On this day

(31-03-2011 10:53 )skully Wrote:  1973 - Racehorse Red Rum won the Grand National Steeplechase in a record time of 9 min 1.9 sec., a record that remained unbroken for 16 years. He is the only horse to have won the Grand National three times.

The 1973 race is regarded as one of the greatest ever Grand Nationals and given his subsequent popularity it's hard to believe that Red Rum was originally regarded as the "villain" of the piece, as the popular Australian bred "Crisp" had led for almost the whole race, being caught just yards from the line despite giving away 23lbs to Red Rum. Crisp had himself broken the previous winning time by almost 20 seconds, and has been described by BBC commentator Jim McGrath as "the unluckiest horse in the race's history".

In 1974 the two horses were entered in the same race at Doncaster. Officially, it happened by chance (yeah, right!), but one by one all the other entered horses were withdrawn leaving just Red Rum and Crisp to have a match off level weights. Crisp won by 10 lengths but picked up an injury and never raced again.

In five consecutive seasons Red Rum finished either as winner or runner up (winner in 1973, 1974 and 1977 and only beaten by twice former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L'Escargot in 1975 and Rag Trade in 1976).

He was preparing for a sixth attempt in 1978 but the day before the race was found to have injured a leg and had a suspected hair-line fracture. Although the injury was minor and in no way life-threatening he was immediately retired.

In retirement he continued as a celebrity, opening supermarkets and annually leading the Grand National parade for many further years. He died in October 1995 at the age of 30, and is buried by the winning post at Aintree racecourse.

Here's the finish of the 1973 race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGaX0d_Pjk

ps: one point of trivia, it is often believed to be an urban legend but Red Rum started life racing on the flat and was indeed once ridden by Lester Piggott, beaten into 2nd place by just a short-head by Alan's Pet in 1968.

1826 - Samuel Morey of New Hampshire patented the internal-combustion engine.

1867 – Singapore becomes a British crown colony.

1908 - The Territorial Army (a force of volunteer soldiers mainly for home defence), was formed in Britain.

1918 - The Royal Air Force was established in Britain with the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).

1949 – The 26 counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland.

1960 - The first weather satellite in the world, TIROS-I, was launched from Cape Canaveral.

1973 - Britain introduced VAT (Value Added Tax). It replaced Purchase Tax and Selective Employment Tax.

1976 – Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

1990 - Up to 1,000 prisoners staged a riot at Strangeways Prison in Manchester in a violent protest against overcrowding. It was the longest prison riot in British history and lasted until 25th April. One remand prisoner died.

2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first country to allow it.

1983: Human chain links nuclear sites
Tens of thousands of peace demonstrators have formed a human chain stretching 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) across a southern English county.
They lined a route along what the protesters call "Nuclear Valley" in Berkshire.

The chain started at the American airbase at Greenham Common, passed the Aldermaston nuclear research centre and ended at the ordnance factory in Burghfield.

Actress Julie Christie was one of a number of celebrities who joined in the event organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

CND said a total of 80,000 people took part but a police spokesman put the number at 40,000.

The event was the climax of a week of anti-nuclear activities across England in the run-up to Easter.

After completing the "peace chain" a rally was held near Aldermaston.

'Kremlin's April Fools'

CND's leader, Monsignor Bruce Kent, said he was "delighted" with the turnout.

But Defence Minister Michael Heseltine called the demonstrators "misguided" and "naïve".

At one point a plane flew overhead trailing a banner reading "CND - Kremlin's April Fools".

It had been sent up by a group opposed to CND - the Coalition for Peace through Security.

A number of extreme left-wing groups, including Trotskyites, were present at the event but the demonstration passed off peacefully.

The only trouble was at Greenham Common where nearly 200 members of the women's peace camp based outside the airbase scaled the perimeter fence.

However, they were immediately caught by police on the other side and escorted off the premises.

The CND rally was held at about the same time as 15,000 people took part in the first of a series of anti-nuclear marches in West Germany.

They are protesting against the siting of American missiles on West German territory.


Watch/Listen

The chain was part a week of anti-nuclear activities

In Context
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was at the peak of its popularity and influence during the mid-1980s.
It was founded in 1958 at the height of the Cold War and began to stage annual marches attended by thousands from Trafalgar Square in London to the nuclear research base at Aldermaston in Berkshire.

The organisation went into decline during a thaw in relations between the superpowers in the 1970s.

But it was revitalised in the 1980s as a result of the decision to site American Cruise and Pershing missiles in Britain and several other Western European countries.

In 1998 CND had approximately 40,000 members, down from a high of 100,000.


