The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
ON THIS DAY
LEAP YEAR DAY, which occurs every four years to make the calendar year “catch up” with the solar year which actually takes 365.242199 days.
992:
Death of St Oswald, Archbishop of York who revived Christianity in the Northeast.
1736:
Birth of Ann Lee, Manchester blacksmith’s daughter who emigrated to the United States and founded the American Society of Shakers religious group.
1792:
Operatic composer Gioachino Rossini (The Barber Of Seville, William Tell) was born in Pesaro, Italy.
1840:
John Philip Holland, Americanbased inventor who pioneered the submarine, was born in County Clare, Ireland.
1880:
The nine-mile St Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland was completed, linking the Swiss and Italian railways.
1956:
Pakistan became an Islamic republic.
1960:
Hugh Hefner opened his first Playboy Club in Chicago, introducing the Bunny girls, scantily-clad waitresses dressed as fur-tailed bunnies.
1960:
The Moroccan port of Agadir was devastated by an earthquake which left 12,000 dead.
1968:
The discovery of the first “pulsar” (pulsating radio source) was announced by Dr Jocelyn Burnell of Cambridge.
1984:
John Francome rode his 1,000th National Hunt winner at Worcester, the second jockey to do so after Stan Mellor.
ON THIS DAY IN 2020:
During the early days of the pandemic, the government said a ‘Dad’s army’ of former health professionals could be brought out of retirement under emergency plans being considered to help combat coronavirus.
LEAP YEAR BIRTHDAYS:
Tim Powers, author, 72; James Ogilvy, son of Princess Alexandra, 60; Wendi Peters, actress, 56; Ja Rule, rapper, 48; Zoe Baker, swimmer, 48; Darren Ambrose, footballer, 40.