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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 30

OTD in 1422 King Henry V dies in France.

‘Henry was only 35 when he died, and he had been King for less than 10 years. During this short time he had created … a pride in being English.’

Artist: John Kenney
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #31August #HenryV

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 30

OTD in 1716 Lancelot “Capability” Brown is born.

‘He designed the parks with carefully arranged trees and sometimes a building such as a grotto or a temple.’

Words: Richard Bowood
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #30August #CapabilityBrown

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 29

OTD in 1831 Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction.

‘With simple apparatus, consisting of a magnet, a copper disc, and wire, he made, or induced an electric current.’

Words: Richard Bowood
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #29August #Faraday

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 28

OTD in 1921 Babe Ruth starts a streak of an extra-base hit in 9 straight games.

‘Baseball … as important to Americans as Test Cricket … to Englishmen.’

Words: David Scott Daniell
Artist: Jack Matthew
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #28August #Baseball

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 27

OTD in 1883 the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa reaches its peak.

‘This did more damage than the hydrogen bomb. Thirty thousand people were killed and it blew the island off the earth.’

Words: Allen White BSc
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #27August #Krakatoa

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 26

OTD in 1346 the French lose the Battle of Crecy.

‘About 6000 English and Welsh longbowmen defeated an army of French crossbowmen and armoured cavalry greatly superior in numbers.’

Words: Edmund Hunter
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #26Aug #Crecy #Longbow

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 25

OTD in 1609 Galileo demonstrated one of his early telescopes to Venetian lawmakers.

‘He learned to grind and polish glass to make lenses … which magnified eight times.’

Words: Richard Bowood
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #25August #Galileo #Telescope

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 24

OTD in 79AD Pliny the Younger witnesses the devastation of Pompeii & Herculaneum.

‘It was from his uncle’s villa near Naples that Pliny, as a young man, watched the eruption of Vesuvius.’

Words: Clarence Greig BA MA
Artist: Jorge Nunez
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #24Aug #Vesuvius

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 23

OTD in 55 BC Julius Caesar lands near to Ebbsfleet with a force of 12,000 soldiers.

‘The Standard Bearer of the X Legion leapt into the water and called on the soldiers to follow him.’

Artist: John Kenney
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #23August #Caesar #Roman

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 22

OTD in 1485 the Tudor era begins.

‘The claim of King Henry VII to the throne … was strengthened by his victory at Bosworth, on the battlefield of which he was immediately crowned.’

Artist: Frank Hampson
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #22August #HenryVII #Bosworth #Tudor

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 21

OTD in 1911 da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre and not recovered for over 2 years.

‘We are told that Leonardo engaged musicians and jesters to keep her amused as he painted.’

Words: Dorothy Aitchison
Artist: Martin Aitchison
(c)Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #21Aug #MonaLisa

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 19

OTD in 1940 Winston Churchill makes his “never was so much owed by so many to so few” speech.

‘The RAF fighter pilots fought against heavy odds with the highest gallantry.’

Words: Richard Bowood
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #20August #TheFew #BattleofBritain

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 19

OTD in 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie launches his rebellion at Glenfinnan.

‘The Standard was unfurled by the Duke of Atholl … the most romantically reckless adventure in the history of Scotland had begun.’

Artist: Roger Hall
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #19August #BonniePrinceCharlie

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 18

OTD in 1941 the National Fire Service is established.

‘The firemen must get to the fire as quickly as possible, in case people are in danger.’

Words: Vera Southgate and J Havenhand
Artist: John Berry
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #18August #Fireman #FireService

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 17

OTD in 1483 Richard, Duke of Shrewsbury, the younger of the “Princes in the Tower”, celebrates his 10th (and probably last) birthday.

‘Imprisoned in the Tower of London … he and his brother were both mysteriously murdered.’

Artist: Frank Hampson
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #17Aug

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 16

OTD in 1819 the Peterloo Massacre takes place in Manchester.

‘Hungry men and women rioted … In Manchester there was the “Peterloo” riot, where a gathering of many thousands of workmen was charged by the Yeomanry.’

Artist: Roger Hall
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #16August #Peterloo

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 15

OTD in 1806 construction starts on the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs Elysees.

‘Every fourth shop along the Champs Elysees is a “bistro”, “brasserie”, “café” or “restaurant”.’

Words: Irene Dark
Artist: John Berry
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #15August #ArcdeTriomphe

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 14

OTD in 1922 Harold Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror dies aged 57.

‘Many of the proprietors of important popular papers received titles and became known as “press barons”.’

Words: WD Siddle
Artist: R Embleton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #14Aug

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 13

OTD in 1889 William Gray patents the coin-operated telephone.

‘Call boxes (the modern name is call offices) made their appearance on the streets in the early 1900’s.’

Words: David Carey
Artist: BH Robinson
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #13August #Telephone

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 12

OTD in 1865 Joseph Lister first uses disinfectant during surgery.

‘Lister decided that germs must be the cause of wound infections … he set about cleaning and sterilising everything.’

Words: Edmund Hunter
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #12Aug #Lister #Surgeon

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 11

OTD in AD117 Hadrian is declared Emperor of Rome.

‘On the orders of the emperor Hadrian … the wall stretched for eighty Roman miles, roughly between what is now Newcastle and Carlisle.’

Words: Clarence Greig
Artist: Jorge Nunez
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #11August #Hadrian

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 10

OTD in 1896 Otto Lillienthal becomes the first fatality from a glider flight.

‘The careful reports he made were of the great value to later inventors.’

Words: Richard Bowood
Artist: Robert Ayton
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #10August #Glider #Lillienthal

Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 9

OTD in 1965 the first Ford Transit van rolls off the production line.

‘The Transit range consists of several alternative models from 12 cwt. to 35 cwt. carrying capacity and fitted with different types of body.’

By: David Carey
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #9August #Ford #Transit

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 8

OTD in 1588 the Battle of Gravelines is won against the Spanish Armada.

‘The King of Spain sent many ships and men to make war against England. Drake led the English ships against them and won.’

Words: W Murray
Artist: F Humphris
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #8August #Armada

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Pete Brown @ldugardepeach.bsky.social · Aug 7

OTD in 1959 the US launches the Explorer 6 satellite, sending back the first pictures of Earth from space.

‘The artificial satellite is capable of doing much useful work.’

Words: Roy Worvill MSc
Artist: B Knight
(c) Wills & Hepworth Ltd.

#LadybirdBooks #OTD #7August #Explorer6 #Satellite

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