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[Doug1]

Scottish sailor John Paul Jones was born on 6 July 1747 in Kirkbean, south-west Scotland. Jones is regarded as one of the founding figures of the US navy and became a hero to the Americans for his actions during the War of Independence, helping the nation to victory against the British.

Jones first went to sea at the age of thirteen and as a teenager, made frequent voyages to America, where his brother lived. He was given command of his own ship and crew at the age of 21 after successfully bringing a ship back to port when its captain died suddenly. However, his reputation was tarnished after the death of a sailor he had punished and his involvement in a sword duel in which his opponent was killed.

[Doug1]

On this day in...

1985 French foreign intelligence agents blow up the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor, New Zealand to prevent it interfering with French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira is killed.

[Doug1]

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1698 A fleet of five ships set sail from the Port of Leith for the Isthmus of Darien in Panama, beginning a sea voyage which would last more than three months

[Doug1]

On this day in.....


1304 Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold of the war

1654 Anglo-Portuguese treaty, Portugal comes under English control

1773 Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)

1837 Euston railway station opens in London as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), the city's 1st intercity railway station

1890 "Gibbons Stamp Monthly" begins publishing

1914 Armed resistance against British rule begins in Ulster

1944 Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German army officer Claus Von Stauffenberg

1956 Great Britain refuses to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam

1969 1st Moon Landing: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step out from Apollo spacecraft 11, 530 million watch live global broadcast

1982 Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings: 11 British soldiers and 7 military horses killed in Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attacks during military ceremonies in London

[Doug1]

On this day in..


47 BC Julius Caesar defeats Pharnaces at Zela in Syria and declares, "veni, vidi, vici," (I came, I saw, I conquered).

1776 The Continental Congress, having decided unanimously to make the Declaration of Independence, affixes the signatures of the other delegates to the document.

1802 Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed "Consul for Life" by the French Senate after a plebiscite from the French people.

1819 The first parachute jump from a balloon is made by Charles Guille in New York City.

1820 Born on this day John Tyndall, British physicist and the first scientist to show why the sky is blue.

1847 William A. Leidesdorff launches the first steam boat in San Francisco Bay.

1876 Wild Bill Hickok is shot while playing game of poker.

1918 A British force lands in Archangel, Russia, to support White Russian opposition to the Bolsheviks.

1934 German President Paul von Hindenburg dies and Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor.

1943 Lt. John F. Kennedy, towing an injured sailor, swims to a small island in the Solomon Islands. The night before, his boat, PT-109, had been split in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.

1990 Iraqi forces invade neighbouring Kuwait.

[Doug1]

On this day in...


1743 Champion of England titleholder Jack Broughton publishes 'Rules of the Ring' - earliest boxing code

1812 General Hull surrenders Detroit & Michigan territory to British forces

1819 Peterloo Massacre, Manchester, England: cavalry charges demonstrators, 15 people killed and 400–700 injured

1940 45 German aircraft shot down over England

1946 Direct Action Day: Widespread riots erupt in Calcutta between Muslims and Hindus over whether Pakistan should be a separate state, killing over 4,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless

1958 Born on this day Madonna [Louise Veronica Ciccone], entertainer and singer.

1977 Elvis Presley dies of a heart attack in the upstairs bedroom suite area of his Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.

2003 Cristiano Ronaldo (18) makes his debut for Manchester United and the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers

2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

[Doug1]

On this day in.....


1908 Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills and self-improvement. The book becomes the inspiration for the Scout Movement.

1924 Russian city of St Petersburg renamed Leningrad (changed back in 1991)

1943 Adolf Hitler orders German troops at Stalingrad to fight to the death

1943 Jewish patients, nurses and doctors incinerated at Auschwitz-Birkenau

1976 33rd Golden Globes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Jack Nicholson, & Louise Fletcher win

1984 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer

[Doug1]

On this day in....

Loved by some, loathed by others, Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie) died in Rome on this day in 1788.