On this day in history – Page 139

On this day in history….22nd November 1946

On this day in history : 22nd November 1946 – The first British Biro ballpoint pen goes on sale…. It was manufactured by a British company but had originally been designed by Hungarian Laszlo Biro….

Biro’s invention – Image credit : Roberto Fiadone – edited by Daniel Schwen – CC BY-SA 2.5

Laszlo, who was a Hungarian-Jewish newspaper editor living in Germany, got frustrated with the amount of time he spent filling up his fountain pen with ink – and then cleaning up the mess afterwards…. He couldn’t help but notice that the ink used for printing newspapers did not smudge and so the paper it was used on stayed dry…. He approached his brother, Gyorgy, who was a chemist, to help him develop an ink that could be used in a pen….

The first patent for such a writing instrument had originally been issued in October 1888 to John J Loud – who had wanted something he could write with on coarse surfaces, such as wood, rough paper and leather…. His pen nib had a small rotating steel ball held by a socket…. However, it did not sell commercially and the patent expired…. Further attempts by others to create a reliable ballpoint which delivered ink properly failed – the ink would either be too thin, or would clog…. Very often the ball socket would be too tight, not allowing ink to reach the paper…. But the Biro brothers managed to get the formula just right – and a patent was filed on the 15th of June 1938….

In 1941 the brothers had to flee Germany and the Nazis…. Along with friend Juan Jorge Meyne they went to Argentina – and together they formed Biro Pens of Argentina, with a new patent filed in the US in 1943…. The pens were sold as the Birome in Argentina and are still known by this name there…. Britain soon cottoned on to this revolutionary new pen and started to produce them for use by RAF aircrews – as they could be used at high altitudes – whereas fountain pens leaked even more….

Advert in Argentine magazine ‘Leoplan’, 1945 – Image credit : Revista Leoplan, Argentina, ano 1945 – CC BY-SA 2.5

In 1946 Catalonian firm Vila Sevilla Hermanos began making ballpoint pens in contract with French firm Societe Bic – hence the name Bic-Biro….

On this day in history….28th October 1986

On this day in history : 28th October 1986 – Jeremy Bamber is jailed for life for the White House Farm murders – where he killed five members of his own family….

Bamber shortly after his arrest – Fair use

The Bambers were a wealthy farming family, living at White House Farm, a large Georgian property near to Tolleshunt D’Arcy in Essex…. Jeremy was legally adopted by the family as a baby…. Four years previously they had also adopted a baby girl, Sheila….

White House Farm (in 2007) – Image credit : Glyn Baker CC BY-SA 2.0

After leaving school Bamber’s adoptive father paid for him to travel to Australia and New Zealand…. Here he reputedly became involved in drug smuggling – and also broke into a jewellery shop, stealing two valuable watches….

Once he had returned to the UK and after a few casual jobs, Bamber began to work for the family farm…. However, he was resentful of the low wage – despite living rent free in one of the family’s cottages and having been given a car…. He further showed his lack of appreciation by committing a robbery at the caravan park owned by his family….

Bamber’s adoptive parents Neville and June Bamber – Fair use

Bamber’s adoptive sister, Sheila, had been treated in hospital for schizophrenia…. On the 7th of August 1985 at 3.30am 24-year-old Bamber phoned the police to say his father had phoned him and told him that Sheila had got hold of his gun and had gone berserk with it…. When the police arrived at the house they found her dead, with the gun lay on her chest – along with a Bible…. Her mother lay dead in the same room, her father was found dead in the kitchen and Sheila’s 6-year-old twin boys lay dead in their beds upstairs….

Sheila and her twin boys, Daniel and Caffell (around 1984) – Fair use

At first police believed that Sheila had killed them all before turning the gun on herself…. But when Bamber’s girlfriend came forward and said that he had talked about killing his parents forensic tests were carried out and revealed his fingerprints on the gun…. Bamber had been set to inherit £436,000….

As the guilty verdict was read out at Chelmsford Crown Court Bamber showed little reaction…. Judge Mr. Justice Drake described him as “Warped and evil beyond belief”…. He then handed down five life sentences….

Bamber has always protested his innocence…. In July 2001 an inquiry was launched into the case and it was referred back to the Court of Appeal…. In December 2002 Bamber lost his appeal….

