26th
55 BC ..... U.K ..... reputed to be the date of the FIRST invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar
1346 ..... FRANCE ..... artillery was FIRST used in action by the English as Edward 111 led his army in the defeat of the French (led by Philip V1) at Crecy
1542 ..... a party of Spanish explorers led by Francisco de Orellana became the FIRST Europeans to travel the length of the Amazon river which is the greatest river in South America, flowing from its source in the glacier fed lakes of Central Peru for 4000 miles. It crosses Peru and Brazil to enter the Atlantic at the Equator. Orellana's journey began after a meeting with Gonzalo Pizarro, half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror. Gonzalo was governor of Quito and was about to lead an expedition into the unexplored eastern region. Orellano was appointed as his Lieutenant and was sent ahead with 50 men to search for food. When he reached the junction of the Napo and Maranon rivers his desire to explore on his own account led him to desert Pizarro's expedition. He finally reached the Atlantic Ocean on this day. It is said that he named the river after a tribe of fighting women whom he encountered near the mouth of the tributary Trombetas and who reminded him of the battling amazons of Greek mythology
1920 ..... U.S.A ..... American women FIRST gained the right to vote through the 19th amendment to the U.S. constitution
1936 ..... U.K ..... Leslie Mitchell became Britain’s FIRST television announcer when he presented the opening of the BBC’s service from Olympia. He was chosen from 590 men who answered the BBC's advert. From a £1-a-week stockbroker's clerk he later became a British Movietone announcer and in 1955 announced the opening of independent television. The Daily Mail dubbed him ' the Adonis of television'
1951 ….. U.K ..... One Minute Please, a hugely popular panel game devised by Ian Messiter was FIRST heard. Panellists had to talk for one minute on a given subject without pause, repetition or deviation. The fastest talker ever was Jack Sherry with 286 words per minute. It was the FIRST BBC show ever sold to America. In 1967 it's title was changed to Just A Minute
1952 ..... the FIRST transatlantic round trip in a single day was made by a British Canberra bomber which flew from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland and back in 7 hours 59 mins at an average speed of 531 mph
1977 ..... Rose Marie Witschas became the FIRST woman to clear 2 metres in the high jump
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