On This Day ... in 1649 & Others
King Charles I was beheaded
1857: Uniform was formally introduced in the Royal Navy for ratings.
1902: The Anglo-Japanese Naval Treaty was signed.
1942: Japanese troops landed on the island of Ambon in the East Indies, defended by Dutch and Australian troops. The island was taken despite a determined defence.
1943: RAF exploited the superlative performance of the unarmed Mosquito bomber to make its first ever daylight raids on Berlin to spoil the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the Third Reich. Three Mosquitos, unescorted, conducted a nuisance raid in the morning, whilst three more returned in the afternoon. That evening saw the first major use of the H2S ground-mapping radar by Bomber Command heavy bombers, in a night attack on Hamburg. The city was chosen because its many waterways and docks showed up clearly on H2S, the radar being at its best in showing the contrast between land and water.
1968: The Tet Offensive began in Vietnam. While the attacks were a military defeat for the Communist forces it proved to be a propaganda victory accelerating the American public's growing opposition to the war and causing United States military planners to question whether victory was possible.
Comments
You might like to know that the illegal execution of King Charles was marked by the Kings Army part of the English Civil War Society in London over the weekend. Five hundred members paraded from St James' Palace to the Banqueting House, following our noble King's route on that fateful day. We held the 17C service of rememberance and laid a wreath in his memory. We then then paraded back via his staute on Trafalgar Square. Here are some photo links!
Remember!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff_e/sets/72157600138905356/
http://history.beardsworth.co.uk/
God Save the King!
Posted by: JamesC | January 30, 2008 12:30 AM
Not the military planners, my dear good sir, unless you are speaking of the utter "nangers" of the LBJ administration who micromanaged the war from thousands of miles away and made Tet possible.
Posted by: Dan | January 30, 2008 5:12 AM
Perhaps its time to bring back beheading, not much of a royalist but I'm all for starting with parliament, both houses of course in fairness!
Posted by: TimC | January 30, 2008 12:07 PM
How was it done? Sword? Axe?
Posted by: DoubleTapper | January 30, 2008 7:27 PM
I'm shocked that Red Ken would permit a procession of well armed Englishmen through his domain. No Asian or African participants? No blessing from an imam? by God, Sir, I hope a lesbian or two was present!
Posted by: MP | January 31, 2008 7:46 PM
DT, he was beheaded by axe, the proper way to execute a gentleman.
Posted by: Jeff Wood | January 30, 2009 1:22 PM
Beheading heads of state? What an excellent idea.
May we borrow it?
Posted by: Kim du Toit | January 30, 2009 3:35 PM
My dear Kim, feel free.
Mind you, hanging remains the traitor's death, and is the correct way to deal the present British government.
Shooting, I feel, is a soldier's death, though as a professional courtesy it can be extended to spies and partisans.
Posted by: Jeff Wood | January 30, 2009 4:17 PM
Nothing like 350 y.o.regicide to bring out the vigor.
Think we can get Guy Fawkes to do a special on the US Congress for the BBC?
Posted by: Cris | February 1, 2009 11:19 AM
there are plenty of horses in the outskirts of London, take the politician and AGW traitors, tie an arm or leg to each of 4 horses, then fire a gun in the air, then start the next one, sounds like a good "reality" show to me.
Posted by: Chris Edwards | January 30, 2010 4:25 AM
"there are plenty of horses in the outskirts of London"
Yet the horses' asses are IN London at Westminster
Col Beausaber
Posted by: Beausaber | January 30, 2010 1:45 PM
"The most interesting thing about king Charles is that he was 5'6'' tall at the start of his reign, but only 4'8'' at the end of it... because of OLIVER CROMWELL"
Well, the Pythons skipped the true punchline of this historical event: The uproar it caused among the ever-crawling and -creeping British royalists (yes guv, right you are guv...). A dirty little commoner dared to lay his hands on the beloved Führer (sorry, the divine king of course) !!!! What a sacrilege!!!! If toffs murder toffs that's all right. (See the two princes in the Tower.) But a peasant spilling royal blood - unforgivable!! Naughty, naughty Oliver!
This is something that really makes me laugh and I will never understand the British. Keep on crawling, I dare say!
Carry on seargant mayor!
Posted by: General von Klinkerhofen | February 5, 2010 8:03 PM