On this day

On this day 24 years ago a truly wonderful thing happened,....
the incredible,amazing and gorgeous LAURA BATES was born

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA

1809 – The Royal Opera House in London opens.

1810 - Chile declared its independence from Spain.

1837 – Tiffany and Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City.

1851 - The first edition of the New York Times newspaper was published.

1879 - The famous illuminations in Blackpool were switched on for the first time, a month before electricity was generally available in London.

1947 – The National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency were established in the United States under the National Security Act.

1959 – Vanguard 3 is launched into Earth orbit.

1972 - The first Ugandan refugees fleeing the persecution of the country's military dictatorship arrived in Britain.

1977 – Voyager I takes first photograph of the Earth and the Moon together.

1988 – End of pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students) are killed by the Tatmadaw.

1997 – United States media magnate Ted Turner donates USD 1 billion to the United Nations.

1356 - In an important battle of the Hundred Years' War, English Prince Edward (the black prince) defeated the French at Poitiers and took King John II as a prisoner.

1783 - Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier sent up the first hot-air balloon with live creatures on board, in Versailles, France.

1946 – The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed seven years due to World War II.

1952 - The United States prevented the English born film legend Charlie Chaplin from returning to his Hollywood home until he was investigated by the Immigration Services.

1957 – The first American underground nuclear bomb test took place (Operation Plumbbob) in Nevada.

1975 - The first episode of comedy show Fawlty Towers was broadcast by the BBC.

1985 - Mexico City was struck by the first of two huge earthquakes that claimed more than 10,000 lives.

1991 – Otzi the Iceman is discovered by German tourists.

1995 – The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto.

1519 – Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe.

1565 - Pedro Menendez of Spain defeated the French at Fort Caroline, in Florida, the first European battle on U.S. soil.

1854 - The Russian army was defeated by the British and French at the Battle of Alma in the Crimean War. The first six Victoria Crosses to be awarded to the British Army for acts of bravery during the fighting were won at this battle.

1917 - The first RSPCA animal clinic was opened, in Liverpool.

1967 – RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland. It is operated by the Cunard Line.

1971 – Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be rebranded Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to successfully cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.

1977 – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.

2000 – The British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by unapprehended forces using a Russian-built Mark 22 anti-tank missile.

2008 – A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others.

Births:

1956 – Gary Cole, American actor
1967 – Kristen Johnston, American actress
1971 – Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
1979 – Sean Davis, English footballer
1979 – Dan Gillespie Sells, British musician The Feeling
1980 – Mariacarla Boscono, Italian fashion model
1980 – Madison Young, American pornographic actress
1991 – Spencer Locke, American actress

Deaths:
2004 – Brian Clough, English footballer and football manager (b. 1935)

1998: Clinton's Grand Jury testimony released
Bill Clinton's testimony about his relationship with a young female assistant has been released to the United States public.
The video of the American president's 17 August interview in front of the Grand Jury was taken to a television station at 0910 local time (1410 BST) and broadcast immediately by many US networks.

During the examination President Clinton was questioned by prosecutors about the exact nature of his affair with Monica Lewinsky - and whether he had previously lied under oath.

The president's defence against the accusations relied on elaborate definitions of certain words.

The interview was originally taped on the insistence of the investigating team for the benefit of a jury member who could not attend the hearing.

But members of the House of Representatives justified the release of the tape by saying the public had the right to see all the evidence of the Starr Report.

"It's not a pretty sight... But the key thing we've all got to focus on is what is the truth", said Charles Canady - a republican on the House Judicial Committee.

A visibly uncomfortable President Clinton was forced to defend previous statements about his affair with Miss Lewinsky by quibbling over the precise definition of his words.


It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is

President Clinton

In particular he said "sexual relations" did not to him mean "sexual intercourse" - which he denied having with the former White House intern.

Challenged later in the hearing, he argued the meaning of the smallest of words contained in one of his lawyers' statements.

"It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If 'is' means 'is and never has been' that's one thing - if it means 'there is none', that was a completely true statement," he said.

After facing the Grand Jury, the president now awaits the verdict of the American people.


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Lewinsky: exact nature of affair with Clinton is unclear


A report on the controversial release of President Clinton's testimony




In Context
On 9 December 1998 the House Judiciary Committee proposed four articles of impeachment against the president.
Ten days later - after a bitter debate between republicans and democrats - the House of Representatives voted to confirm the recommendation.

Bill Clinton became only the second president in American history to face such an indictment, but he refused to resign.

His trial began on 7 January 1999 and ended on 12 February when senators voted to acquit him of the impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.


Stories From 21 Sep
1998: Clinton's Grand Jury testimony released
1979: Harrier crash kills three
1955: Britain claims Rockall
1984: Maltby picket sparks violence
1969: Police storm squat in Piccadilly

1745 - Bonnie Prince Charles and his Jacobite army defeated the English at the Battle of Prestonpans, in Scotland.

1810 - Oktoberfest festival began in West Germany with a horse race in honor of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese.

