1666 The Great Fire of London, which destroyed 400 acres of the city but cost just nine lives, began in a bakehouse in Pudding Lane. 1022 Malachy the Great (Máel-Sechnaill), High King of Ireland since c. 980, died on Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath. 1945 Japanese representatives sign the official ‘Instrument of surrender’ on board the … Read more
1946 Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001), born in Hope, Arkansas. 1936 Federico Garcia Lorca (38), Spanish poet and playwright, was executed by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. 1917 Edward O’Dwyer, bishop of Limerick since 1886, best remembered for his public rebuke of General Maxwell (May 1916), died.
1976 In West Belfast, three children were killed and their mother seriously injured when a car, driven by an IRA man who was shot dead by a British soldier, careered into them. The incident led to theformation of the Peace People movement. 1917 Alderman W.T. Cosgrave (Sinn Féin) defeated John Magennis (IPP) in the Kilkenny … Read more
1986 Peter Robinson MP, latterly first minister for Northern Ireland, was arrested in Clontibret, Co. Monaghan, after invading the village at the head of a 500-strong loyalist mob in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement. 1972 The shooting of librarian and member of the UDR Lance-Corporal Henry Creighton (27) by the IRA near his home on … Read more
1920 Nineteen were killed and over 50 wounded in four days of continuous sectarian violence in Derry. 1997 The IRA announced a restoration of its cease-fire, with a complete cessation of military operations. 1916 The Battle of Fromelles, in which a British and Australian offensive was crushed by the Germans. Over 2,000 Australians were killed … Read more