24 JANUARY The Feast Day of Francis of Sales, who wrote several popular books on theology and so was adopted as patron saint of authors and journalists. 76: Birth in Scotland of Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), Roman Emperor whose defensive policies led to the building of Hadrian’s Wall on the border between Scotland and England. 1236: Marriage of Henry III of England to Eleanor of Provence. 1670: Birth of William Congreve, English dramatist and poet. 1712: Birth of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. A reluctant monarch, he was one of those who have greatness thrust upon them. As a young man he tried to escape his future duties by settling in England (his grandson was George I of Great Britain), and was nearly executed as a result. In the end, he faced his responsibilities with courage both in victory and defeat, and managed his country’s resources to bring it prosperity. 1732: Birth of Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright. 1749: Birth of Charles James Fox, the British Whig whom Sir George Macaulay Trevelyan described as ‘Our first great statesman of the modern school’. A great orator, he supported the French revolutionaries, and as Foreign Minister, persuaded Prime Minister Pitt to abolish slavery. 1776: Birth of Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, the German writer and composer whose Tales inspired Offenbach’s opera Tales of Hoffmann. 1848: The gold rush began when James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s sawmill in California, just a week before the peace treaty with Mexico. 1862: Birth of Edith Wharton, US novelist. 1863: Over 50,000 people witnesse launch of new National Life Boat "The Rescue". 1888: Birth in Austria of Vicki Baum, the novelist. 1900: General Sir Charles Warren led 2,000 British troops to capture Spion Kop, South Africa, which was defended by just 500 Boers. The British lost 1200 troops, the Boers 300. 1915: The First World War sea battle of Dogger Bank ended with a British victory as the superior speed and gunnery of the British fleet sinking the German armoured cruiser Blucher. Blucher’s design had been based on a stolen forecast of the Invincible, which German Intelligence did not know had been planted by the British. To hit her, British shells had to travel 15 miles on a trajectory reaching an apex at 22,500 ft (Mont Blanc is only 15,755 ft) before descending. 1916: Conscription was introduced in Britain to provide more fodder for the trenches on the Western front. 1932: Riot in Dartmoor jail saw prisoners & warders in pitch battle. 1941: Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll and a Kenyan socialite, was found shot dead in his car. Hay had fallen in love with Diana, the young wife of Sir Henry Delves ‘Jock’ Broughton, who was much older. Sir Henry was acquitted of murder, but in 1942 committed suicide in the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool. Some believe that Diana murdered the Earl after he rejected her. The story inspired a book and film called White Mischief. 1961: It was reported that Elsa, the lioness of Joy Adamson’s books, had been found dead in Kenya. 1961: A US B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air, releasing two 24-megaton nuclear bombs. One bomb parachuted safely to earth, but five of its six safety devices had failed. The other bomb landed in a waterlogged field near Goldsboro, North Carolina, never to be found. Three of the bomber’s eight crew were killed. 1965: Death of Sir Winston Churchill, aged 90. He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of the battle of Dogger Bank (q.v., 1915). He had correctly predicted that he would die on the same day of the year as his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, who had died exactly 70 years before. 1965: Film, "Ferry Across The Mersey" had it's premier at the Odeon, Liverpool. 1976: The largest shipwreck recorded took place when a 270,000-ton oil tanker, the Olympic Bravery, ran aground off France. On 13 March she broke in two. 1978: An orbiting Russian satellite crashed near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. 1986: An exodus of major newspapers from Fleet Street to Docklands as the Sun and the News of the World told staff of plans to relocate to Wapping. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Liverpool-Memories-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.317 / Virus Database: 176 - Release Date: 21/01/02