It happened today – June 22-28 By PA reporters
1951: British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean fled to the Soviet Union.
1956: General Nasser became Egypt’s first president after an election in which voting was compulsory, and he was the only candidate.
JUNE 22
1377: Richard II inherited the English throne, aged 10.
JUNE 24
1757: George Vancouver, the explorer after whom Vancouver Island and Vancouver are named, was born.
1314:The Battle of Bannockburn took place near Stirling Castle – Robert the Bruce (of spider fame) inflicted a crushing defeat on Edward II of England.
1814: MCC beat Hertfordshire in the first major cricket match played on the present Lord’s cricket ground in St John’s Wood.
1717:The Grand Lodge of English Freemasons was formed in London.
1896: Marconi patented his invention of the ‘wireless’.
1825:William Henry Smith, English newsagent and bookseller, was born. He joined his father’s newsagent business and took full control in 1846, building WHSmith, the biggest chain of newsagents in Britain, before going into politics. 1840:The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway between Cheltenham and Bromsgrove was opened, a stretch that includes the Lickey incline, one of the severest gradients on a British main line. 1859: Henri Dunant, a Swiss businessman travelling through Italy, saw the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino and was inspired to found the International Red Cross.
1937: Joe Louis won the world heavyweight boxing title by knocking out James J Braddock in Chicago. He successfully defended the crown 25 times before announcing his retirement on March 1, 1949.
1940: France capitulated and accepted the armistice terms of Germany.
1941:The German Army invaded Russia.
1969: Singer Judy Garland was found dead in her flat in London, aged 47.
1878: St John Ambulance was formed.
1987: Fred Astaire,American actor and dancer, died aged 88.
1895: Jack Dempsey, US world heavyweight boxing champion from 1919 to 1926, was born. Known as the Manassa Mauler, he was the most popular boxer of his time. 1947:The series of “flying saucer” stories started when a pilot, Kenneth Arnold, reported seeing nine disc-shaped objects over Mount Rainier,Washington. 1948:The Berlin Airlift began when the USSR blockaded Berlin, requiring the Allies to fly in food and other essential supplies.
JUNE 23
1757:The Battle of Plassey took place in Bengal, with victory for the British, led by Clive of India, over Indian forces – laying the foundations of the British Empire in India. 1763: Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon, was born on the French island of Martinique as Marie Rose Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie.
1848:Adolphe Sax was awarded a patent for the saxophone.
1981:The bridge over the Humber Estuary opened to traffic – its official opening by the Queen took place on July 17.
1860: On St John’s Eve, Mussorgsky completed St John’s Night On A Bare Mountain.After his death, Rimsky-Korsakov edited it and knocked St John from the title. 1872:The first practical typewriter was patented by Christopher Sholes in Milwaukee, USA. Its keys were in alphabetical order, but in November they were changed to Universal Keyboard, in the same order of type as a printer’s case.
JUNE 25
1767: Georg Telemann, the most prolific composer of all time, died in Hamburg. He wrote more than 1,000 cantatas, 40 operas, 120 concertos, 44 passions, 600 orchestral suites and 12 sets of church services with pieces for every Sunday of the year.
1894: Edward VIII, the king who abdicated for the love of Wallis Simpson, was born at Richmond, Surrey.
1797:Admiral Nelson was wounded in the right arm by grapeshot. He had it amputated that afternoon.
1902: Edward VII founded the Order of Merit for his Coronation Honours. One of the first recipients was Viscount Kitchener.The order is limited in number to 24 at any one time.
1867:The first patent for barbed wire was taken out by Lucien Smith of Kent, Ohio.
1870: Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist,
76 | mccarthyholden.co.uk
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