11th May

[chenrezig]

1778 The death of William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham and British politician. He conducted most of the Seven Years' War (1756-63) which secured Britain a huge new empire.

1812 British Prime Minister Spencer Percival was assassinated in the House of Commons, apparently mistaken by his killer, bankrupt broker John Bellingham, for someone else. He is the only Prime Minister in Britain to have been assassinated.

1820 The launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage to test his theories on evolution. The Quantum Leap sculpture in Shrewsbury was created to celebrate the bicentenary of Darwin's birth.

1857 During the Indian Revolution, Indian rebels seized Delhi from the British.

1937 The knighting of Pelham Warner, a cricketer, marked the first time the honour was conferred upon a sportsman.

1950 Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and author, was born.

1963 British businessman Greville Wynne, aged 44, accused of spying for the West was sentenced to eight years' detention by a Moscow tribunal.

1964 Interior designer and businessman Terence Conran opened his first Habitat Shop in London's Fulham Road.

1967 Britain, Ireland and Denmark officially applied to join the EEC.

1971 The Daily Sketch newspaper, which was founded in 1909, was published for the last time. It was Britain's oldest 'tabloid' newspaper.

1977 Wallace Virgo, former head of the police pornography squad, was found guilty of taking bribes from Soho vice kings.

1983 Aberdeen F.C. defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1985 Fifty six spectators died and more than 200 were injured in a flash fire at Bradford City stadium (Valley Parade football ground) during a match against Lincoln City. The inquiry into the disaster led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. One of the main outcomes of the inquiry was prohibiting the construction of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds.

1988 Athlete Zola Budd flew back to her home in South Africa following the diplomatic row over her eligibility to compete for Britain.

1988 Kim Philby, the English born Soviet spy, died in the USSR.

1989 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 'Cats' , based on T.S.Eliot's Old Possum poems, became the West End's longest-running musical, completing eight years.

1995 Lord Nolan presented his report on standards in public life, in an attempt to rid Westminster of constant allegations of individual 'sleaze'.

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[Rosalind]

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