27th July

[chenrezig]

1054 Siward, Earl of Northumbria invaded Scotland and defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland 'somewhere north' of the Firth of Forth.

1214 The Battle of Bouvines, which the English lost, in a field next to what is now the airport of Lille. "Bouvines is the most important battle in English history that no-one has ever heard of," said John France, medieval history professor. "Without Bouvines there is no Magna Carta, and all the British and American law that stems from that. The armies are small, but everything depends on the struggle. It's one of the climactic moments of European history."

1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brought the first tobacco to England, from Virginia.

1663 The English Parliament passed the Second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies had to be sent in English ships from English ports.

1689 The ending of the Battle of Killiecrankie, a battle fought between Highland Scottish clans supporting King James VII of Scotland and troops supporting King William of Orange, during the first Jacobite uprising.

1694 The Bank of England was founded by act of Parliament.

1866 The Great Eastern arrived at Heart's Content in Newfoundland, having successfully laid the transatlantic telegraph cable.

1914 British troops invaded the streets of Dublin, Ireland, and began to disarm Irish rebels.

1928 Alfred 'Tich' Freeman, English cricketer and leg spin bowler for Kent and England, became the only bowler ever to take 200 first-class wickets before the end of July. He was the only man to take 300 wickets in an English season, and is the second most prolific wicket taker in first class cricket history, the record holder being the Yorkshire born Wilfred Rhodes.

1942 The Battle of El Alamein ended after 17 days, with the British having prevented the German and Italian advance into Egypt.

1949 The British De Havilland Comet, the first jet-propelled airliner, made its maiden flight. It was a 40-passenger airliner.

1958 The birth of Christopher Dean, British ice skater and Olympic gold and bronze medal winner.

1965 Shadow Chancellor Edward Heath beat off his rivals to become the new leader of the Conservative Party.

1969 English rower Tom McLean arrived off the Irish coast to become the first man to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean - from west to east - a distance of 2000 miles. His voyage took 72 days.

1974 At Ascot, another win for English champion jockey Lester Piggott in his 3,000th race.

1978 Two British balloonists battling to be the first to cross the Atlantic got into difficulties half way across the ocean. Their balloon finally collapsed into the sea, just 110 miles from land.

1985 English athlete Steve Cram set a new world record for the mile at 3 minutes 46.32 seconds in Oslo.

1988 British pole vault record holder Jeff Gutteridge was banned for life by the British Amateur Athletic Board for taking steroids.

2003 The death of Bob Hope, the English-born American comedian and actor.

2012 The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. The last time that the Games were held in Britain was 1948.

[annie]

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[wendy]

[Rosalind]

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