Totally useless facts ...

[marval]

Hi Robert,

I am glad you found it interesting.

Hi Judy,

Glad to know you are alright, I agree about snow being better than ice.


Margaret

[marval]

Here are some facts about events that happened on this date. Sorry they are all British.


ON THIS DAY

28th April

1442 Edward IV, King of England and son of Richard, Duke of York, was born. He was the first king of the House of York.

1603 Queen Elizabeth I's funeral took place at Westminster Abbey.

1770 English navigator Captain James Cook and his crew, including the botanist Joseph Banks, landed in Australia, at Stingray Bay, which was later named Botany Bay.

1772 The world's most travelled goat died in London. She had circumnavigated the world twice, first on Dolphin under Captain Wallis, then on Cook's Endeavour. The Lord of the Admiralty signed a document acknowledging her age and adventures, but she died soon after.

1789 The crew of the Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied against the harsh life at sea under Captain Bligh. They were on the return journey from Tahiti where they had spent six months gathering breadfruit trees. Bligh and 17 others were cast adrift in a small boat without a chart. While the mutineers eventually colonized Pitcairn Island, Bligh managed to sail the small craft 3,618 miles to Timor, near Java, arriving there on 14th June.

1795 Birth of Charles Sturt, English explorer who headed three major Australian expeditions. With Hume, he discovered the River Darling. He also charted the Murray to its source near Adelaide, suffering great hardships along the way. Another area he explored, the Sturt desert, is named after him.

1801 Birth of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, one of the most effective social and industrial reformers in 19th-century England. He introduced the Coal Mines Act in 1842 which prohibited the employment of women and children underground. He was also the acknowledged leader of the evangelical movement within the Church of England.

1876 Britain's Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India.

1923 The first FA Cup Final was held at Wembley Stadium. 200,000 people arrived at a stadium which was only designed to hold 125,000 and when 60,000 irate fans rushed the turnstiles, a human torrent swept onto the pitch. Players were engulfed by the crowd and 1,000 men, women and children were injured. Finals were made 'all ticket' after that. The game began one hour late and Bolton beat West Ham 2-0.

1942 Mike Brearley, English cricketer was born.