November 4th - 10th
On 4th November…
Cardinal Wolsey arrested for treason
1529 - Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was arrested on charges of treason against King Henry VIII. He was a once trusted minister of Henry VIII who worked closely by the king’s side. Thomas’s downfall can be blamed partly upon his inability to get the Pope to grant Henry a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He died on his way to London to face his trial.
On 5th November…
Guy Fawkes was arrested
1605 - Guy Fawkes was arrested for his part in the Gunpowder Plot after barrels of gunpowder camouflaged with coal were discovered under the Houses of Parliament. The Plot aimed to blow up the Protestant Parliament along with King James VI & I and replace both Government and the king with Catholics.
Today we remember this episode of history with Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night; celebrated on 5th November with bonfires, fireworks and sparklers. Sometimes a dummy called a ‘Guy’ is burnt on the bonfire representing Guy Fawkes. Ever since the Gunpowder Plot, whenever a king or queen visits Parliament, even today, royal guards search beneath the Houses of Parliament just in case there are any plotters or explosives lurking in the cellars.
The Glorious Revolution
1688 - The Glorious Revolution began when Prince William of Orange and his army landed near Torquay in the south of England. This was when he and his wife Mary had been invited by English Parliament to overthrow King James VII & II and take the throne of England. Parliament was unhappy with the king and his reign. His wife Mary was the eldest daughter of the Engish king.
It was called the Glorious Revolution because it was done peacefully and without a drop of blood being spilt.
On 6th November…
Coronation of King Henry VI
1429 - King Henry VI was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. He had been king since the age of nine months when his father Henry V died in 1422. The later years of his reign were marred by the Wars of the Roses and battles with House York over who had the right to the throne and be king of England.
Henry VI was deposed in 1461 but restored to the throne again for a very short time in 1470 before being replaced again by King Edward IV.
On 7th November…
Marie Curie was born
1867 - Marie Curie the scientist who discovered radium was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1903 she became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Physics for her work on radioactivity; she won it jointly with her husband Pierre Curie, and another scientist, Henri Becquerel.
In 1911 she won another Nobel Prize, this time for Chemistry for creating a means of measuring radioactivity. During World War I Marie Curie developed small mobile x-ray units that could be used near to the front line to diagnose injuries of the soldiers fighting there.
On 8th November…
Bonnie Prince Charlie marched into England
1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart or Bonnie Prince Charlie entered England with his army of Jacobites. The aim was to march to London with his troops along with a French army and claim back the English throne which had been his grandfather’s, King James VII & II, before he was deposed and replaced by William and Mary.
The promised support from the French never materialised and by the time the Scots, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, had reached Derby just 125 miles north of London, the Jacobite officers voted to return to Scotland. They realised that their brave few were no match for the might of the English forces without the French army to support them.
1847 - Bram Stoker, the Irish author of Dracula, was born in Dublin, Ireland. Dracula is the story about a vampire called Count Dracula who survives not by eating regular food, but by drinking human blood.
Rupert Bear made his first appearance in the Daily Express
1920 - Rupert Bear made his debut as a comic strip in the English newspaper the Daily Express. Rupert is a young bear who wears a red jumper and yellow check trousers with matching scarf. He goes on adventures with his friends: Bill Badger, Edward Trunk, Podgy Pig, Willie Mouse and many others.
1965 - The Murder Act came into effect which abolished the death penalty for murder in the U.K. It suspended the death penalty for an initial five-year period but was made permanent in 1969. You could still be sentenced to death for treason or piracy with violence as these weren’t abolished until 1998.
The U.K. is now fully abolitionist, which means that there is no death penalty whatsoever for any crime committed in the U.K.
On 9th November…
Queen Victoria gave birth to her second child
1841 - King Edward VII of Great Britain was born in Buckingham Palace, London. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He became king in 1901 when his mother died.
1888 - Mary Jane Kelly, possibly the last victim of the Victorian serial killer, Jack the Ripper was found murdered in her bed at 13 Miller’s Court in London.
1953 - The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas died aged 39 years. He is best known for his poem ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ and short play ‘Under Milk Wood’.
1989 - The Berlin Wall stopped being a barrier between East and West Germany when guards were allowed to open the border and allow German citizens from East Germany to cross into West Germany. Germany had been divided between Russia and the West after World War II. The Eastern side of the country was under Russian rule and became communist whilst West Germany remained free. At the time of the division Berlin was the German capital city and stood in the Eastern sector. The city became divided in two and was separated by a wall known as the Berlin Wall. As it was built the wall separated families and friends, people who had lived next door to each other now found themselves on opposite sides of the Wall. West Berlin was an island of free capitalism in the middle of communist East Germany. Many people had died trying to get from East to West Germany by going over or under the Wall, so as soon as it was known that people could cross freely thousands of people flooded to the wall to get across. People began breaking down the Wall, demolishing it and sending huge parts crashing to the ground. The guards who had monitored East Germany and who had been ordered to shoot people attempting to cross just hours before, were now happily letting them pass through. Germany was being reunified into one country again.
On 10th November…
Martin Luther was born
1483 - Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer was born in Saxony, a part of Germany. He played a major part in bringing Protestantism to Europe.
George II was born in Hanover, Germany
1683 - King George II was born in Germany. He was the only son of King George I and became king when his father died. King George II had nine children with his wife Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.