30th January

[chenrezig]

1606 Sir Everard Digby, Thomas Winter, John Grant and Thomas Bates who, along with others, had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in November 1605 were hanged, drawn and quartered for their part in the 'Gunpowder Plot'.

1649 The executioner Richard Brandon beheaded King Charles I at Whitehall.

1661 Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was exhumed and formally executed, after having been dead for two years! Ironically, it took place on the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I, the monarch who Cromwell himself had deposed 12 years previously.

1790 The first purpose-built lifeboat, The Original, was launched on the River Tyne at South Shields. The boat was 28 feet long and was rowed by up to 12 crew for whom cork life jackets were provided.

1826 The opening of the Menai Bridge, the world's first modern suspension bridge. It was designed by Thomas Telford and links North Wales to the island of Anglesey. Click here for a picture.

1858 Charles Hallé founded the celebrated Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. Charles Hallé remained its principal conductor, proprietor and performer until his death in 1895.

1915 The birth of John Profumo, British politician. He is best remembered today for his involvement in a 1963 scandal involving the 'call-girl' Christine Keeler. After his resignation, Profumo began to work as a volunteer, cleaning toilets at a charity based in the East End of London. Eventually he volunteered as their chief fundraiser and was awarded a CBE in 1975 for his charitable activities.

1937 Birth of the actress Vanessa Redgrave. She remains the only British actress ever to win the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards. She was also the recipient of the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship 'in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film'.

1965 The state funeral, in London, of Sir Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Britain. It was the biggest state funeral of its kind since the burial of the Duke of Wellington in 1852.

1969 The Beatles played their last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.

1972 ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. British paratroopers, believing they were under fire from Catholic protesters on a banned march which had become a violent riot, opened fire, killing 13 people.

1988 A microlight aircraft landed near Sydney, Australia, to create a record time of 55 days since leaving London.

2003 British-born Richard Reid was sentenced to life in jail for trying to bomb an American Airlines flight carrying 197 people.

2012 London City trader Kweku Adoboli appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court accused of fraudulently gambling away a record £1.5bn whilst working for Swiss bank UBS.

[wendy]

[annie]

[Rosalind]

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