1921 The IRA ambushed an RIC/USC patrol in Raglan Street, West Belfast, killing one RIC officer. During a cycle of sectarian violence over the following 24 hours, some 22 lives were lost, including thirteen Catholic civilians and six Protestant civilians.
1669 Oliver Plunkett appointed archbishop of Armagh.
1917 The battleship HMS Vanguard, anchored in Scapa Flow, sank after a series of internal magazine explosions. Of the 845 men on board only two survived.
1916 Sir Edward Heath, British Conservative prime minister (1970–4) whose government imposed direct rule on Northern Ireland in March 1972, born.
1797 Edmund Burke, philosopher and politician, died.
1972 Gun battles raged throughout West Belfast following the breakdown of an IRA ceasefire. Five people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment in the Springhill area, including a thirteen-year-old girl and a Catholic priest.
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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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