1866 - H.G Wells, the English writer was born. His books included The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds.

1915 - Stonehenge was sold at auction to Mr C H Chubb for £6,600 as a present for his wife. Mr Chubb presented it to the nation three years later as his wife didn't think it suited her.

1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.

1965 - BP found oil in the North Sea.

1985 - Madonna scored her first UK No.1 album with Like A Virgin, ten months after its release.

2003 - NASA's aging Galileo spacecraft was deliberately plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere, ending its 14-year exploration of the solar system's largest planet and its moons.

1955: New TV channel ends BBC monopoly
Britain's first independent television station is on air, ending the 18-year monopoly of the BBC and bringing advertisements to the airwaves for the first time.
The new Independent Television Authority (ITA) began its broadcasts with live coverage of a ceremony at the Guildhall marking the start of Britain's first-ever commercially-funded television station.

Among the speakers was the Postmaster General, Charles Hill. The Post Office is working with the ITA to provide the service, and he was quick to address concerns over advertisements.

"We shall not be bothered by a violinist stopping in the middle of his solo to advise us of his favourite brand of cigarettes," he said, "nor indeed will Hamlet interrupt his soliloquy to tell us of the favourite brand of toothpaste ordinarily used at Elsinore."

After the Guildhall banquet, the main programmes got under way.

First advertisement

They included a variety show, half an hour of drama excerpts starring Sir John Gielgud, Alec Guinness and Kay Hammond, and a boxing match.

There was a final news bulletin and cabaret before the final five-minute religious programme, Epilogue, which ended the service at 2300 BST.

The first advertisement came a little more than an hour into the schedule, during the variety show.

Viewers saw a tube of Gibbs SR toothpaste in a block of ice, with a voiceover pronouncing it a "tingling fresh toothpaste" for teeth and gums.

There were another 23 advertisements during the evening, promoting products from Cadbury's chocolate to Esso petrol.

BBC under pressure

The BBC broadcast "The Donald Duck Story", profiling the Walt Disney cartoon character.

The Corporation is already coming under huge pressure as a result of the new competition from the ITA.

It is looking into the possibility of a quiz show, similar to the ITA's "Double Your Money" hosted by Hughie Green, prompting fears that the arrival of the ITA will cause a slide into lower-standard, populist programming.

Competition is also driving up costs: bidding wars have begun for artistes who before were forced to accept BBC wages. At the same time, the price of popular American imports such as "I Love Lucy" and "Dragnet" has risen from a few hundred pounds up to several thousand.


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The BBC has had a monopoly on the airwaves for 18 years


ITA director introduced for first independent TV service







In Context
It later emerged that it was BBC Radio which staged the most effective spoiling tactic to the launch of ITV, with the death of Grace Archer, a leading character in the radio soap, The Archers.
The episode pulled in an audience of 20 million, but the BBC denied that the plot development was deliberately timed.

Independent television was at first referred to as the ITA, the name of the regulatory body charged with setting up the regional franchises. The channel is now universally known as ITV.

The initial ITV franchise was to the London area only, run by Associated Rediffusion and ABC (Associated Broadcasting Company).

Further franchises were awarded region by region until 1965, when the whole country could receive ITV.

The ITA was replaced by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in 1972, and then by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) under the Broadcasting Act of 1990.


Stories From 22 Sep
1980: War breaks out between Iran and Iraq
1989: Ten dead in Kent barracks bomb
1955: New TV channel ends BBC monopoly
1975: Bomb blasts rock Northern Ireland
2001: Simpson smuggled into Afghanistan
1998: Thousands flee fighting in Kosovo

1735 - Sir Robert Walpole became the first prime minister to occupy 10 Downing Street.

1862 - President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation calling for all slaves within the rebel states to be freed on January 1, 1863.

1896 – Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.

1910 – The Duke of York's Picture House opens in Brighton, now the oldest continually operating cinema in Britain.

1941 – World War II: On Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murder 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsya, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed.

1967 - The liner Queen Mary began her 1000th and last Atlantic crossing.

1981 - The world's fastest train, the France TGV, took its inaugural run from Paris to Lyons.

1991 – The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time by the Huntington Library.

1994 - Friends premiered on American television.

1999 - Singer Diana Ross was arrested on Concorde after an incident at Heathrow Airport. The singer claimed that a female security guard had touched her breasts when being frisked, and she retaliated by rubbing her hands down the security guard.

2003 – David Hempleman-Adams becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open-air, wicker-basket hot air balloon.

Births:

1964 – Dr. Liam Fox, British politician
1970 – Mystikal, American rapper...................ironically, also a raper (rapist)
1971 – Chesney Hawkes, English singer
1978 – Ed Joyce, Irish-English cricketer
1978 – Harry Kewell, Australian soccer player
1980 – Fernanda Tavares, Brazilian model
1982 – Billie Piper, English singer and actress
1984 – Laura Vandervoort, Canadian actress
1985 – Rima Fakih, Lebanese/American beauty pageant contestant
1987 – Tom Felton, English actor