On this day

[Kyng]

On this day in 1602, the Bodleian Library opened. It's Oxford University's main research library, and it's one of six 'legal deposit' libraries in the UK (i.e. anybody publishing a book here is legally obliged to give them a copy).

[Kyng]

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who was protesting his harsh treatment at the hands of his police.

He died from his injuries on 4th January 2011, sparking a wave of protests across not only Tunisia, but the wider Arab World. Within days, the Arab Spring had swept away the autocratic rulers of both Tunisia and Egypt, and others (such as in Libya and Syria) were struggling to hold on, and descending into civil war.

Sadly, not a lot came from these protests in the end. Tunisia transitioned to a functioning (albeit fragile) democracy - but Egypt's brief democratic experiment ended up with a new regime largely indistinguishable from the old one; Libya descended into a second civil war; and Syria's first one continues to drag on, with no end in sight.

One can only hope the second round is more successful - whenever that may be.

[Kyng]

I'm a day late with this - but, yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of 'Decimal Day' in the United Kingdom.

On 15th February 1971, the UK switched to a decimalised currency, where £1 was subdivided into 100 pence. (Prior to this, £1 was subdivided into 20 shillings, which were themselves subdivided into 12 pence - making 240 pence in a pound)

We still have quite a lot of old pre-decimal currency in our house - although, it's obviously no longer usable as currency .

[Kyng]

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Selby rail crash, in which an InterCity express train hit a Land Rover that had rolled onto a level crossing (after its driver had fallen asleep at the wheel). This train then derailed, and hit a freight train that was travelling in the opposite direction.

A total of 10 people lost their lives in the crash (reduced from an initially-reported death toll of 13). These included the drivers of both trains; the conductor and buffet chef on the passenger train; and six passengers. The driver of the Land Rover escaped uninjured (after he was woken by the oncoming passenger train); however, he was sentenced in December 2001 to five years in prison (ultimately being released in mid-2004, after serving half of his sentence).

Original news report from 28th February 2001 (The Guardian)
20 years on retrospective (BBC News)

R.I.P. to all the victims .

[Kyng]

Today marks the 10th anniversary of "Ed Balls Day", when then-Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls tried to search for tweets about himself, but ended up tweeting out his own name instead:

I don't know why we're still referencing this 10 years later, but here we are .

[Kyng]

On this day in AD 330, the city of Byzantium was re-named to 'Constantinople', and proclaimed capital of the Roman Empire.

Under the Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires, it would continue to serve as an important capital for nearly 1600 years - until the Ottoman Empire fell in 1923, and Ankara replaced it as the capital of the Republic of Turkey.

[Kyng]

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Manchester bombing, carried out by the Provisional IRA on 15th June 1996:



This caused £700 million worth of damage, and injured 212 people. However, there's no need for me to say "RIP to all the victims" because, by some miracle, nobody was killed.

[Kyng]

Today is 11th August, which I remember best for the total solar eclipse that took place on this day in 1999:


(Source: Luc Viatour; View licence terms)

[Kyng]

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the August Coup, in which Soviet hardliners attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev, and restore old-style communism:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/08/1...nce-a74826

Of course, the coup attempt failed - and it effectively ensured the break-up of the USSR four months later.

[Kyng]

On this day in 1863, the first train ran on the London Underground (on the Metropolitan Line).