December 27th – On This Day
1977 - Thousands of people flocked to UK cinemas to watch the long-awaited blockbuster, Star Wars. Sadly, Carrie Fisher also died on this day in 2016 of a sudden cardiac arrest.
December 26th – On This Day
2004 - A devastating tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100 ft) high and an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean. The earthquake was a 9.3 magnitude which caused a tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and other countries. The destruction killed an estimated 227,898 people.
December 25th – On This Day
2021 - The James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the Guiana Space Center. Jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the telescope is the most advanced infrared telescope ever built.
December 24th – On This Day
1914 - Late on Christmas Eve, men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches.
December 23rd – On This Day
1972 - Sixteen plane crash survivors were rescued after being stranded in the Andes for seventy days. Although 33 of the 45 onboard survived the crash, injuries and severe weather conditions killed many more. Survivors had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
December 22nd – On This Day
2010 - The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London, made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover was given Grade II listed status. The crossing, was being recognised for its “cultural and historical importance” following advice from English Heritage.
December 21st – On This Day
2020 - The death (aged 103) of RAF ‘Spitfire woman’ Eleanor Wadsworth. She was the last surviving of about 165 women to have taken on the task of transporting aircraft to the frontlines during World War II. The women operated out of White Waltham in Berkshire and flew without instruments, flying instructions or radios.
December 20th – On This Day
1928 - Harry Ramsden started his fish and chip restaurant in a hut at White Cross in Guiseley, near Bradford in West Yorkshire. It soon became the most famous fish and chip restaurant in the world.
December 19th – On This Day
1843 - English author Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, which became one of the outstanding Christmas stories of modern literature. This popular novella sold out by Christmas Eve, selling 6,000 copies. Since then, “A Christmas Carol” has never gone out of print.