21st March

[chenrezig]

1413 Henry V became King of England. He died, aged 35, at the Château de Vincennes near Paris, apparently from dysentery.

1556 England's first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake as a heretic, under the Catholic Queen Mary I, also know as "Bloody Mary". Imprisoned for over two years and under pressure from Church authorities, he apparently reconciled himself with the Roman Catholic Church. However, on the day of his execution, he dramatically recanted these beliefs, to die a heretic to Roman Catholics and a martyr to others. His legacy lives on within the Church of England through the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles, an Anglican statement of faith derived from his work.

1829 The Duke of Wellington, aged 60, fought a bloodless duel with the Earl of Winchelsea. The reason for the duel was the Duke’s support of Catholic emancipation. Wellington was both Prime Minister and leader of the Tory Party at the time.

1835 The birth of Thomas Hayward, Cambridgeshire and All-England Eleven cricketer who was generally reckoned to be one of the outstanding batsmen of the 1850s and 1860s. In 1859 he took part in the first ever overseas cricket tour when he was a member of the England team visiting North America.

1918 Germany's last major offensive of World War One began on The Somme.

1935 The birth of Brian Clough, English footballer and manager of Nottingham Forest from 1975–1993. Clough was widely considered to be one of the greatest managers of the game and the greatest English manager never to have managed the England team.

1945 British warplanes destroyed Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, killing over 70 Nazis. The raid also killed civilians, including 86 schoolchildren, in Denmark's worst civilian disaster of the war.

1945 World War II: British troops liberated Mandalay in Burma.

1946 Labour politician Aneurin Bevan announced the Government's proposals for a free National Health Service, paid for by the taxpayer. The doctors immediately announced the setting-up of a fighting fund to oppose legislation, fearing a loss of earnings.

1983 The government announced that the first automatic trains on London's underground could be in operation by early April.

1984 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher came under attack for the breakdown of negotiations at the common market summit in Brussels. It is understood that Mrs. Thatcher asked for an annual rebate for Britain of £730m but was offered £580m, which she refused.

1990 A demonstration in London against the poll tax became a riot. More than 400 people were arrested.

1991 The government announced plans for a new property tax in place of the controversial poll tax.

1999 Ernie Wise, comedian, died aged 73. 'Morecambe and Wise' were a comedy legend for generations of people in Britain. They were honoured with posthumous fellowships at the British Academy Television Awards.

[annie]

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[Rosalind]

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