Great Western Coffee Shop

As you are reading this, you may be blissfully unaware that it's April 20th 2012. Well it is April 20th!

It was the birthdate back in 1889 of a certain Infamous Austrian Born German Politican. None other than Adolf Hitler himself.

Some random train basher was also born in 1990 on this day too...

This calls for a celebration... But it would perhaps be rather strange to celebrate Hiters Birthday as opposed to my own eh?

My friends find this hystrical and hence I sometimes get the nickname "Cyber Hitler" Something I lived up to in school when the IT Staff asked me to test their IT Security. Let's just say that perhaps demonstrating to the Head Teacher infront of the senior governers how easy it was to use illegal file sharing software and access "Unsafe for Work" websites didn't look too favourably on the school. Never the less the next morning I was offered a job! ;D

Happy Birthday, there!

The birthday is also shared with my ex ... she's 21 (for the 39th time) today. This has been quite a day in history ... a few other things:

1999: Two students go on a shooting rampage in Columbine High school, killing 12 students and one teach before they shoot themselves.
1998: Kenyan runner Moses Tanui, 32, won the Boston Marathon for the second time. He also registered the third fastest time with 2 hours 7 minutes and 34 seconds.
1992: The worlds largest fair, Expo '92, opened in Seville, Spain.
1991: Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet head of state to visit South Korea.
1989: Scientist announced the successful testing of high-definition TV.
1988: The U.S. Air Forces' Stealth (B-2 bomber) was officially unveiled.
1987: In Argentina, President Raul Alfonsin quelled a military revolt.
1985: In Madrid, Santiago Carillo was purged from the Communist Party. Carillo was a founder of Eurocommunism.
1984: In Washington, terrorists bombed an officers club at a Navy yard.
1981: A spokesman for the U.S. Nave announced that the U.S. was accepting full responsibility for the sinking of the Nissho Maru on April 9.
1978: The Korean Airliner Flight 902 was shot down while in Russian airspace. Two passengers were killed when the plane landed on a frozen lake.
1977: Woody Allen's film "Annie Hall" premiered.
1974: 'Troubles' death toll hits 1,000. The conflict in Northern Ireland has claimed its 1,000th victim, a petrol station owner from County Fermanagh.
1972: The Apollo 16 manned mission to the Moon lands after a seven-hour crisis which nearly aborts the mission.
1971: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1968: The Conservative right-winger, Enoch Powell, has made a hard-hitting speech attacking the government's immigration policy.
1967: U.S. planes bombed Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.
1962: The New Orleans Citizens' Council offered a free one-way ride for blacks to move to northern states.
1961: FM stereo broadcasting was approved by the FCC.
1959: "Desilu Playhouse" on CBS-TV presented a two-part show titled "The Untouchables."
1953: UN and Korea begin prisoner exchange. The US and Korea swap sick and wounded prisoners of war at Panmunjon.
1951: General MacArthur addressed the joint session of Congress after being relieved by U.S. President Truman.
1945: Soviet troops began their attack on Berlin.
1942: Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany."
1940: The First electron microscope was demonstrated by RCA.
1934: The movie "Stand Up And Cheer" opened. It was Shirley Temple's debut.
1919: The Polish Army captured Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets.
1916: Sir Roger Casement landed in Ireland to incite rebellion against the British. Casement, a British diplomat, was captured within hours and was hanged for high treason on August 3.
1912: Fenway Park opened as the home of the Boston Red Sox.
1902: Marie Curie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate the radioactive element Radium.
1889: Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau, Austria.
1879: First mobile home (horse drawn) was used in a journey from London to Cyprus.
1865: Safety matches were first advertised.
1861: Robert E. Lee resigned from U.S. Army.
1841: In Philadelphia, PA, Edgar Allen Poe's first detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," was published in Graham's Magazine.
1836: The U.S. territory of Wisconsin was created by the U.S. Congress.
1832: Hot Springs National Park was established by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first national park in the U.S.
1809: Napoleon defeated Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1792: France declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia. It was the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1775: American troops began the siege of British-held Boston.
1769: Ottawa Chief Pontiac was murdered by an Illinois Indian in Cahokia.
1689: The siege of Londonderry began. Supporters of James II attacked the city.
1657: English Admiral Robert Blake fought his last battle when he destroyed the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay.
1653: In England, Oliver Cromwell expelled the Long Parliament for trying to pass the Perpetuation Bill that would have kept Parliament in the hands of only a few members.
1534: Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set sail from St. Malo to explore the North American coastline.
1139: The Second Lateran Council opened in Rome.

I can't sleep either, but too tired to deal with the queue of things I should be spending time on.  Above comes from http://www.melkshamforward.info which scrapes a whole lot of databases for this stuff. 

On a railway theme......Amongst other things it is also the anniversary of an accident on the former branch line between Luton and Leighton Buzzard in 1955.  A steam loco suffered an explosion on the footplate and both crew jumped clear leaving the loco to run on for some two miles through two stations in Dunstable and a level crossing.  None of the passengers were hurt but the fireman later died from his injuries while the driver was badly burned.

In 1980 a train hit a track machine near Bushey in Hertfordshire with a lookout man injured.

Good enough excuses for drinks, IMHO, either celebratory or consolatory.  Cheers! What about tomorrow?