

On this day in UK history: 20th January

On this day in UK history:

20^th January 2007 – A three man team of Britons using only skis and kites completed a 1,093 mile trek to reach the “southern pole of inaccessibility”. This was the first time this had been completed since 1958 and the first time EVER without mechanical assistance.

On this day in UK history - 19th January

On this day in UK history:

19^th January 1937 – 18 year old English ballerina – Margot Fonteyn – made her debut in “Giselle” at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Margot was widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time. She spent her entire career as a dancer with The Royal Ballet eventually being appointed: Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the company by Queen Elizabeth II.

On this day in UK history – 18th January

On this day in UK history:

18^th January 1779 – Peter Mark Roget – English doctor and lexicographer was born. Roget produced his “Roget’s Thesaurus” in 1852 after 47 years. It was originally called: “Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition” 

Always helpful when learning English :D 

Peter Mark Roget

"Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases
Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate
the Expression of Ideas and Assist in
Literary Composition"

Roget's Thesaurus

On this day in UK history – 17th January

On this day in UK history:

17^th January 1896 – The Daimler Motor Company (Coventry) was registered as the first British car manufacturer.

On this day in UK history – 16th January

On this day in UK history:

16^th January 1707 – The Act of Union was passed. This merged the English and Scottish parliaments and paved the way for the new country Great Britain.

On this day in UK history – 15th January

On this day in UK history:

15^th January 1559 - Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth Tudor) was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth I (born: 7 September 1533 – died: 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes she was called "The Virgin Queen" / "Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess". Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

As the daughter of Henry VIII she was born into the royal succession. However her mother Anne Boleyn was executed two and a half years after her birth and with Anne's marriage to Henry VIII being annulled Elizabeth was therefore declared illegitimate.

Her half-brother Edward VI ruled as King until his death in 1553 – in his Will he bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey cutting his two half-sisters Elizabeth and the Roman Catholic Mary out of the succession in spite of statute law to the contrary. With his Will being set aside Mary became Queen and Lady Jane Grey was executed. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister - during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Elizabeth set out to rule the country by good counsel and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers that was led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley (whose home was Burghley House in Stamford). One of her first moves as Queen was the establishment of an English Protestant Church of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the Tudor line. She never did though there (allegedly) numerous courtships. As she grew older Elizabeth became famous for her virginity and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits / pageants and literature of the day.

In government Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see and say nothing"). In religion she was relatively tolerant avoiding systematic persecution.

After 1570 - the Pope declared her illegitimate and released her subjects from obedience to her. This led to several conspiracies threatening her life however all the plots were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs - moving between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective / poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands / France and Ireland.

In the mid-1580’s war with Spain could no longer be avoided and when Spain finally decided to attempt to conquer England in 1588 the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the greatest military victories in English history.

Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era famous above all for the flourishing English drama led by playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare and also for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake.

Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered sometimes indecisive ruler who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity.

Elizabeth is acknowledged as a very charismatic and dogged survivor in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival Mary, Queen of Scots who she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587.

After the short reigns of Elizabeth's half-siblings her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the Kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.

On this day in UK history – 14th January

On this day in UK history:

14^th January 1878 – Queen Victoria watched a demonstration of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. The demonstration was given by WH Preece at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Preece called it: “Signalling through Space without Wires.”

On this day in UK history – 13th January

On this day in UK history:

13^th January 1926 – Michael Bond the creator of “Paddington Bear” was born. The famous series of book tells the tale of a bear from “Darkest Peru” whose Aunt Lucy sent him to England carrying a suitcase and a jar of marmalade. He also wrote an animated BBC TV series called “The Herbs”.

On this day in UK history – 12th January

On this day in UK history:

12^th January 1895 – The National Trust was founded by three Victorian philanthropists: Miss Octavia Hill / Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.

Octavia Hill was concerned about the poor availability of open spaces for the poor. She campaigned against development on existing suburban woodlands and helped save London’s Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill Fields from being built on.

The National Trust is now the largest membership organisation in the UK and one of the largest charities in the UK by both income and assets. The National Trust’s aim is to preserve places of historic interest or natural beauty for the enjoyment of the British public and visitors from all over the world.

