December 8th - 14th
On 8th December…
Birth of Mary Queen of Scots
1542 - Mary Queen of Scots was born in Linlithgow Palace in Scotland. Just six days after her birth her father, King James V died making Mary, Queen of Scotland. Her great-grandfather was King Henry VII of England, her uncle was Henry VIII, and she was a cousin of Elizabeth I, who held Mary captive for eighteen years before beheading her for treason.
Grand opening of Clifton Suspension Bridge
1864 - The Clifton Suspension Bridge was finally opened in Bristol after over 33 years of construction. The day was marked with special occasions; a military display began in Bristol’s Queen Square at 9:30am followed by a march along the main streets towards the bridge - there were enough marching troops to stretch over half a mile long. The marching bands and troops were followed by a procession of local tradesmen, policemen, firefighters and societies; the procession was that long that it took nearly an hour to pass by. There were fairground stalls, acrobats and street vendors; the river below was filled with decorated steam ships. It was a spectacular event that people had crowded to witness. Following an artillery-gun salute (small canons were fired to celebrate), the parade crossed the bridge and returned back again. In the evening there were some fireworks and sparklers for the crowds who were still attending the celebrations which had begun nearly 12 hours before. Sadly, the architect and designer of the bridge, Isambard Kingdom Brunel had died five years before so did not get to see it completed; he missed out on a spectacular opening day for his greatest achievement.
On 9th December…
1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland died at the age of 24 years. He had been king since he was 11 years old after his grandfather King David I died. Malcolm IV died before he had the chance to get married or have any children and was given the nickname of the Maiden. On his death Malcolm’s younger brother William became King William I of Scotland also known as William the Lion.
On 10th December…
1394 - King James I of Scotland was born in Dunfermline Palace.
1768 - The first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in Scotland. It was the go-to book to find out anything about everything. Nowadays most people use the internet to find out information rather than looking in a book, but the Encyclopaedia, although no longer in print, is still available online as Brittanica.com. It is a useful tool for studying and much more accurate than Wikipedia.
The King of England gave up the throne for love
1936 - King Edward VIII abdicated the English throne so that he could marry the woman he loved. Edward was in love with an American woman called Wallis Simpson who had already been divorced once and was, at the time, still married to her second husband. The Royal family, the Church of England, and the English government all disapproved of his desire to marry Wallis and for her to become his queen, so he gave up the throne and his right and the right of any of his children to become King or Queen of England. The throne went to his younger brother who became King George VI. He was the father of Queen Elizabeth II and grandfather to King Charles III.
On 11th December…
1282 - The last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd died near Powys, Wales. He was the only Welsh ruler to be officially recognised by an English king (Henry III) as the Prince of Wales.
On 12th December…
First transatlantic radio signal sent
1901 - Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio signal from Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada. This scientific breakthrough paved the way for wireless communications; cables of wires would no longer need to be laid in order to transmit telegraph signals between countries.
On 13th December…
Francis Drake set sail around the world
1578 - Francis Drake, backed by Queen Elizabeth I, set off on his circumnavigation of the globe from Portsmouth, on the south-west coast of England. He set sail in his ship called the Pelican, with four other ships but only the Pelican successfully completed the round the world trip. During the voyage he changed the name of the Pelican to ‘The Golden Hind’. The official backing of Queen Elizabeth I gave Francis Drake permission to piracy against Spanish ships without getting into trouble. He returned from his voyage nearly two years later, his ship was laden with treasures and spices. He was knighted on the deck of his ship by Queen Elizabeth I when it sailed up the River Thames on its return and became ‘Sir’ Francis Drake.
On 14th December…
Six-day-old Baby girl became Queen of Scotland
1542 - A baby girl became Mary, Queen of Scots when her father King James V of Scotland died. He too had become king when he was only a baby after his father died fighting the English at the Battle of Flodden. When he was just a teenager, King James V was held captive for three years whilst his captors, led by his stepfather Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus, ruled Scotland in his name. James managed to escape and the first thing he did was to exile his stepfather and confiscate his lands. King James V died of ill health, possibly cholera, shortly after the Battle of Solway Moss where he fought against his uncle, King Henry VIII. His 6-day-old daughter was made Queen of Scotland.
1799 - George Washington the first president of the U.S.A. died.
Queen Victoria devastated as Prince Albert dies
1861 - Prince Albert. the husband and consort of Queen Victoria, died at Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria mourned her husband’s death for the rest of her life; refusing to wear anything but the colour black from that day onwards.
1878 - Seventeen years to the day that her father died, Princess Alice, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria died of an infection called diphtheria, she was 35 years old. Today there are not many cases of diphtheria because babies are routinely vaccinated against it when they are very young.
Make it stand out
1895 - King George VI was born in Norfolk, England. He was the second son of King George V and did not expect to become King of England because he had an older brother. His older brother, King Edward VIII, chose to abdicate the throne (give up the throne) so this meant that the next in line to become king was George. George’s real name was Albert, he had been named after his great grandfather Prince Albert because he was born on the anniversary of Albert’s death. He chose to be called King George VI to emulate his father and try and make the country have faith in the royal family again after the scandal of the abdication of Edward VIII.
1896 - The Glasgow Underground Railway was opened. It is a circular subway system that has 15 stations. It is the 3rd oldest underground railway system in the world.