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23rd November

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1499: Flemish pretender executed in London


Perkin Warbeck, who invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV, is hanged for allegedly trying to escape from the Tower of London. Believed to be a native of Tournai in Belgium, Warbeck went to Ireland in 1491 and claimed that he was Richard, Duke of York, the second son of Edward IV. Richard and his elder brother were presumed murdered in the Tower of London by their uncle, King Richard III in 1483. Warbeck found support in the enemies of King Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, and in 1497 landed at Cornwall and raised an army of 6,000 men. Faced with King Henry’s larger army, he fled but was captured and imprisoned. Warbeck's story was written by the Tudors, history’s victors, and it might never be known whether he was actually Richard of York or just a Flemish impostor.

2005

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is formally declared president of Liberia becoming Africa's first elected female head of state.

2003

Following weeks of demonstrations about fraudulent elections in Georgia, President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns.  

2002

The Miss World contest is forced to leave Nigeria and is subsequently moved to London, England after rioting by Muslim youths opposed to the competition.  

1996

A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes into the Indian Ocean after running out of fuel, killing 125 people.

1984

In England, a fire breaks out at Oxford Circus Underground Station in London, luckily there are no fatalities. 

1981

American President Ronald Reagan secretly authorises the funding and creation of the Contras in Nicaragua to oppose the leftist Sandinista government.

1980

Southern Italy is devastated by a series of earthquakes killing more than 3000 people.

1979

In the Republic of Ireland, IRA member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for planting the bomb which killed Lord Mountbatten and two companions.

1963

Lynden Baines Johnson is sworn in as American President following the assassination of John Kennedy the previous day. 

1963

In Britain, the BBC transmits the first episode of a new science-fiction drama, Dr Who.

1940

The Second World War: Romania aligns itself with the Axis powers.

1936

The first issue of the magazine ‘Life’ is published in America.

1890

Following the death of King William III of the Netherlands, Princess Wilhelmina, I the absence of a make heir becomes, Queen of the Netherlands. Although her mother Emma is named Regent until Wilhelmina’s 18th birthday.

1869

The Scottish built Cutty Sark ship is launched.

1863

The American Civil War: Start of the Battle of Chattanooga in Tennesse.

1942

British pop singer Gerry Marsden.

1887

Actor Boris Karloff.

1859

American outlaw Billy the Kid.

1910

Execution of wife-poisoner Dr Hawley Crippen.