20th April

[chenrezig]

1653 Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament. It had followed the Long Parliament that had governed during the Civil War.

1657 The Spanish Fleet was destroyed in the Battle at Santa Cruz by an English Fleet commanded by Admiral Blake.

1689 The siege of Londonderry began when supporters of James II attacked the city. The population nearly starved to death before the siege was raised on 30th July.

1879 The first mobile home (horse-drawn) was used in a journey from London to Cyprus.

1912 The Irish-born writer Bram Stoker, author of Count Dracula, died at his London home. He was 65. Whitby was the inspiration for his novel.

1924 The birth of Leslie Phillips, CBE and English actor with a highly recognisable 'upper class accent'. Originally known for his work as a comedy actor playing English stereotypes in the Carry On films and the Doctor series, Phillips subsequently made the transition to character roles.

1949 The Badminton Horse Trials were held for the first time, at Badminton, Gloucestershire.

1961 The birth of actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies.

1964 BBC Two launched, with a power cut because of a fire at Battersea Power Station.

1968 The Conservative right-winger, Enoch Powell, made a hard-hitting speech attacking the government's immigration policy. Mr Powell said Britain had to be mad to allow in 50,000 dependents of immigrants each year. He compared it to watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre. "Like the Roman, I seem to see the river Tiber foaming with much blood."

1969 British troops guarded public utilities in N. Ireland after post offices were bombed.

1974 The conflict in Northern Ireland claimed its 1,000th victim, a petrol station owner from County Fermanagh.

1981 Steve Davis became the world snooker champion at 23 years of age, beating Doug Mountjoy at Sheffield.

1989 Scientists said that the Earth had narrowly missed being struck by a passing asteroid weighing 400 million tons.

1992 Benny Hill, English comedian died. Between the end of World War II and the dawn of television he worked as a radio performer. His film credits included parts in nine films such as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Italian Job. His world famous Benny Hill Show Hill ran for nearly four decades and remained a cult series in much of the world long after Hill's death.

[wendy]

[annie]