Today in History - March 28
• Hyacinthe Bobo of Orsini family chosen as Pope
• Battle of Towton during the War of the Roses
• Sunbeam motor car sets land speed record of 203 mph
-- Compiled by James Finlayson-Bald
On 29 March 1927 this 1000 HP Sunbeam Mystery (also known as 'the Slug') set the world land speed record when it reached 203.79 mph (327.97 km/h) at Daytona Beach Road Course, Florida, United States. The driver was Henry Segrave.
This vehicle is now on display at National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, United Kingdom. (Photo: David Hunt.)
On this date:
1191—Hyacinthe Bobo of the Orsini family, was chosen as Pope and took the style, Celestine III. As the poor old soul was eightyfive when chosen it is no surprise that his reign was marked by indecision and personal unhappiness as everyone was perfectly beastly to him, even his Cardinals, who wouldn't let him abdicate. It was probably with a sigh of relief that he died in 1198.
1461—Battle of Towton in the Wars of the Roses. Edward IV in the White Rose with 16,000 men, and aided by a heavy snowstorm blowing into the faces of the defenders, Henry VI in the Red Rose and 18,000 Lancastrians, firmly trounced them. Henry and Queen Margaret fled and Edward went off to London to be crowned and lived happily ever after.
1536—lbrahim, Grand Vizier of Turkey, strangled on the Sultan's orders.
1638—First Swedish expedition to the New World landed in (now) Delaware.
1804—After a proclamation by Emperor Jean Jacques I, Negro Emperor of Haiti, thousands of white people were massacred on San Domingo. Jean Jacques Dessalines was taken to Haiti as a slave. In 1791 he led a revolt against the French and became Emperor in 1804.
1848—John Jacob Astor, young fur trader, then property millionaire, died.
1861—President Lincoln order$ the preparation of an expedition to relieve Fort Sumpter.
1864— Britain ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece.
1871—Queen Victoria opened the Royal Albert Hall.
1913—Tennessee River floods killed 467.
1927—Henry Seagrave, in a Sunbeam motorcar, set the first land-speed record over 200 mph: 203.790 mph.
1936—Overwhelming support for the Nazi candidates in the German elections.
1939—Spanish Civil War ended.
1971—Charles Manson and three of his "family" sentenced to death for murder.
1971—William Calley found guilty of massacring the villagers of My Lai.
Today's birthdays:
— Arturo Toscanini, musician (1867-1957)
— Sir Edward Lutyens, architect (1869-1944).
Thought for today:
One great use for words is to hide our thoughts.
— Voltaire.
The above article was written by James Finlayson-Bald.
Edited and illustrations added by David Paul Wagner.
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