1981 Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey announced the establishment of Aosdána (‘poet of the tribe’) to publicly honour distinguished achievement in the arts and to provide members with an annuity to free them from non-creative employment.
1940 The Katyn massacre of c. 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia was initiated by the NKVD—the Soviet secret police—with the approval of the Soviet politburo led by Joseph Stalin.
1974 Merlyn Rees appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland, where all but one of the Westminster seats in the general election the previous month had gone to anti-Sunningdale unionists.
1974 Merlyn Rees succeeded Francis Pym as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
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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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