First woman Black Rod is approved by Queen
5 years ago
THE first female Black Rod in the 650-year history of the House of Lords role has been approved by the Queen. Sarah Clarke will formally take over the position when its current holder David Leakey steps down at the end of this year, and will be known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod. Currently responsible for organising the Wimbledon tournament as championships director at the All-england Lawn Tennis Club, Miss Clarke has previously held roles at four Olympic Games, the London Marathon and UK Sport. Black Rod is thrust into the spotlight each year at the State Opening of Parliament.
10 years ago
US rapper Snoop Dogg has claimed he wants to buy a stake in Celtic after watching the Parkhead side’s recent win over Barcelona. The star is reported to have said he wants a seat on the board at the club and claimed that if he does, he might even be able to get David Beckham to play for the team. Reports suggest he is ready to pay millions to become a part of the Glasgow club. The musician said: “I see how passionate Celtic fans are about their team and I could see myself making an investment.”
25 years ago
AN innovative scheme to combine unemployment and housing benefits for families forms part of Glasgow’s bid to become one of only five so-called Employment Zones in the UK. The bid was one of eight submitted to the Department of Education and Employment. Five successful bidders will share £33m of funding. Details of the project will be passed to EU representatives during Jobs Week in Brussels this week. It is thought to be the only UK project due to be discussed at the talks. A spokesman said many families were caught in the “benefit trap” because their income would fall if a family member found work.
50 years ago
THE new centre for the arts to be opened by the Scottish Arts Council at No 5 Blythswood Square, Glasgow, would not be the province of a clique, Mr Tom Mcgrath, who has been appointed director, said in Edinburgh. Mr Mcgrath said he was contacting everyone in Glasgow involved in the arts to find out how they thought the centre should be run. He hoped people not normally involved in the arts would feel free to give him their ideas. The centre would be a place for advanced experimentation in the arts, but there would be at the same time light entertainment.
100 years ago
THE decisions of the local electorate in parliamentary contests were criticised at the annual supper of the Grand Antiquity Society of Glasgow, at which they had as guests the magistrates of the city. Bailie Laing referred to “unthinking electors” and Deacon Archibald Campbell said the election results were “more like the voice of Russia than of Glasgow.” Sir John Reid, in replying to one of the toasts, referred to the proposal to admit women to membership of the society.
On this day
1477: William Caxton issued the first dated, printed book from his printing press in Westminster – Dictes or Sayengis of The Philosophres. 1626: St Peter’s in Rome was consecrated. 1910: There were more than 100 arrests when suffragettes tried to storm the House of Commons. 1916: The first battle of the Somme ended.
1926: George Bernard Shaw refused to accept the Nobel Prize money of £7,000 awarded to him a year earlier. He said: “I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.” 1928: The first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, was shown.
1933: BBC Radio’s In Town Tonight was first broadcast.
1987: The worst fire in the history of the London Underground killed 31 people at King’s Cross. 1991: Beirut hostages Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, an American, were released by their pro-iranian Islamic Jihad captors. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The NHS was given the green light to offer people living with HIV the first “long-acting injectable” to keep the virus at bay.