The following are (mostly) taken from History channel and its Day In History, and other history websites, word for word. You will be able to tell when the other words are mine, I hope. This day in History, March 26th
1484, William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop’s Fables
1799, Napoleon captures Jaffa (I suspect he was after the smashing orangy bit in the middle)
1824, 1st performance of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis”
1827, Beethoven died in Vienna, aged 56 (‘I shall hear (it) in heaven.’)
1839, 1st Henley Royal Regatta
1845, Joseph Francis, NYC, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat (nice try!)
1859, 1st sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury (live long and prosper)
1874, Robert Frost born
1881, Thessaly is freed and becomes part of Greece again
1885, Eastman Film Co. manufactures the first commercial motion picture film
1886, 1st cremation in England
1904, Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)
1910, US forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers & the sick (what went wrong?)
1911, Tennessee Williams born
1916, Birdman of Alcatraz receives solitary (fill in the missing word: solitary what? Cage? Diamond? Cuttlefish?)
1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel published (‘This side of paradise’, in case you were wondering.)
1934, Driving tests introduced in Britain (made no difference)
1940, Ernest Hemingway & Benjamin Glazer premiere in NYC (Premiere in what? ‘Top Hat’? ‘42nd Street’? ‘Much ado about nothing’?)
1953, Jonas Salk announces polio vaccine (one wonders how? ‘Mr and Mrs Scene and their son Vac,’ perhaps?)
1956, Red Buttons debuts on TV in Studio One (meanwhile on BBC2 you can catch ‘An evening with a purple zipper.’)
1957, The European Economic Community was one day old (bless)
1963, James Collins, born (not many people noticed)
1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh
1973, Noel Coward, English playwright, dies
1979, Israel-Egyptian peace agreement was signed (presumably by Israel and Egypt)
2000, Vladimir Putin became president of Russia (oh dear)
2008, Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata (so they said ta-ta to them then)
And let’s leave it there, except to add that on today in history, Richard III of England was re-buried, and I turned 52.
