Aug 19

The Hungerford Massacre occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England on August 19, 1987. Michael Robert Ryan, a 27-year-old unemployed local laborer, was armed with two semi-automatic rifles and a hand gun. He shot and killed 16 people, including his mother, and wounded 15 others, then fatally shot himself. It remains, along with the Dunblane massacre, one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history.

Ryan was an only child and reportedly bullied at school. Press biographies stated his fondness for, and possibly even an obsession, with guns. They also claimed his possessed magazines about survival skills and firearms, like Soldier of Fortune, and was a fan of First Blood, the first Rambo film (this was later revealed to be untrue). The first shooting occurred seven miles to the west of Hungerford in Savermake Forest in Wiltshire in the afternoon of August 19. Fifteen minutes later, he returned home and shot and killed his mother. He set fire to the house with gasoline that he bought earlier in the day.

On foot, Ryan injured and killed several people before taking refuge at the John O’Gaunt Community Technology College, which was closed and empty for summer holidays. Police surrounded the building and negotiators made contact with him. At 7 p.m., Ryan shot himself in the school. The massacre led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic center-fire rifles and restricted the use of shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than two rounds.

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Aug 13

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name derives from a speech made in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”

The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign attempted up until that date. The failure of Nazi Germany to destroy Britain’s air defense or to break the country’s morale is considered its first major defeat. Adolf Hitler believed it possible to carry out a successful amphibious assault on Britain until the RAF had been neutralized.

Secondary objectives were to destroy aircraft production and ground infrastructure, to attack areas of political significance, and to terrorize the British people into seeking an armistice or surrender. The main attack upon the RAF’s defenses was code-named “Eagle Attack” and was delayed because of weather until August 13, 1940. The raids appeared to show British radars were difficult to knock out for any length of time. The failure to mount follow-up attacks allowed the RAF to get the stations back on the air, and Luftwaffe neglected strikes on the supporting infrastructure could have rendered the radars useless.

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Jul 30

The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup was held in England from July 11 to July 30, 1966. England was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1960 to celebrate the centenary of the codification of football in the country. England won the final, beating West Germany 4-2, giving them their first (and only to this date) World Cup win, becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.

There was a record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with 70 nations taking part. The format of the competition featured 16 qualified teams divided into four groups of four. The two top teams in each group advanced to the quarter-final. Despite achieving record attendances for the time, 1966 was a World Cup with few goals as the teams began to play more tactically and defensively.

For example, England finished top of Group 1 with only four goals to their credit, but having none scored against them. London’s Wembley Stadium provided the venue for the final and 98,000 people attended. The score was level at 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes and the game went into extra time. Geoff Hurst scored twice for England, becoming the only player to have scored three times in a World Cup final.

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Jul 19

The SS Great Britain was the first ocean-going ship to have an iron hull and a screw propeller and, when launched, was the largest vessel afloat. She originally carried 120 first-class passengers, 132 second-class passengers, and 130 officers and crew. When an extra deck was added, it increased the number of passengers to 730.

The SS Great Britain was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Thomas Guppy, Christopher Claxton, and William Patterson for the Great Western Steamship Company and built in a specially adapted dry dock in Bristol, England. Weather conditions on the day of the launch were generally favorable with large crowds gathering, eagerly anticipating the unfurling of the Royal Emblem. Prince Albert boarded the ship and inspected it at 12 noon.

She was towed away from her builders to have her engines and interior fitted out on the River Thames. She was moored in the Floating Harbour for a year or more before proceeding into Cumberland Basin in December 1944. At the time of her launch in 1843, she was by far the largest ship in the world, over 100 feet longer than her rivals, and the first screw-propelled, ocean-going wrought iron ship.