April 27th - May 3rd
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
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. Auschwitz was a concentration camp originally designed to accommodate the mass arrest of Polish people 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.
Escape from Auschwitz
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 as a plan to gain information about Auschwitz, he was not prepared for the brutality that he witnessed and endured.
On 28th April…
Battle of Dunbar - Edward I victorious
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 of Scotland’s refusal to support the English against the French.
King Edward IV was born in France
1442 - Edward IV, King of England (1461-70 and 1471-83), was born in Rouen, France.
On 29th April…
First Europeans to land in Australia
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.
Death of 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 bringing about the end of the war in Europe.
On 1st May…
Empire State Building opened to the public
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 for 41 years until 1972. Today it is the 60th tallest building in the world.
1707 - The Acts of Union were passed by the Scottish and English parliaments creating a United Kingdom of Great Britain.
First ever adhesive stamps for letters
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.
On 2nd May…
1230 - William de Braose was executed by Prince Llywelyn the Great of Wales for committing adultery with Llywelyn’s wife, Joan, Lady of Wales. Just over three hundred years later adultery would lead to the execution of a Queen; Anne Boleyn the second wife of Henry VIII.
Anne Boleyn was arrested and imprisoned
1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was arrested for adultery and sent to the Tower of London.
1933 - The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was reported in a Scottish newspaper, the Inverness Courier. There have been sightings of a beast in the Loch dating back to the 7th century. Do you think the Loch Ness Monster exists?
On 3rd May…
First UK heart transplant
1968 – The first heart transplant to be carried out in the UK was performed by Surgeon Donald Ross at the National Heart Hospital in London. It was the world’s 10th heart transplant. Sadly, the patient only survived for a further 45 days. Today around 200 people every year receive a heart transplant in the UK and go on to live long and active lives.