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Posted: 06-09-2009 11:09 Post subject: Anniversaries

Every year will contain anniversaries of various sorts, but I get the impression that 2009 has produced a richer crop than most.

Off the top of my head there's:

Darwin's birth 200 (years ago)
On the Origin of Species 150
Girl Guides turned up at Boy Scout rally 100 (GGs became 'official' in 1910)
Start of WWII (and numerous associated events) 70
Moon Landings 40
Beatles break-up 40

And those are only the ones which are multiples of ten. If we include 'fives' we have

Death of Alan Turing 55
Libyan Embassy siege 25

There must be many more, and most of them spawn radio and TV progs.
A chap on R4 this morning (sorry, can't find a link) argued that mathematically, anniversaries are increasing, and soon there will be no room for any other news at all! Cool

Posted: 06-09-2009 12:08 Post subject:

Oh, and

Mini production 50

(The car, not the skirt! Wink

)

Posted: 06-09-2009 17:35 Post subject:

It's Samuel Johnson's 300th Birthday. Radio 4 is dramatizing Boswell's Life and Any Questions was from Lichfield this week. Smile

Posted: 06-09-2009 20:02 Post subject: Re: Anniversaries

Posted: 06-09-2009 20:13 Post subject:

It's Alfred Lord Tennyson's 200 th birthday as well and Edgar Allen Poe's....

Posted: 06-09-2009 20:56 Post subject:

I knew there'd be more...! Wink

Posted: 06-09-2009 21:06 Post subject:

It's also 40 years since Gaddafi seized control of Libya!

Posted: 07-09-2009 00:04 Post subject:

250 years since Guinness was first brewed.

Well worth celebrating! Very Happy

Posted: 07-09-2009 23:27 Post subject:

It's Buddy Holly's birthday. Don't forget to call your radio station and demand a tribute set. If they don't have Buddy, they'll have multiple people covering him.

Damn. I posted this way late for most of you.

Posted: 08-09-2009 14:21 Post subject:

Posted: 10-09-2009 09:27 Post subject:

It will be 25 years on Thursday since British scientist Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys discovered the DNA fingerprint. Claire Marshall joined him in his laboratory to talk about his breakthrough and the changes it has wrought over the last 25 years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys still works in the same laboratory at Leicester University where, a quarter of a century ago, he discovered, by chance, the genetic fingerprint.

His "eureka" moment came on the morning of Monday 10 September 1984 when he pulled an x-ray film out of the developing tank in the laboratory.

He could see patterns in the genetic material which completely discriminated between the three people who had been involved in the analysis: a technician, and a mother and a father.

"Within seconds," said Prof Jeffreys, "it was obvious that we had stumbled upon a DNA-based method not only for biological identification, but also for sorting out family relationships. It really was an extraordinary moment."

The new technique quickly attracted publicity when it helped to settle a difficult immigration case.

etc...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8245312.stm

Posted: 12-09-2009 09:40 Post subject:

Posted: 16-09-2009 08:44 Post subject:

Porthleven service for hero Guy Gibson
1:00pm Tuesday 15th September 2009

An open air service is being held this Saturday to remember Porthleven hero Guy Gibson.

Guy, who spent his childhood days in Cornwall and lived for a time in Porthleven, his mother’s home, was wing commander with the Dambusters in the Second World War and received the Victoria Cross for his daring.

The squadron’s courageous low-level night bombing attacks on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams during World War II remain legendary.

September 19 marks the [65th] anniversary of Guy’s death, in the latter days of the war during a Mosquito Pathfinder mission.

Guy spent his childhood days in Cornwall and lived for a time in Porthleven, his mother’s home.

Members of the Helston branch of the Royal Air Force Association gather each year to commemorate the anniversary of his death and at 2pm on Saturday they will be at Porthleven cemetery for a service mirroring the one that takes place at his graveside in Steenburgen, Holland.

This year is particularly poignant, as it marks 70 years since the outbreak of the conflict.

Flowers will be placed on the memorial tablet in memory of the sacrifice made by Guy and many of his squadron colleagues all those years ago.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/4629707.Porthleven_service_for_hero_Guy_Gibson/?ref=mr

Posted: 20-09-2009 14:36 Post subject:

I'm surprised the Scots here missed this one:

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) Wink

Another 250th anniversary!

Posted: 30-09-2009 08:51 Post subject:

Audio slideshow: Blake's 'Informal Panorama'
The artist Quentin Blake - best known for his illustrations in Roald Dahl's children's books - has unveiled a 70-foot-long work celebrating the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University.

On display at Addenbrooke's Hospital - and in his own distinctive style - Quentin Blake's mural depicts famous alumni from centuries past. Take a guided tour with the artist himself.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8281204.stm