6th November

[chenrezig]

1429 Henry VI was crowned King of England, seven years after acceding to the throne at the age of eight months. Two years later, in Paris, he was also crowned King of France.

1638 Birth of James Gregory, Scottish mathematician and astronomer who described the first practical reflecting telescope and contributed towards the discovery of calculus.

1856 The first work of fiction by the author Mary Anne Evans (later known as George Eliot) was submitted for publication. The title was 'Scenes of Clerical Life'. Her 1872 book, Middlemarch, has been described as the greatest novel in the English language.

1892 Birth of Sir John Alcock, English aviator who flew the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1919 with Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown.

1924 Tory leader Stanley Baldwin was elected Prime Minister. He appointed Winston Churchill, former Liberal, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

1935 The RAF's first monoplane fighter, the 'Hawker Hurricane' made its maiden flight. Although largely overshadowed by the Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, and accounted for 60% of the RAF's air victories.

1938 Singer P.J. Proby was born. He was later banned from performing when his trousers regularly and 'accidentally' split on stage.

1942 The Church of England relaxed its rule that women must wear hats in church.

1968 2300 jobs were lost when British Eagle airlines stopped flying.

1970 Three times Grand National hero Red Rum, the greatest ever steeplechaser, won his first ever race, a novice event at Doncaster, at odds of 100/7.

1975 UK punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, gave their first public performance at London's St Martin's College of Art. College authorities cut the concert short after a mere 10 minutes.

1986 Forty five people died after a Chinook helicopter carrying oil rig workers plunged into the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record.

2003 Michael Howard took over as leader of the Conservative party after Iain Duncan Smith was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

2004 Fred Dibnah, aged 66, steeplejack and TV personality lost his three-year fight against cancer only weeks after filming his final television series. He had been awarded the MBE in 2003.

2008 The Bank of England made a 1.5% cut in UK interest rates to 3%, the lowest level since 1955.

2011 Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United, making him the longest serving manager in their history and the longest serving manager in English League football. He was knighted in 1999 for his services to the game and also holds the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.

[annie]

tha22222

[chenrezig]

Just wondering ... do people still wear hats to go to church?

[irenee]

tha22222

[wendy]

well the Royal family wear hats to go to Church, and I know many people who do wear hats.