On this day in history.

[Andy_Ross]

1588 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon

 

[Andy_Ross]

1533 The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared that the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn was valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against both Henry and Cranmer

 

[Andy_Ross]

1907 The first Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) races were held. The winner was Charlie Collier on his pedal assisted Matchless, at an average speed of 38.22 mph.
It was argued that rival Jack Marshall, riding a Triumph, would have won if he'd fitted pedals, and the following year pedals were banned.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1945 World War II: the English broadcaster of Nazi propaganda, William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was captured near Hamburg.

 

[Andy_Ross]

585 BC Solar eclipse, as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, occurs while Lydians are at war with the Medes and leads to a truce. It is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates are calculated.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1982 Harrier GR3 strikes bomb Darwin and Goose Green ahead of the infantry assault.

Squadron Leader Robert Iveson is shot down by AA fire. He ejects safely and was unconscious for a few seconds, when he came to he found himself dropping straight onto the wreckage of his burning aircraft. and managed to steer away from it.
He watched a large house a couple of miles away for a while and made sure that Argentine Forces had no interest in it. He found no one home but the house had food and blankets which he made good use of.
The next morning, Bob started off towards the British lines but was beaten back by a typical Falklands storm and
spent another night in the house. The next day he takes off across the open moors and he heard the sound of fighting. When it had stopped and he felt sure that the British were in control, he turned on the personal locator beacon and was lifted to safety by a helicopter. An hour later he was back at the beachhead with just cuts to his face, bruises and a boot torn open as he left the plane.

 

[sackett]

1657 Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell refused parliament's offer of the title King of England.

What would Noll want with a crown anyway? He had more unobstructed power than any king since the Middle Ages.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1982 Day two of the 45 Royal Marines Commando Group 'Yomp' across the island from San Carlos to Port Stanley.

Their route was 115 kilometers.
The peat bogs and soft ground could only be crossed on foot, the Marines had to walk to battle. The moved in 'fighting order with just weapons, ammunition and a 24 hour pack. the remainder of their equipment was flown to Douglas Settlement 30 miles from San Carlos.
Douglas resident Angeline Joshua saw 45 Cdo approaching, she said later "I couldn't believe my eyes, a lovely sight, seeing that green blanket coming over the hill."

 

[Andy_Ross]

1982 The Argentine Air Force orders an attack against the British Hospital Ship SS Uganda.

Argentine pilot, Squadron Leader Mario Jorge Caffaratti, defies two direct orders to carry out the mission and finally tells his superiors: "Why don't you go to hell!?"

 

[PitPat]

1934, from History.com

The Dionne quintuplets, the first quints known to survive infancy, are born in Ontario. Exploited by the government, the girls were housed for their first nine years in a kind of "baby zoo," ogled by thousands of tourists daily.

WTF Canada? That doesn't sound very polite.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1982 Goose Green garrison surrenders.

With the death of Colonel Jones in the fighting (for which he was awarded a posthumous VC) Major Keeble takes command of 2 Para.
He arranges a ceasefire and moves to meet the Argentine commander Colonel Piaggi who does not show but sends two NCO's in his place.
They are told Piaggi must come in person and it will be to unconditionally surrender or fighting will resume.
Royal Marines arrive to relieve the exhausted Paratroopers, they delayed their arrival until daylight to avoid friendly fire incidents.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1660 Charles II marched into London and was restored to the throne,

 

[Andy_Ross]

1871 Whit Monday became the first official Bank Holiday in Britain.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1982 First Papal visit to Britain since 1531

 

[Andy_Ross]

1977 Nigel Short, an 11 year old English schoolboy , qualified as the youngest ever competitor in a national chess championship.

 

[Andy_Ross]

1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest

 

[Andy_Ross]

1453 Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, falls to the Ottoman Turks

 

[Andy_Ross]

1942 Bing Crosby records "White Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

1907 The first Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) races were held. The winner was Charlie Collier on his pedal assisted Matchless, at an average speed of 38.22 mph.
It was argued that rival Jack Marshall, riding a Triumph, would have won if he'd fitted pedals, and the following year pedals were banned.

The two cylinder category was won by Rem Fowler, despite crashing his motorbike on lap 7.

 

[Andy_Ross]

I wonder if any of the competitors in that first TT would have thought that the lap record would rise to an average speed of 136 mph with over 200 mph across the mountain.