The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
On this day
1784: John Wesley signed the “deed of declaration” of the Wesleyan faith.
1874: Arthur Orton, claimant to the Tichborne estate, was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to 14 years’ hard labour.
1900: In the Boer War in South Africa, General Buller relieved Ladysmith, besieged by Boer forces for 118 days.
1912: The world’s first parachute jump from an aeroplane was made over Missouri, USA, by Albert Berry.
1940: Sandy’s Half Hour began on radio, with Sandy MacPherson at the organ. It was the start of the modern listeners’ request programme.
1948: The royal family went to see Danny Kaye at
Former Swedish premier Olof Palme the London Palladium, the first “non-command performance” attended by a reigning monarch.
1966: Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where the Beatles made their name, went into liquidation.
1975: A train crashed through buffers at Moorgate Tube station and killed 42 people.
1986: Swedish prime minister Olof Palme was shot dead by an unknown assassin in Stockholm.
1989: In London’s Covent Garden, the world’s biggest litter bin was unveiled – it was sponsored by fast-food operator Kentucky Fried Chicken.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A man underwent surgery in Denmark to remove a tooth from inside his nostril, after suffering with an unexplained blocked nose for two years.
“It’s hard because are you supposed to grieve for something that’s the size of a grain of rice? People believe different things, but for me it was a baby from the minute it was conceived,” - EastEnders star Lacey Turner, pictured, on the pain of miscarriage.
“This is something we face as really quite a serious problem for society potentially if this goes out of control,” - England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, warns coronavirus could bring a “social cost” to Britain, including shutting schools and cancelling mass gatherings.
“This is the most energetic outburst we have seen since the Big Bang,” - Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, on the discovery of a supermassive black hole 390 million light years from Earth.
“She endured unimaginable criticism during her years in the public eye but through it all, she just wanted people to show a little kindness to each other,” - Rugby player Danny Cipriani reveals he and his Gloucester team-mates will pay tribute to Caroline Flack, pictured, at their Gallagher Premiership match today.
“I’ve waited all my life to be famous and now it happens like this,” - Great-great-grandmother Doris Cleife on turning 100 on February 29 despite it technically being only her 25th birthday.