Fact of the Day
Entrance to the Tower of London used to be free if you took a cat or dog to feed the lions.
Quote of the Day
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
"
~ John F. Kennedy
On This Day
1307 Robert the Bruce fought and beat the English at the Battle of Loudoun Hill (or somewhere close)
1590 Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI of Scotland (and later James I of England), was crowned as James' queen consort.
1773 The Tea Act was given royal assent to help the British East India Company and tax the colonies. It led to the Boston Tea Party and American independence.
1857 A revolt by Sepoys at Meerut against the British East India Company triggered the Indian Mutiny.
1897 The playwright and author Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol. He had served two years of hard labour - which broke his health - on charges of homosexuality.
1940 Germany began its advance into western Europe with air raids on Belgium and Holland, followed by parachute drops and attacks by ground forces.
1940 Neville Chamberlain, famous for his appeasement of Hitler, resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Winston Churchill.
1941 Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace between the UK and Nazi Germany. He failed.
1941 The House of Commons was damaged during a German air raid.
1994 Nelson Mandela was officially sworn in as South Africa's first black president.