Show Notes
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life. 29th June 1613: The original Globe Theatre burns down mid-performance. 30th June 1967: Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. becomes the first African-American to be selected as an astronaut. 2nd July 1928: The 1928 Equal Franchise Act grants all women in the UK over the age of 21 the right to vote, and puts them on an equal footing with men.
More from This Week in History
24 October 1945: The Charter of a new international organisation, the United Nations, comes into effect. 23 October 1642: King Charles I beats English Parliamentarian forces at the Battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire. 20 October 1960: Penguin Books fights for the right to publish DH Lawrence’s novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' in a landmark trial at the Old Bailey.
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life. 16th October 1793: Marie Antoinette is executed in Paris. 17th October 1814: A flood of beer courses through the streets of London. 13th October 1963: The Beatles perform on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium', marking the beginning of Beatlemania.
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life. 5th October 1910 - The centuries-old Portuguese monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'état organized by the Portuguese Republican Party. 10th October 1881 - The Savoy Theatre - the first public building to be lit by electricity - opens with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. 11th October 1440 - King Henry the Sixth founds Eton College. It was established as a charity school to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge.
28th September 1985: The shooting of Cherry Groce in her own home during a mishandled police raid, leads to clashes between the police and the black community in Brixton. 28th September 48 BC: Pompey the Great is assassinated on the order of King Ptolemy of Egypt. 28th September 1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson becomes the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain.
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life. 23rd September 1846: Through applying maths and physics, the planet Neptune is officially observed and identified by the German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. 22nd September 1735: The man regarded as the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, moves into Number 10 Downing Street. 26th September 1968: Theatre censorship is abolished in the UK, ending restrictions which had existed for over 200 years.