This Day In History

February 28

Events

• 1900 – After 180 days General Buller relieved the siege of Ladysmith in the second Boer War. The result was a British victory.
• 1966 – The famous Cavern club, heralded as where the Beatles made their name went into liquidation. It is still going to this day through.
• 1989 – The world’s biggest litter bin was unveiled in Covent Garden, London. It was sponsored by KFC.

Birthdays

• 1925 – Harry H Corbett was born in Rangoon, Burma. He became an actor and is famed for playing Harold Steptoe in Steptoe & Son, he also appeared in Carry On Screaming.
• 1940 – Mario Andretti was born to an Italian family and became an Amercian Citizen. He is a world class racing driving with wins in F1, Indycar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCARS.
• 1945 – Charles Bubba Smith was born in Texas. He became an American professional footballer and then went to act and is best known for playing Moses Hightower in six Police Academy films.

February 25

Events

• 1836 – Samuel Colt was granted the US patent for the first revolving barrel firearm.
• 1932 – Immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship, he was born in Austria and moved to Germany in 1913 after receiving the last part of his father’s estate.
• 1979 – Soyuz 32 takes 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station, it was the eighth mission and the seventh successful docking at the station.

Birthdays

• 1901 – Herbert Manfred Zeppo Marx was born in New York, he became a comedian and actor. He is famed for appearances in the Marx Brothers. His true success came from his engineering career upon which he became a multi-millionaire.
• 1943 – George Harrison was born in Liverpool, England. He became the lead guitarist in the Beatles. When the Beatles disbanded he became a member of The Travelling Wilburys.
• 1945 – Elkie Brooks was born in Manchester, England. She became a singer and was kn won for her husky voice, she was nominated twice for a Brit Award.

February 11

Events

• 1929 – The Vatican City gained independence from Rome. It is the smallest independent state in the world.
• 1964 – The Beatles first live appearance in the US happened in the Washington DC Coliseum.
• 1971 – US, UK, USSR, and 84 other countries sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor beyond a 12 mile coastal zone.

Birthdays

• 1917 – Sidney Sheldon was born in Chicago, Illinois. He became an Academy Award winning writer, with TV works including I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart.
• 1922 – Leslie Nielsen was born in Regina, Canada. He became a well known actor, during his career he has been in over 100 films and 1500 TV programmes. Famed for Airplane and the Naked Gun series.
• 1936 - Burt Reynolds was born in Waycross, Georgia. He became an actor and has starred in many films including, Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit and Deliverance.

January 16

Events

• 1547 – Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV Vasilyevich ) aged around 16-17 crowns himself as he first tsar of Russia.
• 1909 – British explorer Ernest Shackleton finds the magnetic south pole on the Nimrod Expedition, on his return he was knighted by Edward VII.
• 1957 – The Cavern Club opened its doors on Mathew Street in Liverpool, UK. The Beatles were spotted playing here by Brian Epstein on 9th February 1961.

Birthdays

• 1853 – André Michelin – was born in France, he became an industrialist and tyre manufacturer, as his name denotes the tyre was a Michelin.
• 1932 – Dian Fossey – was born in San Francisco, US. She became a zoologist studying Gorillas, a film was made about her called Gorillas in the Mist, she was murdered in 1985, the case remains open.
• 1948 – John Carpenter – was born in Carthage in New York, he became a director and screenwriter, he is associated with horror and sci-fi films including Halloween and The Thing.