On this date, in 1649, King Charles I of England was executed for treason.

1835--Shots were fired in the US House of Representatives

1972--"Bloody Sunday", Ireland.

1991- The first US troops killed in 'Desert Storm'. 12 Marines die in fighting around Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia.

I was interested to see that "Bloody Sunday" was today, paul.
Can you give us some background on this terrible event?
I don't know as much about it as I should.

(Here's an interesting little footnote about Charles I. He was executed mainly due to Oliver Cromwell ( to make a long story short). About 100 years previously, a King, Henry VIII, had his chief minister's head cut off. The minister's name was THOMAS Cromwell. The 2 Cromwells were related. )

A little bit of revenge-I like it.

Bloody Sunday:

On 30th January 1972, a civil rights march in Derry, [the British name is Londonderry] was prevented from entering the city centre.

The British Spearhead Battalion 1st Parachute Regiment were sent in to break
up the march.

As a result 13 civilians were killed and 13 seriously injured, 1 of which died 4 months later.
6 of those killed were under 18 years of age, some were shot in the back and 2 were ran over by armoured cars.

In the protest and outrage after the event the British Gov held the 'Widgery Tribunal' to investigate what happened, it found the British Army and Gov not at blame-a whitewash.

Since 1998 a new inquiry has been going on, 'The Saville Inquiry', which is still ongoing, and to date is the most expensive Inquiry in British history.

None of the protesters were armed, none were members of the IRA.

The joint Commander on the day ended up as Commander UK Land Forces,
General Mike Jackson.

A 10 year inquiry--wow, what's the holdup?

After all that time, a lot of people's memories will be faulty.

Dont know for sure:
No doubt the British will wish to censor it before publication.

February 1st.

2003: The Space Shuttle Columbia disentegrated on re-entry over Texas
with the loss of all seven crew, while completing its mission, STS-107.
The crew.
William C McCool USN
Michael P Anderson USAF
IIan Ramon Israeli Air Force
Kalpana Chawla
David M Brown USN
Laurel Clark USN

Ren, can I make a suggestion :)

seeing its your thread.

Change the title to simply 'Today in History', then we can add a little everyday-sorry.

February 2

1943: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end, when the last German troops surrender.
In one of the most bloody clashes in modern history the casualty figures are increditable.
The German 6th Army under Paulus attacked with 330,000 troops. Only 90,000 survived.
Tho no offical figure was released, an estimated 500,000 Red Army died.

Pre invasion Stalingrad had a population of 850,000. 1,500 by the end of the war.

1972:The British Embassy in Dublin is burned down in protest at the Bloody Sunday shootings. see January 30.

Ren, can I make a suggestion :)

seeing its your thread.

Change the title to simply 'Today in History', then we can add a little everyday-sorry.Good idea -- I'd like to see an ongoing history thread.

Ren, can I make a suggestion :)

seeing its your thread.

Change the title to simply 'Today in History', then we can add a little everyday-sorry.

Members aren't allowed to change thread titles...with your permission Ren, I can change it for you.

Ren, can I make a suggestion :)

seeing its your thread.

Change the title to simply 'Today in History', then we can add a little everyday-sorry.
Good idea paul.

Members aren't allowed to change thread titles...with your permission Ren, I can change it for you.

Sure, vile, go ahead. I like the idea. We need more history talk around here.
:)

3 February.

1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash.
Potentially to become as big a name as Elvis, the young Buddy, aged only 22,
with the other members of his band,Jiles P Richardson-[Big Bopper], 28, and
17 yo Richie Valens, they died shortly after take off from Clear Lake,Iowa in a snowstorm heading for Moorhead Minnisota,the next leg of their tour.

The pilot also died in the crash.

when God closes a door, He opens a window.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHkT2YfqHE4

One of the few songs of that length, 8 1/2 minutes, that got air time. That's how good it was.

The death of Holly, Richardson, and Valenzuela did mark a sort of turning point in America from the innocence of the '50s to the turbulence of the '60s.

Today in History:

Don McLean still sucks. :)

Maybe so but that was and is a great song.

Potentially to become as big a name as Elvis, the young Buddy, aged only 22, with the other members of his band,Jiles P Richardson-[Big Bopper], 28, and 17 yo Richie Valens, they died shortly after take off from Clear Lake,Iowa in a snowstorm heading for Moorhead Minnisota,the next leg of their tour.

Even though they were up and coming, it's still fascinating to me that they were playing small venues like that.

Sure they all start like that.
There were a bunch of young fellas got together in the Mullens home kitchen.
Couldnt play shit, now their megastars :)

Its a long way from Artane Dublin,to the world stage.