May 14th – On This Day
1894 - Blackpool Tower first opened to the public who paid a 6d (six pence) entrance fee, six pence more for a ride in the lifts to the top, and a further six pence for the circus.
May 13th – On This Day
1949 - Britain’s first jet bomber, the Canberra, was given its first test flight at Warton in Lancashire and was flown by Wing Cdr. RP Beaumont.
May 12th – On This Day
1945 - The publication of the first of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled 'The Three Railway Engines' and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry.
May 11th – On This Day
1964 - Interior designer and businessman Terence Conran opened his first Habitat Shop in London's Fulham Road.
May 10th – On This Day
1824 - The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London opened to the public. It houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.
May 9th – On This Day
1662 - The first recorded Punch & Judy Show in Britain took place at Covent Garden in London performed by the Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde from Bologna, otherwise known as Signor Bologna.
May 8th – On This Day
1984 - The Thames Barrier is officially opened, preventing the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded except under extreme circumstances.
May 7th – On This Day
1765 - HMS Victory, the ship which became the flagship of British Admiral Horatio Nelson, was launched at Chatham. The ship is now preserved at Portsmouth.
May 6th – On This Day
1979 - Six rock-cut tombs at Heysham in Lancashire became Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Further excavation in 1993 on land below the stone coffins showed that the site had been occupied about 12,000 years previously.