On This Day. Группа авторов

Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union.

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      1983 the wearing of front seatbelts in cars was made compulsory in Britain.

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      1990 the first McDonald’s restaurant in Russia opened in Pushkin Square, Moscow.

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      2010 Avatar became the first film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide.

1 FEBRUARY

      1851 Mary Shelley, who at 21 wrote Frankenstein, died aged 54.

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      1874 Hugo von Hofmannsthal, poet, dramatist and librettist (Der Rosenkavalier), was born in Vienna.

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      1884 publication of the first fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary.

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      1896 the world premiere of Puccini’s opera La Bohème took place in Turin, with Arturo Toscanini conducting.

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      1910 the first British labour exchange opened.

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      1915 Stanley Matthews, footballer, was born in Stoke-on-Trent.

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      1924 Britain formally recognised the Soviet Union.

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      1974 Ronald Biggs, one of the Great Train Robbers, was arrested by Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro.

2 FEBRUARY

      1650 Nell Gwyn, comic actress and mistress of King Charles II, was born.

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      1709 Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, was rescued after being marooned for four years on an island off Chile.

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      1901 the state funeral of Queen Victoria took place at Windsor.

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      1972 the British embassy in Dublin was burnt down by demonstrators protesting the killings on Bloody Sunday two days previously in Londonderry.

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      1977 the Pompidou Centre opened in Paris.

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      1979 Sid Vicious (Simon John Ritchie), bass guitarist of the Sex Pistols, died in New York aged 21.

3 FEBRUARY

      1761 Richard (Beau) Nash, dandy who developed Bath into the most fashionable spa town in England, died.

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      1877 The Celebrated Chop Waltz, better known as Chopsticks, music for the piano by 16-year-old Euphemia Allen, was registered at the British Museum.

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      1919 President Woodrow Wilson attended the first meeting of the League of Nations in Paris.

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      1924 Woodrow Wilson, 28th American president 1913–21, died aged 67.

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      1960 Harold Macmillan made his Wind of Change speech to the South African parliament.

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      1969 Yassir Arafat was appointed chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

4 FEBRUARY

      1911 Rolls-Royce commissioned its famous figurehead, The Spirit of Ecstasy, from the sculptor Charles Sykes.

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      1927 Malcolm Campbell set the land-speed record at 174.88mph in his 12-cylinder Napier-Campbell Blue Bird on Pendine Sands, Carmarthen Bay.

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      1945 the Yalta conference opened, at which Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin discussed strategy for the final months of the war.

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      1962 The Sunday Times issued the first colour supplement in Britain.

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      1968 the world’s largest hovercraft (165 tons and costing £1.75 million) was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

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      1971 the British carmaker Rolls-Royce declared itself bankrupt.

5 FEBRUARY

      1811 the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, was declared Prince Regent.

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      1887 Verdi’s Otello received its world premiere at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

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      1920 the RAF College at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, opened.

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      1982 Laker Airways collapsed with debts of £270 million.

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      1983 the Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was imprisoned in France.

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      1987 Liberace, pianist known for his flamboyant costumes, died.

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      1999 South African president Nelson Mandela made his last State of the Nation speech to parliament before retiring.

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      2008 tornados killed 57 people in the southern United States.

6 FEBRUARY

      1685 King James II acceded to the throne.

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      1919 William Rossetti, writer and brother to Christina and Dante Gabriel, died.

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      1945 Bob Marley, singer-songwriter, was born in Nine Mile, Jamaica.

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      1952 Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne while visiting Kenya.

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      1958 seven members of the Manchester United football team were among those killed in an air crash in Munich.

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      1964 France and Britain agreed to build a Channel tunnel.

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      1971 astronaut Alan Shepard became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon.

7 FEBRUARY

      1812 Charles Dickens, novelist and social critic, was born in Portsmouth.

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      1863 HMS Orpheus was wrecked off New Zealand, killing 185 sailors.

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      1940 Disney’s film Pinocchio was given a gala premiere in New York.

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      1971