Category: looking back

Amundsen Reaches the South Pole

14th December 1911

On this day the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, became the first man to reach the South Pole. When the English explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, arrived at the same spot 33 days later, he was heartbroken to find that there was already a tent with the Norwegian flag fluttering above it. He had lost the race and all the glory that went with it. All the members of Scott’s expedition died on the way back and their bodies, together with Scott’s diary, were not found until eight months later.

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Drake Leaves to Circumnavigate the World

13th December 1577

On this day Sir Francis Drake set out from Plymouth in the south of England on his famous quest to circumnavigate the world. The expedition was termed a ‘voyage of discovery’, but was in effect an ambitious covert raiding voyage and the start of England’s challenge to the global maritime domination of Spain and Portugal. Drake’s capturing of Spanish ships and plundering of Spanish settlements during the voyage was one of the main factors that eventually led to the start of the Anglo-Spanish war in 1585.

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Kenya Becomes an Independent Republic

12th December 1964

On this day the African state of Kenya finally became an independent republic after nearly 80 years of British colonial rule. Following the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s and the horrific brutality of the British response, the wheels were set in motion for the transition to an independent Commonwealth realm. This was established on 12th December 1963 with Queen Elizabeth II remaining as the nation’s Head of State. Exactly one year later, the Prime Minister, Jomo Kenyatta, officially became the first President of the newly-formed Republic of Kenya.

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Death of the Last Native Prince of Wales

11th December 1282

On this day Llywelyn ab Gruffydd the last native and independent Prince of Wales was killed at the Battle of Orewin Bridge at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales by the forces of Edward I of England, effectively putting an end to the autonomy of Wales. In 1301, Edward I of England invested his son Edward II with the title ‘Prince of Wales’ and since that date, apart from a brief period of revolt, the title has only been held by Englishmen, and has consequently becoming a highly controversial bone of contention.

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The Abdication of King Edward VIII

10th December 1936

On this day King Edward VIII of England signed the Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne in order to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. At that time, the Church of England did not allow divorcees to remarry if their former spouse was still alive. Consequently Edward was obliged to choose between Wallis and the Crown. Love prevailed, and Edward abdicated after reigning for just under a year. In a radio broadcast the same day, Edward declared, “We all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King!”

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Queen Mary Escapes to France

9th December 1688

On this day Mary of Modena, an Italian princess and the wife of King James II escaped from England to France with her son, James Francis Edward Stuart, after prominent Protestants, fearful of a continuing Catholic dynasty, had invited James II’s Protestant nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England. In what was later to be known as “The Glorious Revolution”, King James II was overthrown by William who later allowed him to escape to France. William and Mary (James II’s daughter by his first marriage) were jointly crowned in Westminster Abbey on 11th April 1689.

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The Shooting of John Lennon

8th December 1980

On this day John Lennon, musician, political activist, and one of the founding members of the pop group The Beatles, was shot dead by Mark David Chapman, outside his Manhattan flat in New York. Hit twice in the back and twice in the shoulder at close range, Lennon was rushed in a police car to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. The assassination took place just three weeks after the release of the album “Double Fantasy”, Lennon’s comeback to music after spending five years at home bringing up his son, Sean. John Lennon’s death triggered an outpouring of grief on an unprecedented scale throughout the world.

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The Attack on Pearl Harbour

7th December 1941

On this day the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii just before 8:00 a.m. 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft carried out the attack which killed over 2000 Americans and destroyed more than 180 US aircraft and a number of battleships, as well as important facilities on Pearl Harbour. It shocked the American public and directly led them to declare war on Japan the following day. Adolf Hitler responded by declaring war on the USA on 11th December, bringing America into both fronts of the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the attack as “a day which will live in infamy.”

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