1947: Yeager breaks the sound barrier
American pilot
Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier on this day. For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound. All that changed on 14th October 1947, when Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane, nicknamed Glamorous Glennis, over Rogers Dry Lake in southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The plane was designed with a new type of rocket engine and a streamlined fuselage to reduce turbulence. In 1953, Yeager flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane.
1994
The Nobel Peace Prize is jointly awarded to the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin; Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and the Chairman of the
Palestine Liberation Organisation Yasser
Arafat. 1983
In
Britain, Cecil Parkinson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, resigns following further revelations about his affair with his former secretary Sara Keays.
1973
77 people, mainly students, are killed in Bangkok,
Thailand as government troops open fire on anti-government protesters.
1969
Ahead of the complete changeover to decimalisation, Britain scraps the 10
shilling note and introduces the 50 pence
coin. 1968
American Jim Hines wins the 100 metres Olympic gold at the Mexico Olympics in a time of 9.95 seconds becoming the first ever person to break the ten second barrier.
1964
Civil rights leader Dr
Martin Luther King Jr is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964
Whilst on holiday Nikita Khrushchev is ousted from power in the
Soviet Union as Leonid Brezhnev assumes control.
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis: An American U-2 spy plane flying over
Cuba provides evidence that there are Soviet missiles on the island.
1954
Emperor of
Ethiopia Haile Selassie arrives in Portsmouth for a state visit to Britain.
1944
The Second World War:
German military commander, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel commits suicide by taking a cyanide tablet shortly before being arrested on suspicion of being involved in the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf
Hitler. 1939
The Second World War: The
Royal Navy battleship, HMS Royal Oak, is torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine while at harbour in
Scapa Flow, off the northern coast of Scotland.
1913
More than 400 miners are killed in an explosion down a mine at Senghenydd in Glamorgan, South Wales.1912
U.S. presidential candidate
Theodore Roosevelt is shot and wounded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1066
The Battle of Hastings takes place on the southern coast of England. An English army, commanded by King Harold, is defeated by the invasion force of William of Normandy. King Harold is killed and William ‘The Conqueror’ is proclaimed King of England. 1927
English
actor Roger Moore. Gets his career 'break' in the TV series 'Ivanhoe' (1957) and as 'The Saint' (1962-1968). In the 1970s and 1980s appears in seven 'James Bond' films beginning with 'Live And Let Die' (1973). Becomes a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
1890
US General and 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower born in Texas. In 1942, during
World War II, commands the Allied forces attacking North Africa before being appointed Supreme Commander of Allied Forces for the 'D' Day landings in Normandy (1944). Is made Supreme Commander of
NATO forces in Europe in 1950 before winning the 1952 Presidential Election as a Republican. Keeps his election promise to end the
Korean War but maintains America's anti-Communist policy during the
Cold War years of the 1950s. Is re-elected President in 1956.
1882
Irish politician Eamon de Valera is born in Brooklyn, New York and brought up in County Limerick, Ireland. Joins the republican
Irish Volunteers and is captured and sentenced to death for his involvement in the
Easter Rising of 1916. Released under an amnesty in 1917 he's elected President of
Sinn Fein. Imprisoned again in 1918, he escapes to America and raises funds for Irish independence. Rejects the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 signed by
Michael Collins because the establishment of the
Irish Free State does not give Ireland total freedom or unity. Forms a new party,
Fianna Fail, (1927) and is elected Prime Minister in 1932. During his three periods in office Ireland becomes a
sovereign state and remains neutral during World War II. Elected Irish President in 1959. Remains head of state until 1973. Dies in 1975.
1644
Quaker leader
William Penn, founder of the state of Pennsylvania, is born in London - the son of a British Admiral. Is imprisoned in the
Tower of London in 1668 for his unorthodox religious writings and uses the time to write his most popular books: 'No Cross,No Crown' and 'Innocency With Her Open Face'. Tours Europe championing religious tolerance before sailing to America along with a group of his supporters. Founds a Puritan-based colony at
Delaware before returning to England. In 1686, is instrumental in securing the freedom of all religious prisoners - including 1,200 Quakers - in English jails. Dies in 1718.
