In 2001 the convicted killers of Jamie Bulger are granted anonymity for life by the high court. The two 10 year old killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were released on bail in June 2001 at the age of eighteen and given secret identities amid fears of retaliation.
In 1996 the former French President Francois Mitterrand died aged 79
In 1989 a Boeing 737 plane crashes onto the M1 in England killing 46 people.
In 1973 the Russian un-manned space mission Lunik 21 or Luna 21 was launched; it was to deploy their second rover ‘Lunokhod 2’ onto the surface of the moon. The mission was to take pictures and determine the properties of the moons surface as well as measure magnetic fields, solar x-rays and laser ranging experiments. The space craft performed the 40 Luna orbits, landing perfectly on to the moons surface on the 15th of January. The rover disembarked a day later and began exploring the terrain. Unfortunately on the 9th of May the rover got stuck in a crater and despite Russia’s best efforts they were unable top free it, announcing the end to the mission on the 3rd of June 1973.
In 1961 the people of France voted to grant Algeria independence.
In 1940 food rationing was introduced to Great Britain. Initially bacon, butter and sugar were the only items that were rationed, using books of coupons for the items but later many more food items as well as petrol, clothes and soup would be added to the list. The rationing started due to supply lines and production being hampered by the Germans in World War II.
In 1935 Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA.
In 1642 Galileo Galilei Died aged 77 in Arcetri, Italy while still under house arrest for heresy as ordered by the pope.
