Now & Then
8 JANUARY
794: Vikings attacked Lindisfarne island.
871: Ethelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred (“the Great”) defeated the invading Danish army. 1297: Monaco gained independence.
1661: Publication of the first Scottish newspaper, Mercurius Caledonius. It promised coverage of “the Affairs now in Agitation in Scotland, with a Survey of Foreign Intelligence”, but folded on 28 March, after only nine issues. 1708: A Spanish armada, loaded with gold, was attacked and sunk by a British squadron off the coast of Columbia. One of the ships, the San Jose, was rediscovered in 2015. 1815: The Battle of New Orleans, the last battle between Britain and America took place.
1867: African-american men were granted the right to vote in Washington DC, despite president Andrew Johnson’s veto.
1877: Crazy Horse and his Native American warriors fought their last battle against the US Cavalry at Wolf Mountain.
1886: The Severn Tunnel, joining England and Wales and the longest in Britain at four miles 624 yards, opened.
1889: Doctor Herman Hollerith of New York patented an electrically operated computer to process data. The company he formed to market his invention would evolve into the giant IBM.
1940: Britain rationed bacon, butter and sugar during the Second World War.
1954: Elvis Presley paid $4 dollars to a recording studio in Memphis and recorded his first two songs – Casual Love and I’ll Never Stand In Your Way.
1958: Cuban revolutionary forces captured Havana.
1959: General Charles de Gaulle was proclaimed president of the French Fifth Republic.
1972: British military families began evacuation from Malta as the struggle with premier Dom Mintoff over the future of a strategic naval base on the island intensified.
1982: Spain ended its siege of Gibraltar and reopened the frontier. In return, Britain agreed to talks on the colony’s future and ended its opposition to Spain’s joining the EEC.
1989: British Midland 737 crashed into M1 embankment near Kegworth, Leicestershire, killing 47 people.
1991: South-west Water Authority fined £10,000 for supplying poisoned water to Camelford, Cornwall, in July, 1988.
1992: Closure of the Ravenscraig steelworks complex by September was confirmed by British Steel, with the loss of 1,220 jobs.
1996: Almost 500 schools in Scotland remained closed as a result of flood damage from burst pipes.
2004: The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, was christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. 2012: Winds of up to 165mph hit Scotland, leaving 60,000 homes without power.
2013: The Syrian government released 2,130 prisoners in exchange for 48 Iranians captured by Syrian rebels.
2020: Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and wife the Duchess of Sussex, announced their intention to “step back” from being senior royals and withdraw from duties.
BIRTHDAYS
Dame Shirley Bassey, singer, 87; R Kelly, soul singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, 57; Sam Riley, actor, 44; Kim Jong-un, Supreme ruler of North Korea, 40; David Silva, footballer, 38; Freddie Stroma, actor, 37; Carolina Herrera, fashion designer, 85; Calvin Smith, athlete, former world record 100-metre record holder, 63; Robby Krieger, musician and songwriter (the Doors), 78; Terry Sylvester, guitarist/singer (Swinging Blue Jeans and the Hollies), 77.