April 25th - May 1st
A week of new beginnings both grand and horrific.....
A week of new beginnings both grand and horrific.....
“A week of new beginnings both grand and horrific; from the birth of Kings and inauguration of Presidents, and the opening of a skyscraper and a zoo, to the inception of one of man’s most horrific creations - Auschwitz...”
On 25th April…
King Edward II
1284 - King Edward II was born in Caernarfon Castle in Wales. He was the fourth son of King Edward I and became King of England in 1307 when his father died. He ruled England until his death in 1327.
Oliver Cromwell
1599 - Oliver Cromwell was born. He was a leading figure of the English Civil War and signed the order for the execution of King Charles I of Great Britain. Cromwell went on to become Lord Protector of England.
On 26th April…
121CE - Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was born. He was Roman Emperor from 161 - 180.
1994 - Apartheid, the racial separation of blacks and whites, was officially abolished in South Africa. The new South African flag was raised for the first time and the first ever multi-racial elections began with nearly 18 million blacks voting for the first time. Nelson Mandela was elected president and F.W. de Klerk was elected vice-president.
On 27th April…
1828 - London Zoo was first opened in Regent’s Park as a place of scientific study. It is the world’s oldest scientific zoo and didn’t open its doors to the public until nearly twenty years later in 1847.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp Gates
1940 - Heinrich Himmler ordered the establishment of Auschwitz in the suburbs of Oswiecim which was a Polish city annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. It was a concentration camp originally designed to accommodate the mass arrest of Poles in the early stages of World War II. By 1942 Auschwitz had become the largest extermination centre where mass executions of European Jews, better known as the Holocaust, was carried out.
Witold Pilecki
1943 - Three years to the day of its inception, Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance fighter, escaped from Auschwitz. He had got himself imprisoned voluntarily in September 1940 in order to gain information about Auschwitz but was not prepared for the brutality that he witnessed and endured.
On 28th April…
King Edward I
1296 - Edward I defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. The battle was a retaliation or punishment by Edward I for King John Balliol’s refusal to support the English against the French.
King Edward IV
1442 - Edward IV, King of England (1461-70 and 1471-83), was born in Rouen, France.
On 29th April…
Captain James Cook
1770 - Captain James Cook, the British explorer landed at Botany Bay Australia. Captain Cook and the crew of his ship, Endeavour, were the first Europeans to land in Australia and encounter Aboriginal people.
On 30th April…
1789 - The first president of the United States of America, George Washington, was inaugurated (formally admitted to office).
1897 - Electrons were discovered by J.J. Thomson, a British physicist.
Adolf Hitler
1945 - Adolf Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. Shortly afterwards Germany declared an unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces of World War II.
On 1st May…
The Empire State Building
1931 - The Empire State Building in New York city was officially opened. It was the world’s tallest building at the time and remained so until 1972.
1707 - The Acts of Union were passed by the Scottish and English parliaments creating a United Kingdom of Great Britain.
A Penny Black Stamp
1840 - The first adhesive postage stamps went on sale in London. The Penny Black featured a white profile of Queen Victoria against a black background and cost one penny.