14 November It Happened Today

1689  Death of Nell Gwynn, mistress of King Charles II of England.

1896   A new Highway Act declares that it is no longer necessary for a man with a red flag to walk ahead of motor vehicles. Speed limit also raised from 4 mph to 14 mph.

1900  Dr Karl Landsteiner of the Pathological and Anatomical Institute in Vienna, announces the discovery of three different blood groups.

1908  Birth of Joseph McCarthy, American senator who led Senate inquiry into alleged communists in the 1950’s.

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1915  Death of Booker T Washington.

1918  Tomas Masaryk elected first president of Czechoslovakia.

1952  First pop chart published in Britain  in New Musical Express.

1989  During a visit to Poland, the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl visits the site of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.