Gardens

West Green House Garden

Houses 

Houghton Mill

Beaches

Dorset
  

Hills & Mountains

The Lake District

On this day in UK history – 11th January

On this day in UK history:

11^th January 1973 – The first 867 graduates from the Open University (OU) were awarded their degrees after studying from home. 1000 students sat the final exams and 867 students were successful.

The Open University’s (OU) first students were enrolled in 1971.

The idea to learn from home was originally designed to appeal to mature students however things have changed and now courses are offered to students of all ages.

The OU offer a variety of courses - the list of courses can be found here: http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/atoz/allcourses.htm

By 2010 the OU had educated more than 1.5 million students.

Notable alumni / graduates and honourees:

• ·         Joan Armatrading – singer / songwriter & guitarist
• ·         Lenny Henry – entertainer
• ·         Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge – Royal Air Force officer
• ·         Elizabeth Arnold – children’s author
• ·         David Wilkinson – psychologist / ambiguity theorist and Oxford academic
• ·         Mylene Klass – actress and media personality

On this day in UK history - 10th January

On this day in UK history:

10^th January 1945 - Roderick David "Rod" Stewart CBE was born. He is a British rock singer-songwriter of Scottish & English ancestry and is extremely proud of his Scottish heritage. He is one of the best selling music artists of all time having sold over 100 million records worldwide.

On this day in UK history – 9th January

On this day in UK history:

9^th January 1969 - Concorde made its maiden test flight out of Bristol - England. The trial went smoothly but the plane had not yet broken the sound barrier. The first supersonic Concorde flight would have to wait until the early days of October of 1969.

On this day in UK history - 8th January

On this day in UK history:

8^th January 1942 – Stephen Hawking was born.

He is possibly the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Albert Einstein.

He wrote: “A Brief History of Time

This tome stayed on the British Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.

At least 25,000,000 copies of this book was sold.

Many thousands read this book however it was maybe understood by only hundreds.

On this day in UK history – 7th January

On this day in UK history:

7^th January 1994 – After a wait of 800 years girls were invited to join the Cathedral Choir at Wells in Somerset.

On this day in UK history – 6th January

On this day in UK history:

6^th January 1540 - King Henry VIII of England married Anne of Cleves who became his fourth wife.

On this day in UK history - 5th January

On this day in UK history:

5^th January 1993 – the oil tanker “Braer” was wrecked in hurricane force winds off the Shetland Islands leading to large amounts of crude oil being discharged.

On this day in UK history – 4th January

On this day in UK history:

4^th January 1972 – Rose Heilbron became Britain’s first female judge at the Old Bailey.

One of many “firsts” in her career:

·         First female to win a scholarship to Gray’s Inn

·         First female to be appointed King’s Counsel in England

·         First female to lead in a murder case

·         First female Recorder

·         First female judge to sit at the Old Bailey

·         First female Treasurer of Gray’s Inn

On this day in UK history - 3rd January

On this day in UK history:

3^rd January 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien - English Novelist was born. 

He wrote the following:

1936 Songs for the Philologists with E. V. Gordon et al.

1937 The Hobbit or There and Back Again.

1945 Leaf by Niggle (short story)

1945 The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun - published in Welsh Review

1949 Farmer Giles of Ham (medieval fable)

1953 The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (a play written in alliterative verse) - published with the accompanying essays Beorhtnoth's Death and Ofermod in Essays and Studies by members of the English Association volume 6.

The Lord of the Rings

1954 The Fellowship of the Ring: being the first volume of The Lord of the Rings.

1954 The Two Towers: being the second volume of The Lord of the Rings.

1955 The Return of the King: being the third volume of The Lord of the Rings.

1962 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book

1964 Tree and Leaf (On Fairy-Stories and Leaf by Niggle in book form)

1966 Bilbo's Last Song (poem)

1966 The Tolkien Reader (The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, On Fairy-Stories, leaf by Niggle, Farmer Giles of Ham and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

1967 The Road Goes Ever On - with Donald Swann

1967 Smith of Wootton Major (short story)

He also had poetry and academic works published and there were even posthumous works of his published.