This Day in Commonwealth History: 17 June 1239: King Edward I of England is born at the Palace of Westminster (d. 1307) 1579: Sir Francis Drake lands near what is now San Francisco Bay in California, claims the area for England 1704: John Kay, inventor of the flying shuttle, born in Lancashire (d. 1779) 1745: Fortress city of Louisbourg captured by British and colonial troops; returned to France in 1748 1753: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, first settled by German migrants from nearby Halifax 1843: The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and the Māori in the New Zealand Wars, takes place on South Island 1898: Harry Patch, briefly the oldest man in Britain and last surviving soldier from WWI, born in Somerset (d. 2009) 1940: RMS Lancastria is sunk off the coast of France while evacuating British nationals and troops; 6,500 are confirmed dead, 2,477 survive 1940: The 11th Hussars of the British army capture Fort Capuzzo in Libya from Italian forces 1974: A bomb set by the IRA explodes at Parliament in Westminster, injuring 11 1982: Arthur Darvill, previously of Doctor Who, born in Birmingham
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:56:24 +0000
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