24th March

[chenrezig]

1603 After 44 years of rule, Queen Elizabeth I of England died. The English and Scottish crowns were united when James VI of Scotland became King James 1st of England.

1707 The Acts of Union 1707 was signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1765 American Revolutionary War: Great Britain passed the Quartering Act that required the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.

1829 Parliament passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.

1834 William Morris, English craftsman, poet and socialist, was born. His designs for furniture, fabrics, stained glass, wallpaper, and other decorative products revolutionized Victorian taste.

1877 The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames ended in a dead heat. Legend in Oxford has it that the judge, 'Honest John' Phelps, was asleep under a bush when the race finished, leading him to announce the result as a 'dead heat to Oxford by four feet'.

1878 The British frigate HMS Eurydice sank off the Isle of Wight, during a heavy snow storm, killing all but two of the 319 crew and trainees. It was one of Britain's worst peace-time naval disasters.

1944 World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners began breaking out of Stalag Luft III.

1946 Broadcaster Alastair Cooke read his first 'Letter from America' on BBC Radio. His weekly broadcasts continued for more than 50 years.

1951 The Oxford boat sank during the University boat race. Cambridge won the rematch two days later.

1953 Her Majesty, Queen Mary, (Queen Consort to King George V) died peacefully in her sleep after a long illness.

1964 Stansted was chosen as the site of London's third major airport.

1970 Boxer Henry Cooper retained his heavyweight title beating challenger Jack Bodell.

1976 The death of British Field Marshal Montgomery, one of the outstanding Allied commanders in World War II.

1978 The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz, aground in the English Channel since 16th March, split in two, spilling the last of her 1.6 million barrels of oil.

1981 The 'Great Train Robber' Ronnie Biggs was rescued by Barbados police following his kidnapping.

1992 Punch, Britain's oldest satirical magazine dating back almost 151 years, announced that it would cease publication because of financial losses.

1994 The new Jewel House, at the Tower of London, was opened by the Queen.

[Rosalind]

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