Happy Birthday Phloppy

[Sandra]

Have a wonderful day. xxx

[Red Baron]

Happy birthday. Have a lovely day.

[Julian Mince]

Happy birthday PP - may your day be effervescent!

[mis]

Happy Birthday Phloppy.

[SuzySu]

Happy Birthday

[Raif]

Happy birthday George! Xxx

[Redpig59]

Happy birthday mate.
Not many more now, eh?

[Gaspode]

Have a great day Phil. Enjoy them while they last..

[Poodlepan]

Happy Birthday Phloppy! XX

[Caroline]

Many happy returns Phloppy!

[Lisa]

Happy birthday to you and William Shakespeare!

Happy death day to William Shakespeare and St George!

[ChoccyCake]

Happy Birthday Phloppy

[Claude Balls]

Many happy returns Phloppy - a few factoids from this day in history, to brighten your day:

871 The death of Æthelred I (sometimes rendered as Ethelred) king of Wessex from 865 to 871.

1016 Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred II (Ethelred the Unready) as king of England. Unready, meaning 'poorly advised' was a play on his name, which means 'well advised'.

1348 The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III. It is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England's patron saint. Membership to the order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four 'members, or companions.'

1564 The birth of poet & playwright William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He died on his 52nd birthday in 1616.

1661 Charles II was crowned King of England, completing the restoration of the monarchy. His father, Charles I, had been beheaded by Oliver Cromwell following the Civil War.

1775 J M W Turner, English painter was born. He was one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. His painting of Raby Castle, commissioned by the third earl of Darlington, was one of Turner's most successful "house portraits."

1850 William Wordsworth, English poet, died. For almost 9 years he lived and wrote at Dove Cottage - Grasmere. See ©BB picture. The Lakeland poet was also inspired by the beauty of Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr in North Wales that he wrote the poem 'Vale of Meditation' about the area.

1879 The first Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in Stratford-upon-Avon, and in 1932 the New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (see ©BB picture) was opened by the Prince of Wales.

1915 The death, aged 27 (from an infected mosquito bite) of the English poet Rupert Brooke, known for his war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". - If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. This statue of Brooke is in his home town of Rugby.

1942 – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

1968 The first decimal coins appeared in Britain - the 5p and 10p pieces which replaced the 1 shilling and 2 shilling coins.

1980 The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia was expelled from the country following the broadcast on British TV of the documentary 'Death of a Princess'. It depicted the life and execution of a Saudi Arabian Princess found guilty of committing adultery.

1982 The launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer. The entry level model had 16 kB RAM and an external tape recorder was needed to load the majority of software. It was 'a computer for the masses' and much cheaper than its rivals - the Commodore 64 and the BBC Microcomputer.

1983 Canadian snooker player Cliff Thorburn completed the first televised maximum break of 147 during the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield.

1990 Charlie Wilson, the ‘silent man' of the Great Train Robbery (8th August 1963), was shot dead at his home near Marbella, Spain.

2011 The death of John Sullivan, the television scriptwriter responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.

2013 Data from the UK Peace Index showed that rates of murder and violent crime had fallen more rapidly in the UK in the previous decade than anywhere else in Western Europe, with a fall in UK homicides per 100,000 people from 1.99 in 2003, to 1 in 2012.

2014 Research by Leicester University found that people who migrate to the Mediterranean are unhappier than those who remain in northern European countries, including the UK. Reasons cited included not having a sense of belonging, struggling without family ties and a damage to social standing by perhaps living in a less economical country.

[Redpig59]

People who emigrate to the Med tend to be whiny types anyway, don't they?

[ChoccyCake]

Claude the currency turned decimal in 1971 that is fifty years ago
From Pounds, Shillings and pence. IIRC Definiteluy not in 1968

[Claude Balls]

To prepare the nation for the changeover in currency systems, the Decimal Currency Board (DCB) was set up, running a public information campaign in the two years prior to the switchover on Monday 15 February 1971, also known as Decimal Day.

Three years before changeover, new 5p and 10p coins were introduced; these were the same size and worth the same amount as the one and two shilling coins. In 1969 a new 50p coin was introduced to replace the old 10 bob (shilling) note.

[West LW]

Ditto the nice posts.

Ditto the "on this day" ones as well.

[Gaspode]

In my old family home, now my big bro's house, there is stashed away somewhere a selection of pre decimal coinage including a ten bob note. Mom was a hoarder par excellence.

[Phillip Phlopp]

Thank you very much for your kind wishes. Today has been one of the weirdest birthdays.

I will update you all tomorrow. If you have a gog then it should be agog by now.

[Phillip Phlopp]

FF'sS Gassy! Don't mention ten bob notes, it will set Gerv off again.