British History

On this day in history….16th September 1847

On this day in history : 16th September 1847 – The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust buys the house in which playwright William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, for £3,000….

The timbered house situated on Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, is believed to be where Shakespeare was born in 1564 and where he spent his childhood….

It is thought the building dates to the 1400s…. At the time of Shakespeare’s birth his father was renting the house but ten years later was in a position to buy it along with another property in Henley Street…. The house remained in the family until 1806 when it was sold to Thomas Court, a butcher….

In the following years the house fell into disrepair – but interest in it sparked again when writers such as Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Isaac Watts and Thomas Carlyle visited, wanting to see Shakespeare’s birthplace….

1769 engraving of Shakespeare’s birthplace from Gentleman’s Magazine, July 1769 – Public domain

The house was put up for sale in 1846 – American showman P.T.Barnum planned to buy it and ship it back to the United States, where he intended to have it rebuilt…. To prevent this from happening the Shakespeare Birthday Committee was formed and with the help of the likes of Dickens the necessary £3,000 to buy it was raised – and restoration work began…. The committee later became the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust….

Nowadays Shakespeare’s birthplace is a museum and popular tourist attraction – it is often referred to as ‘a mecca for all lovers of literature’….

British History

On this day in history….13th August 1964

On this day in history : 13th August 1964 – The last two criminals to face the death penalty in Britain are simultaneously hanged for the murder of a laundry van driver In Cumberland….

24 year old Gwynne Evans dropped to his death at the hands of hangman Harry Allen in Strangeways Prison, Manchester – whilst at exactly the precise same time 21 year old Peter Allen was hanged in Walton Jail, Liverpool by Robert Leslie Stewart….

The pair had been convicted of killing 53 year old John Alan West at his home in Seaton, Cumberland…. John West, known as ‘Jack’, was a bachelor and had worked for the Lakeland Laundry at Workington for 34 years…. He had returned home after an ordinary days work and gone about his usual evening routine…. But then, at 3am, a neighbour was woken by noises coming from West’s house…. On looking out of the window he saw a car disappearing – and he called the police…. West was found dead, with severe head injuries and a stab wound to the chest….

A search of the property revealed a raincoat which had been left behind by Evans…. In one of the pockets was a medal, along with the name and address of a Norma O’Brian in Liverpool…. The police contacted her and she confirmed that she knew Evans and that the medal belonged to him….

Evans was traced through his criminal and army records to the home of his parents – and from there they were able to find Allen…. Within 36 hours both men had been arrested – on being questioned Allen initially claimed that he had been at home with his wife on the night of the murder – however, it soon came to be that both men were blaming each other for striking the fatal blows…. Both were found guilty of murder at trial….

By now public opinion had turned against capital punishment – despite this calls for a reprieve failed…. Theirs were, however, to be the last executions in Britain….

British History

On this day in history….12th August 1964

On this day in history : 12th August 1964 – A massive manhunt gets under way after Great Train Robber Charlie Wilson escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham….

32 year old Wilson had been the gang’s treasurer; it had been his job to divide up the £2.6m haul between the gang members, with each receiving £150k…. Wilson was quickly captured after the robbery – and at his trial he became known as ‘the silent man’ due to his refusal to speak…. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment….

Just four months into his sentence, on the 12th of August 1964, three men broke into the prison during the early hours and freed him…. They had stolen a ladder from a nearby builders’ yard, which they used to gain access into the grounds of a psychiatric hospital next door to the prison…. From there they were able to use a rope ladder to scale the 20ft prison wall…. Once inside they coshed a guard and tied him up before opening Wilson’s cell door…. It remains a mystery as to how they got the key, as there was only one designated key holder on site – and it was not the guard that they had attacked….

Wilson was on the run for three and a half years…. He was eventually recaptured in Canada on the 24th of January 1968 – after his wife had called her parents in England, only for the call to be traced…. Wilson was returned to England to finish his sentence…. He was released in 1978….

He emigrated to Marbella, Spain and became suspected of being involved with a drug smuggling ring…. Wilson was alledged to have lost some of the ring’s money through bad investments – and on the 23rd of April 1990, whilst relaxing beside his swimming pool, he was shot dead by a hitman….