10 January-Tube (London Metro System)

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The London Underground, known as ‘The Tube’, is a railway system serving the city of London. The first underground section began operating in 1863, making it the oldest underground metro system in the world. Today there are 157 metro systems in cities around the world with the Beijing Subway being the busiest.

The first underground railway in London was constructed between Paddington to Farringdon Street. It was completed in 1863 and was served by steam driven trains. The line is now part of the Circle Line. The first electric traction underground trains began operating in London in 1890. Today London is served by eleven lines which carry over 1.3 billion passengers annually.

The first section of the world’s oldest underground railway, the London Underground between Paddington and Farringdon, was officially opened by Prime Minister Gladstone in the year 1863 On This Day.

24 December-William Makepeace Thackeray

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William Makepeace Thackeray was a 19th century author who was born in India to British parents. He is best known for works such as The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) and Vanity Fair (1847-48). In 1975 Stanley Kubrick produced and directed the film Barry Lyndon, based on the novel by Thackeray. The setting for some of the scenes in the film was in Huntington Castle in Clonegal, County Carlow, Ireland. The film won four Academy Awards.

William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India on July 18^th 1811. He was educated in England and contributed articles to university periodicals whilst a student at Trinity College Cambridge. He left University after a year and wrote for magazines and the Times newspaper. He married Irish woman Isabella Shawe and concentrated on writing as a career.

Apart from his novels Thackeray also travel books. One of those ‘The Irish Sketch Book’ describes his travels around Ireland during the 1840’s. He reported on the poverty in which Irish people lived prior to the famine. He also made observations on the sectarian divide in Irish society. His writings on Ireland in Punch magazine are often regarded as being responsible for the magazine’s hostile depiction of the Irish.

William Makepeace Thackeray who is best known as the author works such as The Luck of Barry Lyndon and Vanity Fair, died aged 52 in the year 1863 On This Day.

Photo by The British Library

mage taken from page 10 of ‘The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray.

18 December-Archduke Franz Ferdinand

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On July 28th 1914 the Archduke and his wife Duchess Sophia were assassinated in Sarajevo by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The assassination led to World War 1 in which twenty million people died.
Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria in 1863. He became heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1896. During 1892/1893 he circumnavigated the world, spending time in India, Australia, Pacific Islands, Japan and the USA. He visited England in 1913 where he was guest of King George V and Queen Mary at Windsor Castle.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination July 1914 began events which led to World War1, was born in Graz, Austria in the year 1863 On This Day.

02 April-Mabel Cahill

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Mabel Cahill was a native of Kilkenny Ireland. She was a tennis player who became the first non-United States person to win US Open women’s singles in 1891. Though Cahill won several other major tournaments her international career was brief. In 1976 she became the only Irish person to be inducted into the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Mabel Esmonde Cahill was born in Ballyragget, Co Kilkenny in 1863. One of 13 children she was educated locally and, it is thought, at the Sacred Heart Convent Secondary School in Roscrea Co Tipperary. She played in various tennis tournaments in Ireland before emigrating to the United States. By 1890 she had become a member of the New York Tennis Club.

Cahill defeated Ellen Roosevelt, a first cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to win the US Open in 1891. She successfully retained the title in 1892. Cahill also won the doubles and mixed titles at the US Open in both 1891 and 1892. She did not defend her title in 1893. Cahill later became a writer and actor. She died aged 43 in 1905.

Mabel Cahill, Kilkenny native who became the first non-United States person to win US Open women’s singles in 1891, was born in the year 1863 On This Day.

left: Mabel Cahill (1863-1905), Irish tennis player, US champion 1891, 1892 right: Emma Leavitt Fellowes Morgan, US tennis player

Mabel_cahill_and_fellowes_morgan.jpg

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

Image from page 24 of “The game of lawn tennis and how to play it” (1893)

27 March-Rolls-Royce

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Rolls Royce Motor Cars is a manufacturer and distributor of luxury cars. The company, which is based in England is a wholly owned subsidiary of the German group BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke). It was founded by Henry Royce, an engineer and Charles Rolls, a car salesman in 1906. The company which produces brands such as The Phantom, The Ghost, The Wraith and The Dawn employs over 1300 people.

Henry Royce was born near Peterborough, England in 1863. The youngest of five children his father died when he was nine. Henry worked as an apprentice with the Great Northern Railway Company and later with a tool making company in Leeds. In 1884 he established F.H. Royce and Company with a friend, manufacturing electric cranes.

Royce began building cars and on May 4^th 1904 met Charles Rolls. At the time Rolls was selling French made Panhard cars at his showrooms in London. He agreed to sell cars manufactured by Royce instead. The Rolls-Royce became famous for its luxury and reliability. Henry Royce died at the age of 70 on April 22^nd 1933.

Henry Royce, co-founder of the Roll-Royce company was born in the year 1863 On This Day.

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Rolls-Royce