March 30th - April 5th
On 30th March…
Berwick upon Tweed was stormed by King Edward I
1296 – King Edward I ordered his troops to sack the city of Berwick upon Tweed killing over 7,000 men, women, and children during the course of several days. Edward was angry that Scotland had signed a treaty with France called the Auld Alliance. To show his rage he began by attacking Berwick upon Tweed, which at the time was an important and large city. Edward had given the city a chance to surrender before he attacked, but the officials of the city decided not to give up and took their chance at survival. I guess they regretted that decision pretty quickly when the soldiers stormed the city.
On 31st March…
1889 - The Eiffel Tower in Paris was opened. There were no lifts when the tower first opened so Gustav Eiffel, the tower’s designer, had to climb the 1,665 stairs to raise an enormous French flag from the top. Do you think you could climb all of those stairs or would you wait for a lift?
On 1st April…
Formation of the RAF
1918 - The Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
On 2nd April…
1982 - Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands sparking a war between Britain and Argentina. The war lasted just over ten weeks and ended when the Argentinian forces surrendered on 14th June.
On 3rd April…
Edward the Confessor crowned King
1043 - Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England. He did not have any children to inherit the crown and it was his death in 1066 which led to the fight over the English throne between King Harold Godwinson and William, Duke of Normandy at the famous Battle of Hastings.
On 4th April…
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr
1968 - Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed. He was an American civil rights leader who highlighted and fought peacefully against the inequalities between blacks and whites in America.
On 5th April…
1614 - Pocahontas, the daughter of an Indian Chief, married John Rolfe, a tobacco planter, in Jamestown, Virginia USA. Their marriage ensured peace between the settlers and the native Americans. The story of Pocahontas was turned into a Disney film in 1995.
1902 - Disaster struck at Ibrox Park, the home of Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers football team. Scotland were playing against England when a stand collapsed, killing 25 people and injuring over 500. At the time the match was brought to a halt but was soon allowed to continue as it was feared that stopping the game would see all of the spectators rushing for the exits. If this were to happen, it was thought it would slow down the efforts of the rescue workers. Most supporters didn’t even realise that anything had happened, and some even moved onto the now dangerous and abandoned area to continue watching the football match.
This wasn’t the only time that tragedy has struck at Ibrox Park; in 1961 two people were crushed to death on a stairway and in 1971 another 66 people died in another crush on stairways. Since then, the stadium has undergone several changes including improvements and expansions. It is now an all-seating stadium.