THE ULTIMATE
On this day, May 1st 1769, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin, a member of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family.
Wellesley served as Prime Minister twice, heading Tory Party governments. He is more famous, though, for having defeated the French Emperor, Napoleon, at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 - bringing the Napoleonic Wars to an end. He fought in 60 battles in his military career, in places as far afield as India, Spain and Portugal, France and Northern Europe including Denmark and the Netherlands / Belgium. He met Britain's other leading military hero of the time, Admiral Nelson, just once, in September 1805, in the waiting room to the Secretary of War's Office. Nelson was already famous, Wellington yet to be. Wellington recalled that Nelson started the conversation in a vain and silly manner, but when he came back after enquiring who the young General was, Nelson's approach changed and the two engaged as equals. Nelson was to fight and die in the Battle of Trafalgar only weeks later. Another coincidence is that Wellington when sailing back from India to Britain, stopped on the island of St. Helena and stayed in the same building that Napoleon would be exiled to!
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On this day, April 30th 1789, George Washington the first President of the United States of America was sworn into office, to begin his Presidency.
He had previously led the American Continental Army against the British in the American War of Independence or American Revolution, and presided at the Philadelphia Convention that created the US Constitution and the US federal Governmet in 1787. He served as President until 1797. He is seen by Americans as the 'Father of His Country', and 'First in War, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen'. He, like many others among the 'Founding Fathers' ot the USA, owned slaves, but steadily moved towards an abolitionist viewpoint, and unlike many of his contemporaries asked that the slaves on his estate at Mount Vernon to be freed after his death - which Martha Washington carried out a year after his death. You may see a statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square, standing by the National Gallery, only a couple of streets away from Benjamin Franklin's house, which served as the first unofficial embassy of America. Washington was born British, and is descended from Britain, in the American Colonies, and served in the British forces in Virginia. He decided to join the fight to preserve his rights, against what he saw as the tyrannical British King, George III. Saying that he wouldn't set foot on British soil again, and so the statue in Trafalgar square stands not on British soil, but soil brought over from the USA! Who On This Day, 27th April, became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992?4/27/2020 On the 27th April 1992, Betty Boothroyd, became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons - being 'dragged to the chair' in Parliamentary ceremony (MPs are not supposed to want to do the job of Speaker as they have to be neutral, and so are unable to voice the political concerns of their constituents in the Chamber).
Betty Boothroyd, was Labour MP for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West. In 1993 she had to cast the Speaker's tie-breaking vote on a motion under John Major's Conservative government. Having consulted the Works of Authority, the written works by Victorian constitutional lawyers such as I.V Dicey and Walter Bagenot, one of the numerous sources of the UK's uncodified constitution, she cast her vote in favour of the government of the day, and against her own party. Thus, maintaining the precedent that should a future Labour government be in the same situation, the Speaker if of another party would also vote for the government. She has said that the greatest moment of her career as the Speaker, was welcoming South African President Nelson Mandela. to Parliament, and introducing him to members of the Commons and Lords in Westminster Hall in Parliament, with the new anthem of the Republic of South Africa playing. After retiring as Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, became a Life Peer in the House of Lords, as Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell. She continues to campaign, most notably over Brexit and calls for a Second Referendum. On April 25th, 1599, Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon - Cromwell is a key figure in the development of the UK's democracy - and many democracies derived from the UK around the globe, including the USA and Commonwealth countries.
Cromwell became a Member of Parliament, as a deeply religious stict Protestant Christian, called a Puritan. He was highly critical of King Charles I, seeking the abolition of the monarchy. In the English Civil War, Cromwell fought for the Parliamentarians, against supporters of the King, the Royalists. He was intrumental in the reorganisation of the Parliamentarian forces into the New Model Army, of a paid military where rank was based on ability rather than one's title. The New Model Army, with its religious zeal of fighting against the King, believed to favour Catholicism, was highly effective, so much so it is seen as the leading army in Europe at the time. Cromwell's tactics and control of his forces at the Battle of Naseby in 1645, led to victory at the Battle of Naseby - a turning point in the Civil War. Cromwell pushed for the trial and executino the King in 1649. Following which, he dismissed the Rump Parliament, that was failing to ut in place a new constitution, with the aid of the military forces at his command. Cromwell became England's ruler, refusing to take the title of King, instead he was entitled 'Lord Protector'. His rule is seen as austere due to his determination to put in place religious laws to make England a Godly Commonwealth in his eyes, banning theatres, pubs and Christmas. Thus, he was increasingly acting in ways that were similar to how King Charles I had acted removing liberties. Cromwell reputation was also tarnished by his military actions in Ireland, especially the atrocities at the Siege of Drogheda. Cromwell, died in 1658, being replaced by his son, Richard, who lacking the support of the army was deposed and Charles 1's son Charles II was restored to the throne as the rightful king. Cromwell's statue stands outside of the Houses of Parliament in London - as a memorial to his role in creating the UK's Constitutional Monarchy whereby Parliament has greater influence than a symbolic monarch. The outcome of the English Civil War, is ceremonially played out at the start of each Parliamentary session, at the Queen's Speech - where MPs throw the House of Commons door shut in the face of the monarch's messenger, Black Rod. Black Rod has to knock three times before the door is opened and they can deliver their message from the monarch to the MPs, to attend the monarch's speech in the House of Lords, The MPs then walk at a leisurely pace to the House of Lord, to listen to the monarch's speech - as they choose to go, rather than being ordered to by the monarch. Today the annual Earth Day, that celebrates the Earth, is held for the 50th time, beginning in 1970.
