19th February

[chenrezig]

1408 The Battle of Bramham Moor in which King Henry IV defeated the rebellious Percy family. The death of Percy removed the threat of rebellion in the North of England and allowed Henry to focus more fully on Wales.

1674 England and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transferred the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England and it was renamed New York.

1717 The birth, in Hereford, of David Garrick, actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer. Garrick was the first actor to be granted the honour of being buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets' Corner, next to the monument to William Shakespeare. Later Henry Irving, the first actor to be knighted, was buried beside him.

1819 British explorer William Smith discovered the South Shetland Islands, an archipelago lying about 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula and claimed them in the name of King George III.

1901 The birthday of Florence Beatrice Green, a former member of the Women's Royal Air Force. She was the last known surviving veteran of the First World War and died on 4th February 2012, aged 110.

1910 Manchester United played its first game at Old Trafford. The Sporting Chronicle said "The most handsomest, the most spacious and the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed."

1914 ‘Colonel Bogey March’ was registered at the British Museum by its composers Kenneth J. Alford and F. J. Ricketts.

1957 The beginning of British TV's first medical soap opera series 'Emergency Ward 10' which ran twice a week for 10 years.

1959 The United Kingdom granted Cyprus independence, which was then formally proclaimed on 16th August 1960.

1960 The birth of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and second son of Queen Elizabeth II.

1968 The High Court awarded compensation to 62 children born with thalidomide induced deformities.

1975 The Queen knighted cricketer Gary Sobers on her visit to Barbados, his birth place.

1976 Iceland broke off diplomatic relations with Britain after the two countries failed to agree on limits in the ‘cod war’ fishing dispute.

1985 The first episode of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders was screened.

1996 The oil tanker Sea Empress grounded near Milford Haven. 3,500 dead sea birds were washed ashore and the disaster had a devastating impact on the fishing industry.

2001 A five-mile exclusion zone was placed around an abattoir in Essex after a suspected case of foot and mouth disease was detected. By the end of March the disease was at its peak, with up to fifty new cases a day. The final case was reported on Whygill Head Farm near Appleby in Cumbria on 30th September. Tourism and farming were severely affected.

[annie]

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[Rosalind]

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[wendy]