1991 John Kelly (59), Fine Gael politician, government minister, attorney general (May–July 1987) and lawyer who wrote extensively on legal matters, notably The Irish Constitution (1980), died.
1920 Percy French (65), civil engineer, watercolourist and entertainer, died from pneumonia in Formby, Lancashire.
1986 By-elections were held for the fifteen House of Commons seats held by Unionists. Under the slogan ‘Ulster says no’, Unionist MPs had resigned their seats and used the elections as a referendum on the Anglo-Irish Agreement (November 1985); 418,230 votes were cast against the Agreement.
1966 Indira Ghandi, daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlai Nehru, took office as prime minister.
1862 Myles Byrne, United Irishman who fought at Vinegar Hill in 1798 and later for France in the Napoleonic campaigns of 1804–15, died in Paris.
1973 Willie Clancy (51), acclaimed piper and folklorist, died.
1974 Four members of the IRA, including Dr Rose Dugdale, made an unsuccessful attempt to bomb Strabane RUC barracks from a helicopter.
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Personal Histories
Personal Histories is an initiative by History Ireland,
which aims to capture the individual histories of Irish
people both in Ireland and around the world. It is hoped
to build an extensive database reflecting Irish lives,
giving them a chance to be heard, remembered and to
add their voice to the historical record.
Click Here to go to the Personal Histories page
1920 Recruitment began, mainly from among demobilised British Army officers, into a new force—the ‘Auxiliary Division’—to augment the RIC.
1939 Michael Longley, poet, notable for ‘Gorse Fires’ (1991), ‘The Weather in Japan’ (2000) and ‘The Stairwell’ (2014), born in Belfast of English parents.
2004 Bob Tisdall (96), Olympic gold medal-winner in the 400m hurdles (Los Angeles, 1932) in a world record time of 51.7 seconds—which was not recognised under the rules at the time because he had hit a hurdle—died.
1866 The SS Great Eastern completed the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, and Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
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