Sunday, 11 August 2013

Queen's Silver Jubilee

Daily Mirror dated Wednesday June 8th 1977
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1977 marked the 25th year of the reign of Elizabeth II. She actually succeeded to the throne on 6th February 1952 but the main Silver Jubilee celebrations were held in early June.

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Idi Amin seized power in a military coup in Uganda in 1971 and declared himself President for Life. His regime was notorious for its horrendous human rights abuses and by 1976 Britain has severed diplomatic ties and closed its High Commission.  Amin didn’t get to London and the 1977 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In April 1979 he was deposed and he went to Libya and then, later, to Saudi Arabia, where he died in 2003. 

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On May 23rd 1977 a train was hijacked at De Punt in Holland by 9 South Moluccan terrorists. At the same time 4 others took a hundred children and some teachers hostage at a nearby primary school. After a 20 day stand-off, on June 11th, Dutch Marines attacked both the train and the school and 7 of the hijackers including Hansina Oktoseja were killed.  

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The 1977 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Gleneagles, Scotland, lasted from June 8th to 15th. Africa, particularly Rhodesia, South Africa and Uganda, dominated the agenda.

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In 2008 the UK Kennel Club listed the top 5 most popular dogs as Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Springer Spaniel, German Shepherd and King Charles Spaniel. What’s wrong with the Great British Mongrel?

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Lester Maddox was a restaurant owner who used the publicity for his eatery to promote the continuation of black/white segregation in Georgia. He gathered such a following from working-class whites that he entered politics eventually becoming State Governor in 1966. Proving that real people are less like stereotypes than fictional characters, Maddox was reasonably progressive on many racial matters. While in office he backed prison reform, an issue popular with many of the state's African Americans, he appointed more African Americans to government positions than all previous Georgia governors combined, including the first black officer in the Georgia State Patrol and the first black official to the state Board of Corrections. After unsuccessfully running for Presidential candidate he abandoned politics.

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According to other online resources it was actually Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, not Dorset, and the ancestor of President Carter that went to America was Thomas Carter Sr, who settled in Virginia. Thomas’ great-great-grandson Kindred Carter moved to Jimmy Carter’s home state of Georgia in the early 1800’s.

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Interesting story but yet another lousy ‘pun’ headline. The story has nothing to do with motorcycle stunt riding, which might have justified an Evel Knievel reference.

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My parents used to pay 1 shilling (5p) a day for my school meals and they were awful. Not my parents – the meals.

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The word ‘hero’ has been devalued over the years by applying it to anyone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but to consciously put yourself, like unarmed policeman Keith Harrison, between an intended victim and a man with a loaded shotgun is true heroism. 

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Viv Richards, a West Indian cricketer, born in Antigua, so famous even I have heard of him. Apparently 241 not out is a good score.

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