During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy consumed c. 80,000 barrels of gunpowder every year.
Quote of the Day
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
~ Winston Churchill on the Battle of Egypt
On This Day
356 BCEThe (second?) temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was - according to legend - burnt down by Herostratus, who was looking to become famous. It was later rebuilt by Alexander the Great (who happened to have been born on the same day).
365A huge earthquake off the coast of Crete and its resultant tsunami caused devastation across the eastern Mediterranean, killing thousands.
1403The Battle of Shrewsbury between Henry IV and Harry Hotspur was the first battle English archers fought each other on English soil.
1545A French invasion force which landed on the Isle of Wight was repulsed by a local militia.
1683William, Lord Russell, was executed for his part in the Rye House Plot against Charles II and the future James II.
1796Scottish poet Robert Burns died, possibly of a rheumatic heart condition, aged 37.
1861The Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the American Civil War, resulted in victory for the Confederates.
1925Malcolm Campbell broke the land speed record in Sunbeam breaking the 150mph barrier.
1931A sterlisation bill introduced into the House of Commons by Major Church failed to be passed by 167 votes to 89. It was part of the eugenics movement and sought to legalise the voluntary sterlisation of the 'mentally defective', in an attempt to remove the 'socially inadequate' from society.
1944German army officer Claus von Stauffenberg was executed for attempting to kill Adolf Hitler in the 20 July bomb plot of the previous day. He had been convicted in an impromptu court martial by co-conspirator Friedrich Fromm, who was hoping to save his own neck. It didn't work: he was arrested the following day and executed in 1945.
1994Tony Blair became the new leader of the Labour Party following the unexpected death of John Smith.
