February 12th – On This Day
2017 - Elaine Hopley, a 45 year old Scottish mother-of-two, broke the solo female record in a prestigious rowing race across the Atlantic.
February 11th – On This Day
1990 - Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
February 10th – On This Day
1840 - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, both aged 20, were married in St James’ Palace, London. This was the first marriage of a reigning English Queen since Queen Mary in 1554.
February 9th – On This Day
1986 - Halley’s Comet was last seen from Earth. It only orbits the Earth once every 75 to 76 years. Halley’s Comet is expected to pass over Earth again on July 26, 2061.
February 8th – On This Day
1983 - Shergar, the Aga Khan's Derby winner, was kidnapped from a stable in County Kildare, Ireland. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of £2 million, which was never paid. The horse was never seen again.
February 7th – On This Day
1964 - Beatlemania arrived in the United States when the Beatles landed in New York. Over 5,000 screaming fans greeted the Pan Am Flight 101 from London, UK to get a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.
February 6th – On This Day
1958 - Seven Manchester United footballers (Busby’s Babes) died in their Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador when the plane crashed in thick snow on the runway at Munich airport during its third attempted take off.
February 5th – On This Day
2004 - The Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. Twenty-three Chinese cockle pickers died after becoming trapped by incoming tides off the Lancashire coast. A further 15 cockle pickers survived and the disaster left an indelible mark on all those it affected.
February 4th – On This Day
1911 - Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead "The Spirit of Ecstasy". He used Lord Montague’s mistress, Eleanor Thornton, as his model.