Today in History - October 19

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2002 The Nice Treaty
1989 The Guildford 4 are cleared after 14 years in prison
1987 Panic attack on Wall Street
1920 John Reed dies
1890 Sir Richard Francis Burton dies
1862 Auguste Lumière born
1859 Alfred Dreyfus born
1812 Napoléon begins retreat from Moscow
1781 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
1745 Jonathan Swift dies
1216 King John of England otherwise known as Jean Sansterre dies (surfeit of lampreys)
0439 The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa. (Did they take the handles?)

Yorktown is a rather important date here in the Yew Ess. What am I otherwise missing?

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a road named after Cornwallis here in Oxford. Which I think is odd. From a British perspective, he deserves this *how* exactly?

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Perhaps for his long and dutiful service to the crown. He was Gov. Genl. of India too.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe the road in Oxford is named after his cousin, Hugh Cornwallis, a well-known song-and-dance man.

― Huk-L, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Cornwallis Road is in Florence Park in Oxford, an area of the city which was built to house hoardes of Welsh families who arrived in the 1930s to work at the (then thriving) Morris Motors car plant. Maybe Cornwallis was a Welshman, look you, isn't it, boyo?

― C J (C J), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember getting the bus to work with someone who was complaining about how "we" always name our roads after our failures. He cited Balfour Road in Blackbird Leys as another example. He didn't rate Balfour as a PM, obv.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Charles, Earl Cornwallis was from Suffolk which one online bio of our man refers to as 'occupying the easternmost knob of the British Isles'.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

apparently, 20 years ago today A-ha released "Take On Me"
http://www.intuitivemusic.com/content/view/1015/

Although this Spanish website thinks A-ha are a British band!

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Balfour Road is named after the chain of newsagents though.

― C J (C J), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

A-ha were Scandahoovian of some sort, no?

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Uh-huh

― C J (C J), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Norwegian

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Which I also imagine is the correct West Texan pronunciation of the band name.

xpost

Norsk!!! All I remember are cheekbones.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

They were called Morten, Pal and Mags iirc.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Mmmmmorten.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

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