7 NOVEMBER 1948

BRITISH SLAVE SHIP THROWS ITS CARGO OVERBOARD AND CLAIMS ON ITS INSURERS [ 29 November 1781 ] On this day in 1781, Captain Luke Collingwood, commanding the British slave ship Zong headed for Jamaica, ordered his crew to murder one third of his cargo of African slaves by throwing them overboard. He had earlier gambled…

BRITISH REPLACE CORONERS COURTS BY ARMY RUN INQUESTS IN TEN IRISH COUNTIES On 3 September 1920, the British authorities in Ireland suspended all coroner’s inquests in the Irish counties of Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Roscommon and Tipperary . The purpose was simple.  To prevent shameful revelations on how and why innocent…

NEW LONDON BURNED AND THE GARRISON SLAUGHTERED [ 6 September 1781 ] In the late eighteenth century, New London was a small port at the mouth of the river Thames on the Connecticut coast connecting American agricultural communities with the outside world. During the American Revolutionary War, the rebels used it as a base to…

BOBBY SANDS MP DIES AFTER 66 DAYS ON HUNGER STRIKE 5 May 1981 – The Sinn Fein MP and Irish Republican prisoner Bobby Sands died after 66 days of his hunger strike at the H-Block Prison hospital at Long Kesh. At the age of ten Sands and his family had been forced to leave their…

AFRICANS SACRIFICED TO SAVE THE BESIEGED CITY OF MAFEKING [ 17 May 1900 ] On this day in 1900, a British army relieved the besieged city of Mafeking during the Second Boer War. It led to street celebrations across Britain and the commander of the besieged troops, Robert Baden-Powell, became a national hero, even though…

BRITISH SACK THE CRIMEAN CITY OF KERCH [ 24 May 1855 ] On this day in 1855, thousands of terrified citizens of the Crimean city of Kerch had their homes broken into and their possessions looted, while men and even children were slaughtered and hundreds of women raped. The local population had begged general Sir…