1921 Eamon de Valera denounced the Anglo-Irish Treaty as being ‘in violent conflict with the wishes of the majority of this nation as expressed in successive elections during the past three years’. 1941 ‘Now is your chance. Now or never. “A Nation once again.” Am very ready to meet you at any time’—secret telegram from … Read more
1971 Two men were killed and 27 injured in an unclaimed IRA bomb attack on the crowded Four Step Inn on Belfast’s Shankill Road.
1980 General Tom Barry (83), leader of the West Cork flying column responsible for the ambushes at Kilmichael (Nov. ’20) and Crossbarry (March ’21), and author notably of Guerrilla days in Ireland (1949), died. 1850 Sir Robert Peel (62), founder of the Conservative Party and British prime minister, died. In nationalist Ireland Peel would perhaps … Read more
1931 Willie Millar, actor, born in Glengormley in north Belfast, one of nine children of a poor Presbyterian family. Back in 1959 the must-see movie was the William Wyler-directed adaptation of the Lew Wallace bestseller Ben-Hur (1880), or Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, to give it its full title, a 212-minute—that’s 3 hours and … Read more
1940 Gone with the Wind, an epic historical romance based on Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 bestseller, starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, won ten awards, including best picture, at the 12th Academy Awards ceremony.