1995: Quebec separatists narrowly defeated
By a bare majority of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, citizens of the province of Quebec
vote to remain a province of
Canada. French-speaking Quebec has long considered itself culturally divided from the rest of Canada. The
referendum was the most serious threat to Canadian unity in the country’s 128-year existence, carrying with it the possibility of losing nearly one-third of Canada’s population if the Yes vote won. Quebec separatists refrained from violence after their narrow defeat.
2002
British television takes another move away from traditional analogue broadcasting with the introduction Freeview – a digital terrestrial service obtained by a one off payment.
1991
Israel and all its Arab neighbours meet for a Middle East peace conference in
Spain. 1984
In
Poland, the body of the anti-communist
priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko is found. Popieluszko had been kidnapped and killed by members of the
secret police. 1981
In
Britain, Nicholas Reed, a pro-euthanasia campaigner, is sentenced two and a half years in prison for assisting people to die.
1974
Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire to regain the world heavy weight championship in what becomes known as the “Rumble in the jungle.”
1961
The Soviet Union conducts the world’s largest ever nuclear test over the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya.
1957
In Britain, the Conservative government announces plans to reform the
House of Lords, allowing women to sit in the chamber for the first time and creating Life Peerages.
1941
The Second World War: President Franklin Roosevelt approves a Lend-Lease programme of American aid to the
Soviet Union. 1938
In America, the radio broadcast of Orsen Welles’
adaptation of the H. G. Wells’ novel War of the Worlds causes widespread panic - its
realism convincing many listeners that beings from another planet have landed on earth.
1905
In response to the 1905 Revolution, Tsar
Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, which pledged to introduce civil
liberties, universal male suffrage and the creation of a
Duma. 1864
The Treaty of Vienna confirms Prussian control of Schleswig and Austrian control Holstein, the two countries having gained the territories from
Denmark. 1811
Jane Austin’s novel Sense and Sensibility is first published, anonymously.
1470
Lancastrian King
Henry VI is returned to the English after the Yorkists are defeated.
1962
British Olympic swimmer Sharon Davies.1935
South African golfer Gary Player born in Johannesburg - becomes one of the most successful and popular golfers of the post-war era. Winner of 3 Open Championships in Britain (1959, 1968 and 1974) and 3 US Masters titles (1961, 1974 and 1978) as well as the South African Open (13 times) and the Australian Open (7 times).1915
British
actor Michael Dennison.
1887
English painter Lawrence Stephen Lowry born in Manchester. Trains at Manchester College of Art and the Salford School of Art while working as a clerk. Paints many pictures of Lancashire's industrial landscape which include large factories with many deliberately thin 'matchstick' men and women. Dies in 1976. Many of his works are now exhibited at the Lowry Gallery in Salford.
