… 1066 On Senlac Hill, about 6 miles north-west of Hastings, the English army of Harold and the army of William of Normandy stood opposite each other. At around 9 am the Normans made the first attacks, first with arrows, then by the infantry. The English replied with javelins and stones and the English shield wall, stayed intact.
William then sent in his cavalry, but within an hour, his left flank was broken and began to retreat. Unwisely some English soldiers then broke rank, to chase the retreating French, encouraged by the rumour that William was dead. William however, was not dead and removed his helmet to prove so to his troops. This boosted the morale of the Normans and their cavalry immediately charged at the broken ranks of the English. The English shield wall stood up well to the fresh assault but was weakened. This encouraged William to employ the tactic of feigned retreats in order to the cut down the chasing English.
Harold’s brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, were killed, followed shortly after by Harold himself, who legend has it, was felled by an arrow that struck him in the eye( a scene in the Bayeux Tapestry is probably responsible for this).The English fought on bravely, but without leadership, their moral and organisation suffered and they were beaten. [media=https://youtu.be/KolwDMp1HAY]
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1878 The first football match played under floodlights took place at Bramhall Lane, Sheffield, in front of a crowd of just under 20,000. Two generators positioned behind each goal powered lights on 30 ft. high wooden towers situated at each corner of the field. The light was deemed so bright that some ladies present put up their parasols to protect themselves from being burned!
1881 189 men died when the Berwickshire fishing fleet was caught in a hurricane. The tragedy, which became known locally as Black Friday, remains Scotland's worst fishing disaster. 129 of the victims came from the village of Eyemouth.
.. . Today is the anniversary of the Senghenydd Mining Disaster.
At 8.00am on Tuesday 14th October 1913, a huge explosion occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd. The explosion and subsequent release of poisonous gas claimed the lives of 439 miners of the 950 that were working underground at the time. It remains the most tragic mining disaster in British history.
It is thought that the explosion was caused by a spark from the electric signalling gear that ignited methane gas and was so violent that a pit cage was blown back up the shaft. It also caused coal dust lying on the mine floor to rise and catch fire and the fires were quickly followed by afterdamp, waves of poisonous carbon monoxide that suffocated the miners who had escaped the explosion.
Desperate rescue attempts were hampered by fires and fallen debris, but men and boys were found and rescued from among the wreckage, however after three weeks all hope had long gone of finding further survivors and it was only the dead bodies of the victims that were brought to the surface. Some could only be identified by their clothing, with one heartbreaking story being that of a young boy, identified by the patch on his jacket that his mother had sewn on a few days earlier.
The subsequent enquiry was critical of the owners and management for the poor safety standards at the colliery, especially as lessons had not been learned from a previous disaster in 1901 in which 81 men were killed, but incredibly only £24 in total was ever paid out as fines or compensation and Universal Colliery was back in operation by the end of the following month. There is a memorial to the men and boys who lost their lives at Nant y Parc Primary School, which stands on the site of the mine and another at the local comprehensives school as well as a clock on Senghenydd square.
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1916 Sophomore tackle and guard Paul Robeson is excluded from the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee University refuses to play against a Black person.(Yes-this is the singer).
14 Oct 1967 The second series of The Monkees TV show started on BBC TV in the UK. Plans for the shows to be screened in colour were dropped, so it was aired in black & white.
14 Oct 1966 Pink Floyd played their first ever "underground" set when they appeared at All Saints Hall, Notting Hill, London, UK.
14 Oct 1965 The Rolling Stones, The Spencer Davis Group, Unit 4 Plus 2, The Checkmates, The Habit, The End and Charlie Dickins all appeared at The Odeon, Birmingham during a UK tour.
