On this day

1775 - Paul Revere and William Dawes began the famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning American colonists that the British were coming.

1881 - The Natural History Museum in London was opened.

1899 – The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

1906 - A devastating 8.3 earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires, killing an estimated 3,000 people.

1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.

1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act came into force as Eire (Southern Ireland), became a Republic and left the British Commonwealth.

1956 - U.S. actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco in a civil ceremony.

1968 - London Bridge was sold for £1m to American oil tycoon Robert McCullough. He had it taken apart, shipped and re-built in Lake Havasu, U.S.

1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.

2005 - Adobe Systems announced an agreement to acquire Macromedia.

1770 – Captain James Cook sights the eastern coast of Australia.

1775 - The start of the American War of Independence against Britain, fighting began at Lexington and Concord.

1839 – The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom.

1956 – Following yesterday's civil ceremony, actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a religious ceremony held at Monaco's Cathedral.

1958 - Footballer Bobby Charlton made the first of his 106 appearances for England, he scored 49 goals for his country.

1971 – Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_1

1975 – India's first satellite Aryabhata is launched - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryabhata_(satellite)

1987 – The Simpsons premieres as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show.

1999 – The German Bundestag (federal legislative body), returns to Berlin, the first German parliamentary body to meet there since the Reichstag (parliament) was dissolved in 1945.

2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Pope Benedict XVI.

Sky Sports was launched 20 years ago today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Sports

Also, today is Hitler's birthday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler

1534 – Jacques Cartier begins the voyage during which he discovers Canada and Labrador.

1770 - Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales in Australia.

1792 - France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.

1879 - The first mobile home (horse-drawn) was used in a journey from London to Cyprus.

1902 - Scientists Pierre Curie and Marie Curie isolated the radioactive chemical element, radium.

1912 - The Irish born writer Bram Stoker, author of Count Dracula, died at his London home. He was 65.

1918 – Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.

1964 – BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.

1972 – Apollo 16 landed on the moon commanded by John Young.

1989 - Scientists said that the Earth had narrowly missed being struck by a passing asteroid weighing 400 million tons.

1999 - The Columbine High School massacre took place in Littleton, Colorado.

2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

2010 – Deepwater Horizon oil well explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last five months.

April 20th 1992 - Who could forget The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert live from Wembley Stadium broadcast live around the world to 76 Countries via satellite and what a send off the legendary lead singer of Queen got with Performances coming from the likes of Metallica and Guns n Roses. I was allowed to stay up late that evening despite it being a school night. RIP Freddie Mercury we will never see the like's of you again. A true genius and a tragic loss to the Music Industry.

753 B.C.E. - Legend says Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, founded Rome.

1509 - Henry VIII became King of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.

1926 - Queen Elizabeth II was born.

1960 - The new city of Brasilia was declared the capital of Brazil, replacing Rio de Janeiro.

1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch, as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.

1983 - One pound coins replaced notes in England and Wales.

1994 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil.

1662 - King Charles II granted a charter to the Royal Society of London, which became an important centre of scientific activity in England.

1838 - The British steamer Sirius became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean from England to New York.

1914 - Babe Ruth made his professional pitching debut, playing for the Baltimore Orioles.

1915 - In World War I, the Germans shocked the world with their use of lethal chlorine gas in combat against French troops in Belgium.

1943 - Britain discontinued printing £1,000 notes.

1992 – In an explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.

1994 - Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland became the first person to make the trip to the North Pole alone.

1998 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.

2000 – The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Number_Change

2010 – Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig owned by BP and Transocean, sinks to the bottom of the Gulf Of Mexico after having a blowout two days earlier. The well then created the largest oil spill in U.S. history by constantly gushing oil through the damaged wellhead.

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1984: Scientist finds Aids virus
The discovery of a virus which may cause Aids, the fatal disease sweeping through America, has been hailed as a "monumental breakthrough" in medical research.
The development was announced in Washington by US Health Secretary Margaret Heckler.

She said the virus was a variant of a known human cancer virus called HTLV-3. A blood test has also been developed, which, she said, would be available within six months, preventing the tragedy of transfusion patients contracting the disease through tainted blood products.



To hear that there is a possible vaccine that could come out in two or three years is no good news for these people

Aids sufferer Bob Scheckey


She also suggested that a vaccine to prevent Aids might be ready for testing in two years' time.

"Today's discovery represents the triumph of science over a dreaded disease," she said.

Aids, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, weakens the immune system, leaving its victims open to a series of wasting diseases. Those people who appear to be more at risk of contracting Aids include homosexuals, haemophiliacs, drug users and those who have received blood transfusions.

It has been causing widespread panic in the United States, where 4,000 people have been infected since the discovery of the disease in 1981. Almost half have died.

The findings in the United States are similar to the discovery in France last week of a virus called LAV, although French researchers stopped short of saying it was definitely the one which causes Aids.

Reaction to the news among victims was philosophical. Bob Scheckey has lived with the disease for two years - far longer than his doctors predicted. He welcomed the news from Washington, but said a possible vaccine was too far off to offer comfort.

"I am working with people with Aids on a daily basis," he said. "To hear that there is a possible vaccine that could come out in two or three years is no good news for these people. Most of the people we're working with now will be dead by that time."




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The HTLV-3 virus is a variant of a known human cancer virus




In Context
The HTLV-3 virus was discovered to be the same as the LAV virus discovered in France. To avoid confusion, it was re-named HIV in 1987.
An estimated 24 million people, both homosexual and heterosexual, have died of Aids since the disease emerged in the United States. It has now reached pandemic proportions in some parts of southern Africa, where two million died in 2001 alone.

No successful vaccine has yet been developed, although billions of dollars have been spent trying.

Only eight potential vaccines are currently being tested on humans, and just one, developed by US firm VaxGen, has reached end-stage trials.

The trials were held in North America, Europe and Thailand and involved thousands of volunteers at high risk from Aids.

But preliminary results announced in November 2003 from the AIDSVAX trial in Thailand showed it does not work.

Nevertheless since the start of the HIV epidemic, a series of drugs have been developed which significantly prolong the lives of people who are HIV positive.



Stories From 23 Apr
1979: Teacher dies in Southall race riots

1984: Scientist finds Aids virus

2001: Royal aide on trial for murder

1968: Decimal coins reach the high street

1998: Martin Luther King killer dies





On This Day
10 December 1981
Mystery disease kills homosexuals




BBC News >>
The biology of Aids
Background on the virus and its treatment

The National Day of England and the Feast Day of St. George.

1348 - English King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter, the first order of knighthood.

1661 - Charles II was crowned King of England, completing the restoration of the monarchy.

1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

1968 - The first decimal coins appeared in Britain - the 5p and 10p pieces.

1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.

2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.

2009 – The gamma ray burst GRB 090423 is observed for 10 seconds. The event signals the most distant object of any kind and also the oldest known object in the universe.

1558 - Mary, Queen of Scotland, married the French dauphin, Francis II.

1953 - Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1962 - MIT executed the first satellite relay of a TV signal.

1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.

1970 - China launched its first satellite - Dong Fang Hong I.

1990 - The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

1993 - A massive bomb ripped through the the City of London, killing one and injuring more than 40.

2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.