On this day
9:12am Monday 8th March 2010 in News
1702: Queen Anne acceded to the throne on the death of William III, who died in a riding accident at Hampton Court.
1859: Kenneth Grahame, author of children’s books, notably The Wind In The Willows, was born in Edinburgh.
1879: Otto Hahn, German physicist and chemist, was born. He discovered nuclear fission, which made the atomic bomb possible.
1910: The first pilot’s licences were granted. The Royal Aero Club granted licence number one to JTC Moore Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara).
1952: An artificial heart was used for the first time on a 41-year-old man, which kept him alive for 80 minutes.
1961: Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor and founder of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, died aged 81.
1966: An IRA bomb destroyed the Nelson Column in Dublin.
1971: Boxer Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali on points to become the World Heavyweight Champion.
1983: President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an ‘evil empire’.
