Ashton Highlights Newsletter 27
Friday 8th May 2015
Dear Readers The events of the last week, with the General Election and the VE day celebrations, set me off wondering what else happened in history around this time. It’s really quite strange when I chat to students to find that events which feel like they happened only yesterday and so feel very much part of my present, are in fact very much part of their past! So what did happen this week in history? On 11th May 1985, at least 52 people were reported to have been killed in the Bradford City Football Club Stadium Fire. On 12th May 1994 the Labour Leader John Smith died aged 55 in London after suffering two serious heart attacks. The news came as a shock to his party and the nation. He was regarded as a man of integrity - decent and honest and was widely expected to lead Labour to victory at the next general election and become prime minister. On 13th May 1981 The Pope was shot four times as he blessed the crowds in St Peter's Square in Rome. Pope John Paul II, formerly Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland, became Pope in 1978. He was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Surgeons performed a five-hour operation from which he made a full recovery. On 14th May 1991 Winnie Mandela, the wife of anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela, was given a six-year prison sentence for her part in the kidnap of four youths. On 15th May 1957 Britain dropped its first hydrogen bomb as part of a series of tests in the Pacific. The test was carried out at high altitude over the largely uninhabited Christmas Island to minimise nuclear fall-out. The tests raised a major debate about the dangers of nuclear weapons and led to the founding in 1958 of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament which pressed for British, and ultimately international, abandonment of nuclear weapons. Quite a week in history, all in all. I hope you enjoy reading about our week, which has been significantly more peaceful! Best Wishes Sharon Asquith Principal
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