31st December 1600 The British East India Company is chartered. 1695 The window tax was imposed in Britain. 1720 The birth, in Rome, of Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart), also known as the ‘Young Pretender’. 1738 The birth of Charles Cornwallis, the British soldier whose surrender to George Washington (1781) ended the War of Independence. 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and started brewing Guinness at the St. Jamess Gate Brewery, Dublin. 1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada. 1892 The first hostel for homeless men, Rowton House, opened in Bond Street, Vauxhall. 1923 The chimes of Big Ben were broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC. 1937 Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor, was born. 1942 Football manager Alex Ferguson was born, in Glasgow. 1948 Malcolm Campbell, British racing driver, died, after a series of strokes. 1960 The British coin, the farthing, in use in Britain since the 13th Century, ceased to be legal tender at midnight. 1964 Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record, (at Dumbleyung Lake, Western Australia, 276.33 mph), the only man to break both land and water speed records in the same year. 1973 The three-day week began in Britain as a result of power strikes. It led to the downfall of Prime Minister Edward Heath and his government. 1987 A total of 31 people received New Years Honours for helping to save an estimated 350 passengers when the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized, near Bruges, on 6th March, claiming 193 lives. The George Medal, one of the highest civilian awards for gallantry, was awarded to head waiter Michael Skippen who died trying to get passengers to safety.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 10:02:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015