In 1996 The IRA 17-month ceasefire ends with an explosion in the dockyards of London that killed two men and left 39 wounded. Eighteen months later the IRA agreed to another ceasefire and in May 1998 the ‘Good Friday Agreement’, which required the release of the convicted dockland bomber, brought a new era of peace. But In March 2001 a new faction under the name of the real IRA began a new bombing campaign against England.
In 1996 world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, looses a game of chess to IBM’s computer opponent, Deep Blue. This was however the first game of a six game match and Kasparov went on to win the match 4 - 2. Kasparov was born in the Russian republic of Azerbaijan and considered the greatest chess master of all time. ‘Deep Blue’ went on to beat Kasparov in a second match on the 11th of May 1997. Deep Blue had human intervention between each game and went on to win 2 games loose 1 and draw 3. Kasparov accused IBM of cheating and requested a rematch but IBM declined and refused Kasparov’s requests for printouts of deep blues log files, immediately putting Deep Blue into retirement. Deep Blue was named after its predecessor ‘Deep Thought’ which was taken from the fictional computer in Douglas Adams book, ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’.
In 1972 ‘Ziggy Stardust’ (the persona of David Bowie) performs for the first time in the Toby Jug Pub in London, to an audience of 60. David Bowie was born in Brixton, England on January 8th 1947 and in 1969 he released his song ‘Space Oddity’ as himself. This song became a hit in UK charts and was about the fictional Astronaut ‘Major Tom’s’ Journey into space. It was eventually performed in space by Commander Chris Hadfield, an astronaut on the International Space Station on the 13th of May 2013. David Bowie has become one of the greatest Rock Legends of all time.
In 1952 The Congress Party wins India’s first General Election which saw more than 100 million voters. India gained independence from the United Kingdom on the 15th of August 1947 and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the countries new Leader, but this election makes him India’s first elected Prime Minister.
In 1763 the signing of the ‘Paris Treaty’ ends the ‘Seven Years War’. The treaty was signed by Great Britain, France and Spain officially ending the global conflict. The expansion of France’s Empire in North America and power struggles in India led to confrontation with British forces and in 1756 Britain declared war on France. Britain had allied itself with Prussia (a German Kingdom including parts of Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic) against France and her Allies of Saxony, Austria, Russia and Sweden to protect Hanover (which was ruled by a British Ruling Dynasty) from the French. By funding its Prussian allies against the French, Great Britain was victorious in both its colonel pursuits and in Europe. The signing of the French treaties gave up many territories to the British Empire.
