On this day in history – Page 35

On this day in history….28th September 1884

On this day in history : 28th September 1884 – Michael Marks and Tom Spencer form a partnership – bringing us a name we are all familiar with on the high street….

Michael Marks – Image credit : Bombix145 CC BY-SA 4.0

Marks, a Polish refugee, had opened a stall in Kirkgate Market, Leeds, some years before…. He had arrived in Britain, from his hometown of Slonim, Belarus with little money and only a smattering of English…. However, his penny bazaar – with its slogan ‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’ was soon a roaring success and he needed to take on a partner…. He approached an associate, Isaac Dewhirst, the owner of a wholesale company who had loaned him the money for his initial start-up costs…. Dewhirst recommended his senior cashier, Tom Spencer – who agreed and invested £300….

Thomas Spencer – Image credit : Andysmith248 CC BY-SA 4.0

Together they ran the business, adding ‘Admission free’ to the ‘it’s a penny’ slogan – drawing their potential customers in to browse without obligation to buy – quite an unusual concept in those days…. But it worked; by 1900 as well as 36 penny bazaars they had 12 high street shops….and became a public company in 1926…. The flagship store at Marble Arch, London, was opened in 1930…. Marks and Spencer was set to become a familiar landmark on so many high streets and in our shopping centres….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….27th September 1888

On this day in history : 27th September 1888 – A letter is received by the Central News Agency, London, signed ‘Jack the Ripper’….so giving the name to one of the most infamous murderers in British history….

The letter was addressed to ‘The Boss, Central News Office, London City’…. It began ‘Dear Boss’ and was signed ‘Yours truly Jack the Ripper’…. The contents of the letter were of a gloating nature – and at first it wasn’t taken seriously, being put down to another crank letter…. Two days later a postcard arrived, signed in the same manner – so both were passed on to the Metropolitan Police….

‘Dear Boss’ letter – ‘Jack the Ripper’ – Public domain

‘Jack the Ripper’ – Public domain

Although it has been commonly accepted by experts that neither correspondence was from the actual killer the name ‘Jack the Ripper’ stuck…. Previously names such as ‘The Whitechapel Murderer’, ‘Leather Apron’ and ‘Red Fiend’ had been used….

Jack the Ripper was responsible for five murders between the dates of August 31st and November 9th 1888…. All of the victims, Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly, were prostitutes and all but one had been brutally mutilated…. As well as the five proven cases the Ripper may well have been responsible for a further four murders – and possibly even another two in addition to that….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….26th September 1955

On this day in history : 26th September 1955 – Birds Eye launches one of the most famous of its products – the frozen fish finger….

Birds Eye fish fingers (1956) – Bradford Timeline via Flickr

After World War 2 there was an abundance of herrings in the UK – and after sampling ‘herring savouries’ in the United States Clarence Birdseye wondered if there could be a market for herring fish fingers in Britain…. A test was conducted; shoppers in Southampton and South Wales were asked to try the herring fish fingers and compare them to a blander alternative – cod…. Much to the surprise of Birdseye the public overwhelmingly preferred the taste of the cod variety….

The fish finger we know and love was launched at the Brighton Sales Conference in the Autumn of 1955 – it retailed at an introductory price of 1s 6d a pack…. Each finger came individually wrapped in a waxed film, then packaged in a wax coated carton…. In the first year the British public got through some 600 tonnes of fish fingers! Nowadays more than 1.5 million are sold on a daily basis….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….25th September 1818

On this day in history : 25th September 1818 – Obstetrician James Blundell performs the first successful transfusion of human blood at Guy’s Hospital, London….

James Blundell (Physician) – engraved by John Cochran after Henry Room – Public domain

Blundell performed the procedure on a woman who had haemorrhaged during childbirth…. However, it was not the first ever successful blood transfusion to be done…. The first is attributed to British physician Richard Lower in 1665 – who bled a dog almost to the point of death and then by transfusing blood from another dog managed to revive it….

And in 1667, Jean-Baptiste Denis, physician to King Louis XIV transfused the blood of a sheep to a 15-year-old boy…. He repeated the process on a labourer….both patients survived their transfusions….

An early blood transfusion from lamb to man – Image credit : Wellcome Collection CC BY

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….24th September 1776

On this day in history : 24th September 1776 – The St. Leger, the World’s oldest classic horse race, is run for the first time at Cantley Common, Doncaster….

Colonel Anthony St. Leger, an army officer and politician, founded the five horse race…. The original distance was 2 miles and the rules stipulated that colts and geldings were to carry 8 stone in weight with an allowance of 2 pounds for fillies….

Charles the Twelfth beats Euclid in the deciding heat of the St. Leger, 1839 – John Frederick Herring – Public domain

The very first race, which was still to be officially named – and was referred to as ‘A Sweepstake of 25 Guineas’ – was won by an un-named filly owned by the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (who also happened to be the event organiser)…. It was at a dinner party in 1777 that the race was christened the St. Leger Stakes – after its founder…. It had also been suggested it be named after the Marquess as the ‘Rockingham Stakes’….

Nowadays the St. Leger is run at Doncaster each year in September – it is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards (2,921 metres)…. This year the race was held on the 14th of September and was won by Logician, ridden by Frankie Dettori, his sixth win of the classic race….