We're thrilled to announce that our annual WW1 weekend will take place in Leeds at the Royal Armouries - Here is a taste of who to expect on the Saturday, with more names to come! @seaspitfires.com @peterhart.bsky.social Sign up for further updates via the link:
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We're thrilled to announce that our annual WW1 weekend will take place in Leeds at the Royal Armouries - Here is a taste of who to expect on the Friday. @seaspitfires.com @fxmc1957.bsky.social Stay tuned for the Saturday lineup! Sign up for further updates via the link:
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PHOTO OF THE DAY. French schoolboys waiting to receive a weekly dose of Cod Liver Oil (1948) 📷 Robert Doisneau
PERSON OF THE DAY. 7 March 1958. Rik Mayall was born in Harlow, Essex. He rose to national fame in the anarchic BBC comedy sitcom The Young Ones. On 9 June 2014, he died suddenly in London from a heart attack shortly after returning home from a jogging session (aged 56).
FACT OF THE DAY. 7 March 1936. Adolf Hitler sent German troops into the de-militarised Rhineland, something that was strictly prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and the Locarno accords of 1926. The western Allies condemned the move, but took no military action.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. A couple who moved into an all-white Chicago neighbourhood are greeted by racist graffiti (1957). 📷 google images
PERSON OF THE DAY. 6 March 1961. Wigan-born entertainer George Formby died (aged 56). Over 100,000 people lined his funeral route. In the 1930s he was the most popular entertainer in the UK. His songs were full of risqué double entendres. A typical example was My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock.
FACT OF THE DAY. 6 March 1987. Cross-channel ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, setting out from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, bound for Dover, capsized killing 193 passengers and crew. A bow-door was left open before its departure. It’s Britain’s worst peacetime maritime disaster since 1919.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. Ukrainian immigrants in the USA offer free Borsht to celebrate the death of Stalin #OTD in 1953. 📷 Getty images
PERSON OF THE DAY. 5 March 1908. Rex Harrison was born in Huyton, Lancashire. He’s best known for playing Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other films include: Doctor Dolittle, Blithe Spirit, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Cleopatra.
FACT OF THE DAY. 5 March 1946. Winston Churchill used the phrase “Iron Curtain” to describe the East-West divide that characterised the Cold War. His warning came in a speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, USA. His speech marked the realisation that the post-war Cold War had begun.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. The annual rewinding of the big watch at Dennison watch maker’s shop in Holborn,London (1910). 📷 Roger Viollet.
PERSON OF THE DAY. 4 March 2022. Australian cricket star Shane Warne died unexpectedly (aged 52). He was one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He was Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1997, 2003 and 2004. In 2000 he was named in the 5 top Wisden Cricketers of the 20th Century.
FACT OF THE DAY. 4 March 1890. Forth Bridge in Scotland was officially opened by the Prince of Wales who ceremonially hammered in the last rivet. It had been completed in December 1889, and testing took place over the following weeks. The opening was followed by a grand luncheon.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. Pablo Picasso (1962). 📷 Arnold Newman
PERSON OF THE DAY. 3 March 2021. Marketing executive Sarah Everard (aged 33) was abducted as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London in the evening during a Covid-19 lockdown by a Metropolitan police officer who raped and murdered her. The case shocked the British public.
FACT OF THE DAY. 3 March 1943. 173 people were killed during a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green Station, London during a bombing raid. This was the worst British civilian loss of life in a single bombing incident during the Second World War.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Annie Edison Taylor, the 1st person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel (1901).📷 google images
PERSON OF THE DAY. 2 March 1955. Claudette Colvin was arrested (aged 15) in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded segregated bus. This occurred 9 months before the more widely known incident by Rosa Parks.
FACT OF THE DAY. 2 March 1933. Hollywood blockbuster film King Kong, using innovative animation techniques, had its world premiere in New York City. It’s frequently ranked in lists of the Top 20 best films of all time.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. Police officers on patrol in Piccadilly Circus, London (1966). 📷 google images
FACT OF THE DAY. 1 March 1978. The coffin containing the corpse of Charlie Chaplin was stolen from a cemetery in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Vevey. A ransom of $600,000 was demanded, but not paid. The coffin was found on 17 May 1978 and 2 men: Roman Wardas and Gantscho Ganev were convicted.
PERSON OF THE DAY. 1 March 1944. Roger Daltrey was born in London. He was co-founder and lead singer of The Who. In the 1960s he was called the “King of the Mods”. In 1990, Daltrey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Who.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. A crowd gathers around a tram in London that crashed into a building (1946). 📷 google images
FACT OF THE DAY. 28 February 1953. Francis Crick and James Watson announced to friends that they had determined the chemical structure of DNA. They were later criticised for failing to fully acknowledge the important contribution of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins to their research.
PERSON OF THE DAY. 28 February 1942. Brian Jones (Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones) was born in Cheltenham. He was best known as the co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He had alcohol and drug problems and was found dead by drowning in the swimming pool at his home at the age of 27 on 3 July 1969.
PHOTO OF THE DAY. German Reichstag building on fire (1933). 📷google images
PERSON OF THE DAY. 27 February 1812. Poet Lord Byron gave his 1st speech as a member of the House of Lords. He defended the Luddite protests against the building of factories. He spoke specifically against the Frame Breaking Act of 1812 which had applied the death penalty to machine breaking.
FACT OF THE DAY. 27 February 1933. The Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, was set on fire. A Dutch Communist called Marinus van der Lubbe was convicted of the crime and executed, but whether he acted alone or was part of a Nazi conspiracy remains debated among historians.
Stephen Whittle sold his FA Cup semi-final ticket to his best friend, who died at Hillsborough. Stephen was wracked with guilt for selling the ticket. On 26 February 2011, he stepped in front of a train and was killed. He left £61,000 to the Hillsborough families in his will.
