Scotland

Today in 1665, Queen Anne, last of the Stuart monarchs, was born.

Anne had seventeen children during her life but not one survived to succeed her. In 1707, she presided over the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England into the parliament of Great Britain, which first sat on 1 May 1707.

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• Wikipedia entry for 06 February (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On this day in 1881 the writer and historian Thomas Carlyle died in London.

Carlyle was a great student of the German "Sturm und Drang" school of romantic literature and was convinced that nations needed a strong leader. His best known work, On Heroes and Hero Worship, is deeply concerned with this idea. Carlyle's influence waned in the 20th Century, as his ideas were often seen as foreshadowing the totalitarianism prevalent at the time. In fact, it is reputed that, during the last months of the Second World War, Joseph Goebbels read Carlyle's history of Frederick II of Prussia to Hitler.

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• Wikipedia entry for 05 February (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On the 4th February 1818 Sir Walter Scott supervised the rediscovery of the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels, in Edinburgh Castle.

The jewels consist of a sword, crown and sceptre. The three items were first used together during the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots and last used for the coronation of Charles II in 1651. During the Second World War, they were hidden in different parts of Edinburgh Castle in case of German invasion.

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• Wikipedia entry for 04 February (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On 3rd February 1660 General Monck's regiment entered London, having marched from Coldstream in the borders.

The regiment kept order during the period of the restoration of Charles II. The regiment escaped being disbanded as a reward for their service during this time. It continued as a standing regiment of the British Army, becoming known as the Coldstream Guards.

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On 2 February 1645 a Royalist army led by James Graham, 5th Earl and 1st Marquis of Montrose, routed the Earl of Argyll's Covenating forces in the Battle of Inverlochy.

The events of the battle were recorded by the MacDonald Bard of Keppoch. Much of the blame for the Covenanters' defeat has been attributed to the disputes between the two commanders, the Marquess of Argyll and General Baillie. Both men thought themselves the senior officer, and carried a deep personal enmity for one another.

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• Wikipedia entry for 02 February (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On 1 February 1919, tanks and soldiers patrolled the streets of Glasgow after Bloody Friday when 20,000 strikers gathered in George Square.

By the time the strike ended in early February, up to 10,000 troops had been sent to the city. No Scots troops were deployed, as the government feared they would join the workers if a revolutionary situation had developed in Glasgow. The strike had been called to demand a 40-hour week. After it ended, strikers in the shipbuilding industry negotiated a 47-hour week settlement.

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Today in 1788 Prince Charles Edward Stewart, "The Young Pretender", died in Rome.

After leading the '45 rebellion Stuart slid into a life of obscurity. He ended his days as an alcoholic in Rome, known as the Duke of Albany, with a failed marriage behind him, and his dreams of a Stuart restoration unfulfilled.

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• Wikipedia entry for 31 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On January 30 1649 King Charles I was executed.

His execution caused a change of sides by most of the Scots who had previously supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War as, for all his faults, Charles was still a Scottish Stuart king.

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Today in 1928 Earl Haig, the Commander in Chief of British forces 1915-18 and founder of the British Legion, died.

One of the leading military commanders of World War One, Haig was Commander in Chief of the British forces for most of the war. He was the architect of the controversial and bloody strategy of attrition which resulted in huge losses of men and little material gain.

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• Wikipedia entry for 29 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On January 28 1829, William Burke, murderer and body snatcher of "Burke and Hare" fame, was executed.

Hare escaped the gallows by turning King's evidence against his former partner.

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• Wikipedia entry for 28 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On January 27 1783 the Glasgow Herald newspaper was first published. It is the longest continuously published daily newspaper in Britain. It began its life as the Glasgow Advertiser in January 1783, changing briefly to the Herald and Advertiser and Commercial Chronicle in 1803, before becoming the Glasgow Herald on 26th August 1804.

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On January 26 1861 the one o'clock gun was fired for the first time from Edinburgh Castle.

The gun was commissioned to act as an audible signal of the time during bad weather. The gun was connected to an electric clock in the Royal Observatory on Calton Hill by an electric cable over 4,000 feet long.

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• Wikipedia entry for 25 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

Today in 1890 saw the first train cross the Forth Bridge.

The structure was built by Sir William Arrol and cost £2.5 million. An earlier design by Sir Thomas Bouch had been abandoned after his Tay Bridge collapsed in a storm in 1879.

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• Wikipedia entry for 24 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

Today in 2000 William Hamilton, the Scottish Labour politician, died.

He was MP for Fife West, 1950-74, and Fife Central, 1974-87. He became a controversial public figure due to his outspoken advocacy of Scottish independence and his dislike of the Royal Family.

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• Wikipedia entry for 23 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

On January 22 1570 James Stewart, the Regent Moray on the abdication of Mary Queen of Scots, was murdered in Linlithgow.

The assassination by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh triggered civil war.

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On January 21 1290 Sweetheart Abbey, near Dumfries, was founded by Devorguilla, mother of John Balliol.

The abbey was founded in memory of her husband, whose heart was buried with her at Sweetheart Abbey. She also established friaries at Dundee, Dumfries and Wigtown, and endowed a school for the poor in Oxford, which later became Balliol College.

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Today in 1937 the Scottish boxer, Benny Lynch, was crowned world flyweight champion.

Recognised as probably the greatest boxer Scotland has produced, Lynch enjoyed a meteroic rise to the top of the sport. However, his fall from grace was equally spectacular. He retired after numerous problems with weight, and the rest of his life was blighted by alcoholism which eventually caused his death in 1946.

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• Wikipedia entry for 20 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

Today in 1736 marks the birth of James Watt, mathematical instrument maker.

Watt developed the steam engine, invented the condensor and the copying machine. His condensor made steam power the driving force of the nineteenth century and he is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Industrial Revolution.

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• Wikipedia entry for 19 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)

18 January 1782 marks the death of Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, 1772-1778, and physician to King George III.

A sanitary pioneer, he is sometimes called the "father of modern military medicine". In his 1752 paper, Observations on Diseases of the Army, he emphasised the need to adopt a clean medical environment for the treatment of wounded soldiers. The work is now regarded as a medical classic. His 1753 paper to the Society on septic and antiseptic substances also proved to be a pioneering work. Pringle also coined the term, "influenza".

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• Wikipedia entry for 18 January (The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites)