1st July

[chenrezig]

1690 The Battle of the Boyne was fought on the east coast of Ireland, between the Catholic King James and the Protestant King William. The battle, won by William, ultimately helped ensure the continuation of Protestant supremacy in Ireland. Curiously, Battle of the Boyne Day is celebrated on 12th July. The mismatch occurred under the Gregorian calendar and 11 days were effectively lost, causing people at the time to clamour 'Give us back our 11 days!'

1837 Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths came into effect in England and Wales.

1903 The birth of Amy Johnson CBE, a pioneering English pilot. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s. She flew in the Second World War as a part of the Air Transport Auxiliary where she died during a routine flight when returning an aircraft to base.

1911 The introduction of the British Copyright Act - protecting an author's works for 50 years after their death.

1916 World War I: At least 20,000 British soldiers were killed and a further 40,000 were injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It was the greatest number of British casualties in a single day's fighting in modern history.

1921 The formation of the British Legion.

1942 World War II: The first Battle of El Alamein, a battle of the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa, was fought between the Axis forces (Germany and Italy) commanded by Field Marshal Rommel, and Allied forces of the British Eighth Army commanded by General Claude Auchinleck. The battle halted the second, and final advance by the Axis forces into Egypt.

1960 Ghana became a Republic and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be its Head of state.

1961 Diana, the Princess of Wales, was born.

1963 The British Government admitted that the former diplomat Kim Philby, a high-ranking member of British intelligence had worked as a double agent before defecting to the Soviet Union.

1967 Colour television came to Europe with a seven hour transmission on BBC 2 from the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.

1969 Prince Charles was invested Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at Caernarfon Castle in north Wales.

1977 British tennis player Virginia Wade won the Women's Singles Championship at Wimbledon in its Centenary Year and during Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee year.

1996 In addition to a practical exam, learner drivers in Britain had to pass a written exam for the first time.

1998 The first meeting of the historic Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast, following the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement.

2006 The death of Freddie Trueman OBE, Yorkshire and English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. Yorkshire born Prime Minister Harold Wilson once described Trueman as the 'greatest living Yorkshireman'.

2014 Tracey Emin's modern artwork 'My Bed' was sold at auction by Christie's in London for £2.2m. The work features an unmade bed surrounded by a floor littered by empty vodka bottles, cigarette butts and condoms. It was put up for sale by the art collector Charles Saatchi with a guide price of between £800,000 and £1.2m.

[annie]

tha22222

[Rosalind]

go90 tha22222