On this day: Deadly train crash at Clapham Junction

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 12 December
On this day in 1988 36 people died when one train ploughed into the back of another at Londons Clapham Junction. Picture: PAOn this day in 1988 36 people died when one train ploughed into the back of another at Londons Clapham Junction. Picture: PA
On this day in 1988 36 people died when one train ploughed into the back of another at Londons Clapham Junction. Picture: PA

National day of Kenya.

1642: Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand.

1890: First electric underground train in the world opened in London.

1894: Japanese troops invaded Korea.

1901: The first transatlantic wireless message was sent from Cornwall, 1,800 miles to St John’s, Newfoundland, where it was received by Marconi. It was the letter “s”.

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1911: King George V was crowned Emperor of India and founded New Delhi to replace Calcutta as the Indian capital.

1915: The German Junkers J1, the first all-metal aeroplane, was test flown at Dessau.

1917: A train carrying French troops home from Italy crashed at Modane, France, after a brake failure. The death toll was reported to be 543 — the world’s worst railway accident to that date.

1920: Martial law was declared in Cork, Ireland.

1941: Soviet forces launched their first major counter-attack against the German invasion.

1948: Conscription was introduced in Britain for men aged between 18 and 26.

1955: The hovercraft, or air cushion vehicle, was patented in Britain by Christopher Cockerell.

1963: Kenya attained independence, with Jomo Kenyatta as first prime minister.

1969: Greece, under fire on charges of violating human rights, withdrew from Council of Europe.

1977: Women were elected to Jockey Club for first time.

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1982: Mass protest at Greenham Common by 20,000 women at the deployment of American nuclear cruise missiles in Berkshire. The women clasped hands to encircle the airbase.

1988: A train crash at Clapham Junction killed 36 people and injured 113.

1996: Thomas “TC” Campbell was freed pending an appeal after serving 12 years of a life sentence for murder of six members of a family in Glasgow ice-cream wars.

2000: The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush versus Gore, which would lead to the former becoming US president.

2007: Al-Qaeda car bombers killed 67 people in two explosions in Algiers, destroying United Nations offices and targeting a bus full of students.

BIRTHDAYS

Jennifer Connelly, actress, 44; Tracy Austin, tennis player and commentator, 52; Lionel Blair, dancer, entertainer, 83; Jasper Conran OBE, fashion designer, 55; Kenneth Cranham, Dunfermline-born actor, 70; Jim Davidson OBE, comedian, 61; Craig Moore, footballer, 39; David Elsworth, racehorse trainer, 75; Emerson Fittipaldi, motor racing driver, 68; Connie Francis, singer, 76; Bill Nighy, actor, 65; Brough Scott MBE, racing presenter, 72; Dionne Warwick, singer, 74; Victor Moses, footballer, 24; Sarah Douglas, actress, 62; Steven Hawley, astronaut, 63; Mayim Bialik, actress and neuroscientist, 39; Kate Humble, TV presenter, 46; Clive Bunker, drummer (Jethro Tull), 68; Peter Sarstedt, singer, 72.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1821 Gustave Flaubert, novelist; 1863 Edvard Munch, Norwegian artist; 1881 Harry Warner, president and co-founder of Warner Bros studios; 1893 Edward G Robinson, actor; 1900 Sammy Davis snr, entertainer; 1915 Frank Sinatra, singer and actor.

Deaths: 1889 Robert Browning, poet; 1985 Ian Stewart, Pittenweem-born pianist, founder member of the Rolling Stones.

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