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Post by Epworth Hatter on Mar 21, 2018 22:00:42 GMT
March 21, 1988 Pixies release Surfer Rosa. One of the greatest albums ever recorded. Fact.
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Post by ceefer on Jul 18, 2020 14:10:18 GMT
280 mm rain in Martinstown, Dorset (UK record in 1955).
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Post by ceefer on Jul 23, 2020 15:38:32 GMT
1969 - 23/07 the Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Honky Tonk Women,' the group's eighth and last UK No.1.
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Jul 23, 2020 16:19:13 GMT
Had forgotten about this thread.
1715 - The first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, Massachusetts
1914 - Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb assassin. The dispute led to World War I.
1904 - The ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis,
1985 - Commodore unveiled the personal computer Amiga 1000.
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Post by ceefer on Jan 3, 2021 14:45:13 GMT
Apple was incorporated on 03/01/1977 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Vinyl sales topped three million in 2016, the highest UK total in 25 years. More than 3.2 million records were sold in 2016, a rise of 53% on the previous year.
David Bowie's Blackstar was the most popular album on vinyl, selling more than double the number of copies of 2015's biggest seller Adele's '25'.
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Post by ceefer on Jan 20, 2021 17:30:14 GMT
Normally we go back a few years but tg Trump is on his way out. That's worth celebrating.
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Post by gazz on Jan 20, 2021 19:02:32 GMT
Normally we go back a few years but tg Trump is on his way out. That's worth celebrating. Hear, hear, Ceef! I still can't fathom how the hell he ended up as the President of the USA, but I'm so pleased that his tenure has finally come to an end - let's hope we never see the American people make the same mistake again.
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Post by Epworth Hatter on Oct 12, 2021 18:25:07 GMT
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy published 42 years ago today 😁
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Oct 28, 2021 16:53:28 GMT
Something a bit different.
On this day in 1647 what has become known as the Putney Debates began at the church of St Mary in Putney, then a settlement of some 900 people about six miles up-river from London. Much neglected these days, more’s the pity, they are recognised as one of the most important events in the development of democracy in this country.
The background to the debate was what’s sometimes known as the English Civil War, but which is probably better understood if broken into its constituent parts namely the War of the 3 Kingdoms, 1st and 2nd Civil Wars and Anglo-Scottish War which combined, dragged on intermittently between 1639 and 1652.
By 1647, the Royalists had been defeated militarily (primarily at the battles of Naseby and the less well known Langport) although the fact that allegiances within the country were still divided between parliament, largely represented by Presbyterian interests, New Model Army and the Royalists meant that no one faction had sufficient support to dominate the others, and Cromwell was in negotiation with King Charles l for a political settlement.
By 1648, parliament which was increasingly at odds with the New Model Army, had allied itself with the remaining Royalists and the Scots and felt itself strong enough to confront the Army and the country slipped back into civil war. It was during this pause in the fighting and shifting allegiances that the Putney Debates took place.
The New Model Army had become increasingly influenced by the levellers who were driving their demands and whose members sought rewards for their service in the form of the freedoms under debate. The subjects for debate were enshrined in "The Case of the Armie Truly Stated", and more importantly, what became a series of declarations known as "An agreement of the people" in which they demanded amongst other things, equality for all before the law (which had to wait until after the “Glorious Revolution” with the Bill of Rights Act of 1689), universal male suffrage (not finally realised until The Representation of the People Act of 1918) and the regular sitting of Parliament with political power vested in the House of Commons rather than with the King and Lords (various dates for the ending of absolute monarchy in this country with some arguing that Queen Victoria, who ascended the throne in 1839 being the first Monarch to understand that all her actions would be on the advice of the Prime Minister).
In summary, the debates lasted until 11 November and were largely characterised by the opposition of the senior army commanders in the debate. Indeed, both Cromwell and Ireton opposed the idea of universal male suffrage with Ireton particularly hostile as he considered it to be a recipe for anarchy, clearly stating that only those with a permanent “fixed interest” in the country, namely landowners should have any right to govern the country. And all this taking place during the 30 years' war in continental Europe which culminated in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 which laid the foundations for the Europe we see today.
The debates came to a rather abrupt end when Charles I escaped captivity from Hampton Court Palace and the army suddenly had other matters to deal with. Using those matters as cover, the army council drafted an agreement that pledged the army’s support to itself thereby making disagreement with its terms an act of mutiny. To concentrate minds further it also pledged that support for the watered-down agreement would result in payment the army’s backpay being made.
It’s interesting to note that if you substitute land ownership for accumulation of financial wealth then nothing has changed in this country (for evidence see Johnson’s recent ennobling of a banker subsequently parachuted into the Government, in exchange for a £147k donation to the Tory Party). And it’s equally tempting to think that if the history of how the freedoms we take for granted in this country were achieved, and the way contemporary political power is accumulated, bought and sold, were more widely known then more people would be inclined to take a less tolerant view of the antics of the charlatans who govern us today.
As a final note, and for anyone with a passing interest in the period or with historically themed novels in general I recommend the work of S.G MacLean, a historian turned novelist who writes a very good yarn with the events of Cromwell’s Protectorate as a backdrop.
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Post by ceefer on Oct 28, 2021 18:10:47 GMT
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Oct 28, 2021 18:24:49 GMT
She's written a couple of series' about the same period. The ones I'm referring to in particular are the Damian Seeker novels, you can pick up second hand volumes in very decent nick from Abebooks for a couple of quid.
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