Latest articles by Ben Judge
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22 December 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced
Features On this day in 1965, a “temporary” 70mph speed limit was introduced on all unregulated roads in Britain by the Minister of Transport. The limit was soon made permanent.
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Wine of the week: a simply sublime nebbiolo
News With one of the most regal and plush palates imaginable, this is a vinous work of art.
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9 December 1979: smallpox virus eradicated
Features On this day in 1969, the Global Commission for Certification of Smallpox Eradication reported that the deadly disease had finally been wiped from the face of the earth.
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3 December 1992: the world’s first text message is sent
Features Twenty two years ago, a developer working in Newbury, Berkshire, sent a two-word text message, marking the start of a whole new way of communicating.
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2 December 1943: ‘Bevin Boys’ conscripted into the mines
Features With the coal industry desperately short of men, the Minster of Labour, Ernest Bevin, announced today in 1943 that thousands of conscripts would be sent down the mines instead of to the front.
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24 November 1972: the mysterious “DB Cooper” hijacking
Features Today in 1972, a man calling himself Dan Cooper parachuted from a hijacked Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 with $200,000 in cash. He has never been found.
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19 November 1994: The first National Lottery draw
Features Twenty years ago today, 22 million people watched in hopeful anticipation as the National Lottery made its first draw.
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18 November 2002: UN weapons inspectors arrive in Iraq
Features On this day in 2002, UN weapons inspectors arrived in in Baghdad in a bid to discover the truth about Iraq’s WMD programme.
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17 November 1869: Opening of the Suez Canal
Features On this day in 1869, the Suez Canal, designed by Frenchman Ferdinand de Lessops, opened for business, connecting Europe to Asia through Africa.
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16 November 1904: John Ambrose Fleming patents the oscillation valve
Features On this day in 1914, John Ambrose Fleming patented his oscillation valve – a component which formed the basis of the electronics industry for half a century.
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12 November 1859: Jules Leotard's flying trapeze
Features On this day in 1859, Jules Leotard performed the world’s first ever flying trapeze act, wowing audiences in the Cirque Napoleon in Paris.
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11 November 1887: work begins on the Manchester Ship Canal
Features On this day in 1887, work began on digging the 36-mile-long Manchester Ship Canal, which would enable the city’s exporters to bypass the expensive port of Liverpool.
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10 November 1908: First Gideon Bibles placed in hotel rooms
Features On this day in 1908, the Gideons placed their first 25 Bibles in the rooms of the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana.
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9 November 1989: the fall of the Berlin Wall
Features On this day in 1989, thousands of East German citizens flooded over the border between East and West as the Berlin Wall fell.
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5 November 1688: Dutch army deposes England's king in the 'Glorious Revolution'
Features On this day in 1688, William of Orange landed in Devon with a Dutch army to kick off the Glorious Revolution and depose King James II.
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4 November 1839: the Newport Rising leaves 22 dead
Features On this day in 1839, 22 Chartists were killed in the Newport Rising as they stormed the town’s Westgate Hotel to free their comrades who had been imprisoned by the authorities.
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4 November 1922: Discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb
Features On this day in 1922 archaeologist Howard Carter discovered a set of stone steps that led to the tomb of Tutankhamun.
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2 November 1960: Lady Chatterley’s Lover deemed not obscene
Features A jury of nine men and three women returned a unanimous verdict of “not guilty” in the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial on this day in 1960.
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29 October 1986: The M25 motorway is opened
Features On this day in 1986, London’s orbital motorway was officially opened. It took 11 years to build, and cost £7.5m a mile.
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28 October 1971: Britain’s only independent satellite launch
Features This day in 1971 saw the launch of Britain’s only independently launched satellite, when the Black Arrow rocket deployed the ‘Prospero’ satellite in orbit.
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27 October 1986: the City's Big Bang
Features The deregulation of 1986 – dubbed the ‘Big Bang’ – brought the City into the modern age and helped it become the financial powerhouse it is today.
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26 October 1863: the Football Association is founded
Features On this day in 1863, 12 London football clubs got together at the Freemasons’ Tavern in London to form the Football Association to govern the increasingly popular sport.
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22 October 1962: Start of the Cuban missile crisis
Features On this day in 1962, the Kennedy administration issued its famous ultimatum – either the USSR removes its nuclear weapons from Cuba, or else.
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21 October 1805: the Battle of Trafalgar
Features On this day in 1805, Britain’s mastery of the seas was assured after the Royal Navy crushed Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.
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