Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Community

For the third year running, Marie Curie will lead the National Day of Reflection on Thursday 23rd March. It is a day for everyone to remember loved ones who have died, and to support people who are grieving. There will be a minute’s silence at noon, a nationwide network of Walls of Reflection, and a...

We take clean water for granted. After all, when did you last turn on the tap and expect filthy water to come out? But sadly, bad water is still a daily reality for billions of people. The United Nations wants to help them by ensuring that everyone can access clean water by 2030.  It is...

It was 300 years ago, on 8th March 1723, that English architect Sir Christopher Wren died at the age of 90. Best known for designing St Paul’s Cathedral, he was also a ground-breaking anatomist, astronomer and physicist. A founder of the Royal Society, Wren served as its president from 1680 to 1682 and was highly...

The first land crossing of Antarctica was completed 65 years ago, on 2nd March 1958, by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Vivian Fuchs. The team of 12 men travelled 2,158 miles from Shackleton Base to Scott Base (via the South Pole) in 99 days, using six vehicles. The journey – nearly 22 miles a...

Fifty years ago, on 8th March 1973, the citizens of Northern Ireland voted in a referendum to remain within the United Kingdom. That same day the IRA carried out its first bombing in Britain since World War II, planting car bombs in London. One person died, and about 200 were injured. Many nationalists and Roman...

All in the month of FEBRUARY Ukraine – one year on Discovering the double-helix of DNA Remembering the Munich Air Disaster The unlikely patron saint of television Looking back on the space shuttle Columbia ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time, February) down the years. Here...

It was: 175 years ago, on 21st Feb 1848 that the Communist Manifesto was published in London. It was written by Karl Marx, with the assistance of Friedrich Engels. 150 years ago, on 7th Feb 1873 that Thomas Andrews, Irish/British shipbuilder and businessman was born. The naval architect in charge of the plans for the...

On 24th February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine without warning. Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 and even before that had been overshadowed and often overpowered by its larger neighbour. In 1932 millions of Ukrainians were deliberately starved to death in a famine, contrived by Joseph Stalin. This genocide, or Holodomor, is commemorated every...

The Munich air disaster took place 65 years ago, on 6th February 1958, when a plane carrying the Manchester United football team (known as the Busby Babes), plus support staff and journalists, crashed while attempting to take off from a slush-affected runway at Munich-Riem Airport. Altogether, 23 people were killed, including eight players. The Elizabethan-class...

Twenty years ago, on 1st February 2003, the US space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry, killing all seven astronauts. It was the second space shuttle disaster after Challenger, which saw a catastrophic failure during launch in 1986. In both cases the “organisational culture” at NASA was blamed, because engineers’ advice was ignored. This...

All in the month of JANUARY The great North Sea Flood Remembering Lewis Carroll, creator of Alice in Wonderland The man who made the first-ever vaccine 27th January – Holocaust Memorial Day Are you a cold-water swimmer?  Then beware. The key to a good head start in life?  Stocking up because of the war **...

It was: 250 years ago, on 17th January 1773 that Captain James Cook’s ship, the HMS Resolution,  became the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle, during his second voyage. 200 years ago, on 26th January 1823 that Edward Jenner, the British physician and immunologist who created the first vaccine, died. The vaccine was for...