1871 The Great Fire of Chicago broke out, reputedly in Mrs O’Leary’s barn, when a cow upset a lantern. Over three days c. 300 lives were lost and over 100,000 residents left homeless.
1974 Seán MacBride became the first Irish citizen to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
1967 Clement Attlee (84), Labour prime minister of the United Kingdom (1945–51) and leader of the Labour Party (1935–55), the longest-ever serving leader of that party, died.
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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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