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On this day in history

On this day in 1979 The largest nuclear accident in US history occurs at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania.
 
On this day in 1981 Thousands of people take to the streets of the capital for the first-ever London marathon.
 
On this day in 1977 At least 560 people die after two jumbo jets collide on a runway in Tenerife.
Ultimately, the crash was blamed on one of the pilots who hadn't checked if he was clear for take-off.

And my Mum & Dad (at the time) were due to land shortly after the crash and got diverted to somewhere obscure, Alicante or somewhere like it. They were on their way on their first Tenerife holiday, which later became regular 3 month budget holidays through the winter, which was cheaper than staying at home paying gas bills.
 
Chocks away, me as a Spitfire pilot, with original leather helmet, at Hendon RAF museum this afternoon with a pilots view through the cockpit window.

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On this day in 1968 Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr is shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was due to lead a march of sanitation workers protesting against low wages and poor working conditions.
 
On this day in 1976 Eccentric American billionaire Howard Hughes - best known as a movie magnate and aviation pioneer - dies aged 70.
 
On this day in 1885 the first performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's the Mikado.

Gilbert and Sullivan were my Dalmatian father’s and our favourite light opera.brilliant Chas.
 
Works Honda Moto GP rider Dajiro Kato died in a high speed crash at Suzuka in the Japanese GP in 2003. His race number 74 was permanently retired by Honda after his death and the circuit was taken off the Moto GP calendar.
 
Hockenheim, 50 years ago today the peerless Jim Clark lost his life in a low profile but star studded F2 race at a rain soaked Hockenheim circuit. He was my childhood hero. I had a pedal car and when I was in it I was Jim Clark, when I rode my bicycle I was Jim Clark. Still the only driver to win the Indy 500 and the F1 world championship in the same year. Still the record holder for pole, fastest lap, race win and leading in every lap of the race (8 races). The highest % of laps in the lead in a season.
To this day there’s still no definite answer as to the cause of the accident, the only consensus being that it couldn’t possibly be a driver error, much the same as the accident that claimed the life of Ayrton Senna almost 30 years later.
 
I saw, like many others, Jim Clark racing on numerous occasions. He was so smooth and always seemed to be at one with whatever car he was racing. Still to my mind the greatest ever race driver.
When I was twenty, in 1966, I was staying with a friend near Tarporley and the local garage owner asked if we'd help with the re-fuelling of the RAC Rally cars that were scheduled to visit his garage. I was on one set of pumps and my mate was on the other and the high point was two Lotus Cortinas - one driven by Graham Hill and the other by Jim Clark. Jimmy Clark was on my pumps and all he said was "I want to be out before him" indicating Graham Hill's car. And he was but it was very close as the two of them accelerated away.
The Jim Clark Museum at Duns is well worth a visit although it is closing - to be extended - on May 31st but when it re-opens next year it will have several of his race cars on display.

Regards,
Rodger
 
The Jim Clark Museum at Duns is well worth a visit although it is closing - to be extended - on May 31st but when it re-opens next year it will have several of his race cars on display.

Regards,
Rodger

I didn’t know that. I’ve been planning a visit for ages so I’ll have to make an effort to get up there before the end of May.
Jim Clark was voted No.1 F1 driver of all time recently in the Times. Others may have taken some of his records, purely because they’ve been around longer but when you consider Jim could drive anything and win in it then, for me, he’ll always be the best.
 
And everyone from Duns think they're the next Jim Clark...

That whole Scottish Borders area though has a good history of racing drivers:
-Jim Clark (Duns)
-John Cleland (Galashiels)
-Louise Aitken-Walker (Duns)
Which are now also the next generation, Gina Aitken-Walker is also pretty good behind a wheel by all accounts - wife's just pulled up Gina's Instagram page, and there's several pictures of her racing with her Mum in historics.
Oh, and at Lennel cemetry (near Coldstream) is Prof Sid Watkin's grave.


(Wife is from Coldstream)
 
On this day in 2003 Iraqis pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad as US tanks roll into the centre of the city.
 
On this day in 1981 Rioting erupted in Brixton, south London, following the arrest of a black man - in the end, nearly 300 police officers and 65 civilians were injured during three days of disturbances.
 
On this day in 1986 The Soviet Union launched the world's biggest space station, Mir - it was manned almost continuously during its 15 years in orbit.
 
On this day in 1992 Neil Kinnock resigns as Labour leader following a disastrous general election - he places blame for his defeat firmly on newspapers sympathetic to the Conservatives.

Well he would say that wouldn't he?
 
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