Looking Back - Embassy Siege/Bobby Sands/First US Astronaut

SAS Rescue Ends Iran Embassy Siege


On this day in 1980, millions of people watched the end of the Iranian embassy siege on live television as bank holiday entertainment on all three channels was interrupted to show the real life drama unfold. Five Iranian gunmen were killed and one was arrested following a dramatic raid by SAS commandos. Nineteen hostages were set free but one died and two were injured in cross-fire. The siege had begun five days earlier when six gunmen had taken over the Iranian embassy in Kensington. The aim of the gunmen was to secure the release of 91 political prisoners held in Iran. They were members of a dissident Iranian group opposed to Ayatollah Khomeine, Iran's religious leader.
One of the hostages was PC Trevor Lock, an embassy police guard. PC Lock tackled the leader of the gunmen, known as Salim, and saved the life of an SAS soldier. He was awarded the George Medal for his actions. The one surviving gunman, Fowzi Nejad, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Iranian government approved the use of force. President Bani-Sadr announced the SAS raid as a victory saying, "We did not surrender, we became victorious." Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher congratulated the SAS troops on a successful mission, codenamed Operation Nimrod. The operation secured the future of the SAS. It had previously been under threat of disbandment.


Bobby Sands Dies In Prison

Bobby Sands, the 27 year old republican hunger striker,was pronounced dead by medical staff at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Sands had served five years of a 14-year sentence for possessing a gun. It was the second time Sands had been on hunger strike. The first was in 1980 when a number of prisoners in the Maze prison were demanding political status for republican prisoners. Sands had refused to eat for 66 days. He became the first of 10 republican prisoners to die after hunger strikes. More than 60 civilians, police and soldiers also died in violence directly attributable to the hunger strikes.

Shepard Becomes First US Astronaut

Commander Alan Shepard became the first American in space after splashing his space capsule down in the Atlantic. Three weeks earlier Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space. Commander Shepard, 37 years old, was launched into sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida in a Mercury 3 capsule attached to a Redstone rocket. His flight lasted 15 minutes, by which time he had travelled 115 miles into space. His first words when picked up were: "Boy, what a ride!" Shepard was congratulated by President Kennedy a few minutes after he was flown to the aircraft carrier Lake Champlain.

Maxine's World

3D Picture Challenge

Stare into this image.

Can you see a duck in 3D?

Why Do Women Need So Many Dresses?

Play the video clip and find out why!

Thought For Today

Life is not measured by how many breaths you take....but by the number of times it takes your breath away.
(Anonymous)

Wayne Rooney In A Skirt?

Yesterday lunchtime I watched the Women's FA Cup Final on television, in which Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-1. This gave Arsenal a fourth successive win in the competition.. I have to say straight away that I was incredibly impressed by the standard of the football played. Naturally, the game was less physical than men's football, and none the worse for that, but the ball control, passing and general awareness on the pitch, was to say the least impressive. There is no doubt in my mind that given more publicity the women's game could have a massive impact on the sport, particularly world wide.

It all started in August 1917, during the first World War. A tournament was held between munition workers in North-East England, it was called the 'Tyne Wear & Tees Alfred Wood Munition Girls Cup', but was popularly known as 'The Munitions Cup'. When, in 1921, the Football Association banned women's teams the English Ladies Football Association was formed. A silver cup was donated by the first president of the association, Len Bridgett, and was competed for in the Spring of 1922, when Stoke beat Doncaster & Bentley 3-1.

The first formal international tournament was instigated under the jurisdiction of UEFA in 1982. The final was held in 1984 when Sweden ran out winners. Norway won in 1987, but since then Germany have dominated winning six out of seven competitions up to 2005.

The first women's World Cup was held in China in 1991 and was won by the USA. The third World Cup was held in the United States, Los Angeles, when a record crowd of over 90,000 watched the home team win 5-4 on penalties.

In September 2008 FC de Rakt women's team (pictured inset) from the Netherlands, made international headlines by swapping its old kit for short skirts and tight fitting shirts. Initially, the Dutch Football Association vetoed the idea on the grounds that the rules of the game state that all players, men and women, must wear shorts. The decision was reversed when it was revealed that the FC de Rakt team were wearing hot pants under their skirts. Who knows, the idea might catch on and spread to the men's football. I can see David Beckham maybe giving it a try, but Wayne Rooney, I don't think so!

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