This Day In History..., Celtic events around the world

[Keltic]

November 3, 1810- Twenty-two people were killed and more than 40 others were injured when gun powder being stored in a labourers house exploded. Workers from the Ballincollig gunpowder works, in Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland, were stealing the gunpowder. Before selling the gunpowder, it had to be dried by holding a lit candle over the powder. Apparently, one of the men who died in the blast had been seen at a local tavern, drinking heavily.

[Keltic]

November 8, 1847 - Abraham “Bram” Stoker, was born in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. He was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 novel Dracula.

[Keltic]

November 20, 1920 - Bloody Sunday - Fourteen British intelligence agents, known as the “Cairo gang”, were assassinated by members of the IRA.

Later in the day, British soldiers, the “Black and Tans”, fired into a crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing Fourteen and injuring sixty others.

As well, three republican prisoners being held in Dublin Castle were found shot. The official explanation stated that they were trying to escape.

[Keltic]

November 23, 1835 - An invention by Scottish born Henry Burden of Troy, New York, was patented. His machine manufactured sixty horseshoes per minute. The majority of the horseshoes used by the Union Cavalry during the Civil War were manufactured in his plant.

[Keltic]

November 28, 1666 - Sir Thomas Dalyell's horse regiment intercepted a group of Covenanters who had marched to Edinburgh from the west of Scotland to protest against religious discrimination. Fifty protestors were killed in what is known as the battle of Rullion Green.

This battle was the culmination of the Pentland Rising which began on November 15, 1666 after troops were found beating an elderly man who had defaulted on a fine for not attending government-approved church services. At the height, about 3000 men were amassed during the rising, however, those numbers dwindled to 900 by November 28.

[Keltic]

December 3, 1894 - On this day, Famous Scots novelist Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) died of a stroke in Samoa at the age of forty-four.

Natives hacked a path up Mount Vaea to bury him, and his epitaph was his own poem, Requiem.

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

So loved by the Samoans, this poem was translated to a Samoan song of grief which is still sung today

[Keltic]

December 4, 1837 - William Lyon Mackenzie assembled forces for an attack on Toronto in an attempt to overthrow the Government of the day.

Mackenzie was a Scottish born American and Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.

William Lyon Mackenzie biography

[Keltic]

December 6, 1921 - Agnes McPhail became the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons

December 6, 1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty (Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland) was signed concluding the Irish War of Independence. An ultimatum was issued to the effect that if the terms weren’t agreed to by the Irish, they would face the renewal of war.

December 6, 1922 - The Irish Free State created by the Anglo-Irish Treaty came into force on 6 December 1922 by Royal Proclamation

[Keltic]

December 8, 1542 - Mary Queen of Scots, (Mary Stuart) was born in Linlithgow Palace on 8 December 1542. She spent much of her early life in France and in 1558 married the French dauphin, Francois. She was the only legitimate child of King James V who died when she was 6 days old. She succeeded him and was crowned nine months later.

[Keltic]

January 1, 1651 - Charles II was crowned King of Scots at Scone. It was the last coronation that took place in Scotland.

January 1, 1847 - The British Relief Association was founded. It was formed to aid in overcoming the distress caused by the potato failure in Ireland and Scotland.

[Keltic]

January 8, 1945 - On this day in 1945, Kevin Conneff, vocalist and bodhran player for the Chieftains since 1976 was born in Donore, Ireland. Happy Birthday, Kevin and here's to many more!!

[Keltic]

January 11, 1815 - Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's founding Prime Minister, was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

[Keltic]

January 28, 1822 - Alexander Mackenzie, Canada's second Prime Minister was born in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland.

January 28, 1866 - Robert Foulis died in poverty in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and moved to Canada in 1818 after the death of his first wife. Among his accomplishments was inventing the steam powered foghorn, founding the New Brunswick's first iron foundry in 1825 and a school of arts in 1838. He also patented a gas light apparatus that was later used in lighthouses.

[Keltic]

January 30, 1972 - British army paratroopers shot 13 civilians during a civil rights demonstration in Derry. A tribunal exonerated the army but also found that none of the 13 dead were armed.

[Keltic]

January 31, 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender) died in exile in Rome.