In 1970 it was mainly celebrated in thousands of schools, colleges and universities across the USA. However, it is now celebrated in nearly all the 193 nation states recognised by the United Nations. In 2016 the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was signed on this day, signed by over 120 countries. The unofficial flag of Earth Day features the 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth from NASA's Apollo 17 spacecraft, showing the mainly water Earth alone in space, white clouds swirling through the atmosphere just south of the continent of Africa, and obscuring Antarctica. What can you do today to celebrate the 50th Earth Day! On this day, 20th April 1653, Oliver Cromwell, dismissed the 'Rump Parliament', beginning his move towards rule over England.
The 'Rump Parliament', was the remaining members of Parliament, who were prepared to try and execute the King in 1649, after Colonel Thomas Pride had purged it of those members who would not agree to such a move. Cromwell became impatient with Parliament as having got rid of the monarchy, it wasn't dissolving itself and forming a new constitution (set of rules for governming a country). On this day in 1653 Cromwell listened to the speeches, got up made a speech of his own criticising the Parliament, picked up the Speaker's Mace tossing it aside calling it a 'Fool's Bauble', and then got soldiers to turf out the Members of Parliament and locked the doors! Here we see Oliver Cromwell, acting just like King Charles I in dismissing a Parliament he did not like - exactly the behaviour he had criticised before the English Civil War! On this day, 19th April 1775, the American Revolution, or American War of Independence, began as shots rang out around the village green of Lexington in Massachusetts, and further fighting occurred later on in Concord.
Britain's thirteen American Colonies were increasingly unhappy at the lack of rights they were being allowed by Britain under King George III, despite being British citizens - particularly a lack of representation in the form of Members of Parliament when taxation upon the American Colonies was being discussed. In this disagreement the American Colonists were increasingly seeing the need for military actions to defend themselves and their British rights - to this end arms were being gathered. The British garrison in Boston embarked upon a search mission in Lexington and Concord, based on intelligence to seek and destroy any such weapons. On the 18th April, Paul Revere, and several others aware that the mission was about to be carried out, rode out through the night to warn the people of Massachusetts surrounding Boston that 'the British are coming', going from town to town and house to house to raise the alarm, so that the people would be able to hide the weapons and be ready to defend themselves against the actions of the British army, the 'Redcoats'. This has gone down in history as the 'Ride of Paul Revere'. In Lexington the local militia drew up in two lines ready to face the advancing British Redcoats, upon the village green - their orders were only to fire if fired upon, and if the British want war 'let it begin here'. The American Colonists were staring at the army of a superpower of the time, taking an incredible risk, with a very uncertain outcome. As both sides faced each other, shots rang out - although neither side was sure who had actually fired, was it a British officer, or was it American Colonist not in the lines of the militia but from a window or hedge overlooking the green. This led to volleys of shots from both sides, with the American Colonists suffering eight deaths and dozens of casualties. The British Redcoats then marched on to Concord, where a search for weapons was made, whilst Militia companies from across the region had amassed on a hill above the town. On the North Bridge one of the groups of British soldiers found themselves only metres away from the American Colonist militia, one of them appears to fired a warning shot, which led to further shots from the Redcoats, killing the first of the militia, before the American Colonists returned fire. The British Army now being outnumbered began a retreat back to their garrison in Boston, all along the retreat the Redcoats were harried by American Colonists from behind trees, not fighting in the open field - but using the trerrain they knew, to their advantage. Once back in Boston the British soldiers were then under a siege by the American, colonists - the American War of Independence had begun. The events have been called 'The Shot that was Heard Around the World' - and were the beginnings of the separation of the American Colonies, away from Britain, and the creation of a new country the United States of America, creating a new Republic built on the democratic traditions developed in England from the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. (Dedicated to Mr. Way, History Teacher at John Port School, Etwall, Derbyshire, in the 1980s - who first taught me about these events, that continue to shape the world we know today, amongst many other important events and life lessons.) On the 15th April 1452 Leonardo Da Vinci was born. Da Vinci is seen as the foremost Renaissance painter with his works including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, being amongst, if not, the most well known paintings of all time. He is also known for his anatomical drawings and designs for inventions such as flying machines. On 15th April 1865 Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US President, died having been shot the previous day at at Ford's Theatre, Washington DC, by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln became the first US President to be shot whilst in office. He had led the United States in the American Civil War against the Southern Confederacy, a split caused by divisions over whether states could allow slavery. Following victory in the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the United States. This action, along with moves towards allowing African Americans full voting rights led to Booth's assassination of the President, often seen as the Great Emancipator.
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