2nd February

[chenrezig]

1650 The birth of Nell (Eleanor) Gwynne, mistress of Charles II, by whom she had two sons.

1665 British forces captured New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in North America. It was renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new governor.

1901 The state funeral of Queen Victoria. Her reign of 63 years and 7 months is longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history.

1914 The very first Cub Scout pack was formed in England, the first pack being in Robertsbridge, Sussex,.

1920 The birth of Hughie Green, who became a 'household name' with his TV shows Double Your Money and Opportunity Knocks.

1940 The birth of Sir David John White OBE, better known by his stage name David Jason. He is best remembered as the main character Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. He also played detective Jack Frost on the ITV crime drama A Touch of Frost, Granville in the sitcom Open All Hours, and Pop Larkin in the comedy drama The Darling Buds of May.

1943 The half-starved remnants of the German 6th Army gave themselves up after their five months of bloody fighting for Stalingrad ended in defeat.

1976 The Queen opened the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham. It is the largest and busiest exhibition centre in the UK and the seventh largest in Europe.

1987 Terry Waite, Church of England envoy kidnapped by an Islamic militia group.

1993 The Queen's solicitors began proceedings against the Sun newspaper for publishing the text of her 1992 Christmas Day broadcast two days before its transmission.

1995 The death of Fred Perry, English tennis and table tennis player. He won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships between 1934 and 1936 and was World No. 1 four years in a row.

[annie]

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