NOW & THEN
10 MAY
1655: Jamaica was taken by the British. It had been in Spanish hands for 161 years after its discovery by Columbus.
1869: The United States transcontinental railroad was completed. A golden spike was driven in at Promontory Point, Utah, to mark the junction of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways.
1886: The awarding of football international caps was approved by the FA Council.
1908: Mother’s Day was first celebrated, in Philadelphia, by Anna May Jarvis, suffragist and temperance worker.
1915: The first Zeppelin raids took place over Britain. Nearly 100 bombs were dropped on Southend-on-sea.
1918: HMS Vindictive was sunk to block the entrance of Ostend harbour.
1919: Britain’s first airline started, flying 50 miles between Manchester and Blackpool in two-seater Avro biplane.
1929: Scottish Local Government Act came into force. It was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act.
1937: The first frozen food (asparagus) went on sale in Britain.
1940: Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister, and Winston Churchill formed a coalition government with Clement Attlee as his deputy. Churchill said: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
1940: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were invaded by German forces, starting the Battle of Flanders.
1941: Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, parachuted on to the Duke of Hamilton’s estate at Floors Farm near Eaglesham, claiming to be on peace mission. He was arrested, found guilty of war crimes and imprisoned in Spandau Prison until his death in 1987.
1967: Breath tests for motorists suspected of drinking and driving introduced.
1972: South Vietnam’s president, Nguyen van Thieu, declared state of martial law.
1973: Five miners died in roof fall at Seafield Colliery, Fife.
1976: Jeremy Thorpe resigned as leader of the Liberal Party.
1976: Israel announced plans to establish numerous additional settlements in occupied Arab territory.
1978: Liverpool FC won European Cup for second year running.
1981: Francois Mitterrand defeated Giscard d’estaing to become president of France.
1990: Panam agreed £10 million out-of-court settlement for Lockerbie disaster relatives.
1990: Robert Maxwell published the European newspaper.
1991: Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market in London’s East End closed after 309 years to move to a greenfield site on Hackney Marshes.
1994: Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s first black president, promising to build “a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world”.
1995: The axing by British Rail of the Motorail car-carrying service between Fort William and London was confirmed.
2002: Six people died and more than 60 were injured when a carriage on the King’s Cross to King’s Lynn express derailed at 100mph in north London.