Stories From 1 Apr
1957: BBC fools the nation

1990: Rioting inmates take over Strangeways

2001: Ex-Yugoslav leader arrested after siege

2000: Wartime coding machine stolen

1983: Human chain links nuclear sites

1999: Britain gets first minimum wage

BBC News >>
End of an era: Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp

Many April Fools Hoaxes have become legends:

The 1957 hoax referred to above was a Panorama special, showing Italians harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans.

In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the “old”, right-handed burger.

In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of smells over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial’s success. In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.

The Dutch television news reported in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.

In 1962 Swedish television reported that it would be doing test transmissions in colour, which people with black & white sets could see if they hung nylon stockings in front of the screen.

One of my favourties was in 1975, when Noel Edmonds supposedly presented his Radio 1 breakfast show from a light aeroplane flying from Glasgow to London. There were even a competition for listeners to write in if they could spot the identification letters on the underside of the wings....over 4,000 people entered, having seen the non-existant plane!

1877 - The first Human Cannonball Act was performed at London's Amphitheatre when acrobat Lady Zazal (attached by elastic springs), was fired into a safety net.

1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum.

1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.

1946 - Britain's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst was founded.

1958 - The National Advisory Council on Aeronautics was renamed NASA.

1975 – Construction of the CN Tower is completed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It reaches 553.33 metres (1,815.4 ft) in height, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure.

1977 - Red Rum won the Grand National for a record third time.

1982 - Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, a British possession for 149 years.

1992 - John Gotti, head of largest Mafia family in New York, was convicted of murder and racketeering.

2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States, hardest hit is in Tennessee with 29 people killed.

(02-04-2011 11:48 )skully Wrote:  1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum.

How can anyone patent aluminium? Its an element.
From wikipedia

(02-04-2011 18:52 )TheWatcher Wrote:  

(02-04-2011 11:48 )skully Wrote:  1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum.

How can anyone patent aluminium? Its an element.

What Hall actually patented was the process of producing aluminium by electrolysis. The basic invention involves passing an electric current through a bath of alumina dissolved in cryolite, which results in a puddle of aluminium forming in the bottom of the retort.




Charles M Hall (1863-1914)

(no copyright exists in this photo as it expired 50 years after his death)

Mothering Sunday - Traditionally, it was a day when children (mainly daughters), who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

1043 - Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England in Winchester Cathedral.

1721 - Robert Walpole became the first prime minister of Britain.

1860 - The legendary Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.

1882 – Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford.

1913 - English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to 3 years in prison for inciting supporters to place explosives at the London home of British politician David Lloyd George. The Home Secretary banned all future public meetings of suffragettes.

1933 - Everest was conquered for the first time by plane when 2 specially built British planes made aviation history by flying over the summit. The pilots were the Marquis of Douglas and Clydesdale and Fl. Lt. David McIntyre.

2000 - A federal judge in Washington ruled that Microsoft Corporation had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on competitors.

(03-04-2011 11:05 )skully Wrote:  1860 - The legendary Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.

Despite its place in the history and folklore of the wild west, many will be surprised to learn that the Pony Express lasted for just 18 months, and only ran for the full length of its route for less than a year. The main reason for its lasting fame was largely due to one of its young riders, who went on to become famous as Buffalo Bill Cody and who regaled his audiences with tales of daring deeds that were at best highly embellished if not completely ficticious.

The long-term future of the Pony Express would have been a dubious proposition anyway as telegraphy was starting to spread across the country (indeed, the service was set up to fill in the main gap in coast-to-coast service) and there were already plans being drawn up for a transcontinental railroad.

Operating costs and overheads were huge. The amount of mail that could be carried was limited and horses could only run at a reasonable speed for a finite distance, thus they and their riders had to be regularly changed (the Hollywood portrayal of the horses at full gallop was a myth - they averaged only about 10 miles an hour). Riders were strictly vetted by the standards of the day and were very well paid, receiving around 25 times the average manual workers wage. The result was that the cost was hideously expensive; to send one small letter was the equivalent of £50 in today's money.

The founders hoped to win the main government coast-to-coast postal contract but when, in 1861, a stage coach company was chosen instead the writing was on the wall. It was no real surprise that they lost out, as although the stage took twice as long one stage could carry the same amount of mail as sixty horses at a fraction of the cost (the stage coach company went on to become part of Wells Fargo). In a desperate effort to survive the route was cut back, the letter cost reduced to £10, and in an attempt to increase capacity they even reduced the amount of supplies that the rider could carry - even getting rid of his spare gun! - but to no avail. The service closed in October 1861 having lost an estimated $800,000 in its 18 months of operation.

As it was, the Civil War disrupted most communications for the next four years and the opening of the Trans-continental Railroad in 1869 completed the telegraphy route, changing the face of communications until the coming of the motor car.

i wished a friend of mine from america happy mothers day today iv only known her for 8 months, and she said thanx but its a bit early, not realising alot of other country's celebrate it in may