22 DECEMBER

LORD ELGIN’S NOTES ON “LIVING AMONG INFERIOR RACES” [ 21 August 1857 ] On this day in 1857 Lord Elgin makes some observations in his diary about British attitudes to Indians in the Raj – “It is a terrible business, however, this living among inferior races… There are some three or four hundred servants in…

Page to be updated with content soon. The next page with content is 18 April.

BRITAIN RECOGNIZES IDI AMIN FOLLOWING COUP IN UGANDA On 5th February 1971, on the day of Major General Idi Amin’s swearing in as president, following a military coup twelve days earlier, Britain was one of the first countries in the world to formally recognize his new government. Please feel welcome to post comments below.  If…

BRITISH FLEET BOMBARDS ALEXANDRIA KILLING AND INJURING 2000 11 July 1882 – At 7 am a British fleet of eight warships began the bombardment of Alexandria, after Egypt’s government refused to accept Britain’s supposed right to oversee and manage the country’s budget, which included huge payments in debt to the Suez Canal Company, in which…

BRISTOL CELEBRATES THE DEFEAT OF BRITAIN’S FIRST ANTI-SLAVERY BILL [ 19 April 1791 ] On this day in 1791, the House of Commons, many of its members having close business ties to the trade and the West Indies plantations, overwhelmingly rejected a bill proposed by William Wilberforce to outlaw the slave trade. The margin of…

3 July 1937 – During a speech to his constituents at Wanstead, Churchill reminded the crowd of his then well known admiration for fascism. “If I had been an Italian,” he confessed, “I should have been on Mussolini’s side fifteen years ago when he rescued his country from the horrible fate of sinking into violent…