Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England’s Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

Thomas Blood’s attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of England is one of the most audacious heists in British history, taking place on May 9, 1671. Colonel Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer with a controversial past, hatched a bold plan to steal the jewels from the Tower of London.

Blood disguised himself as a parson and, with the help of accomplices who posed as his wife and other characters, befriended the Jewel Housekeeper, Talbot Edwards, under the pretense of procuring a viewing of the Crown Jewels for his supposed wife. Over a period of visits to gain the trust of Edwards, Blood eventually arranged a private showing of the Jewels for what he claimed were his relatives.

On the day of the crime, Blood and his accomplices knocked out Edwards, who had taken them into the Jewel House to see the regalia. They then smashed the crown, flattened it with a mallet, and stuffed it into a bag. Blood also attempted to saw the scepter in half to make it easier to transport, and one of his accomplices concealed the orb.

However, the thieves were interrupted and captured as they attempted to flee the Tower. Astonishingly, Blood was not executed for his audacious crime. Instead, he was brought before King Charles II, to whom Blood reportedly made a bold and witty appeal. Intrigued by Blood’s audacity and possibly amused by his demeanor, Charles II pardoned him and even granted him land in Ireland.

This extraordinary leniency shown to Blood remains a topic of historical debate and curiosity, highlighting both the daring of the theft attempt and the enigmatic decision of the king’s mercy.

Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a military alliance formed by 30 North American and European countries with the primary purpose of ensuring the collective defense of its member states against potential security threats.

NATO’s main role is to provide a framework for consultation and cooperation between its members on matters of common interest and to develop and maintain the military capabilities necessary for collective defense. This includes deterring potential adversaries, conducting crisis management and conflict resolution, and supporting stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond.

NATO also promotes political dialogue and cooperation with non-member countries and organizations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, and provides a platform for sharing expertise and best practices on a wide range of defense and security-related issues.

In addition to its core mission of collective defense, NATO has been involved in a range of other activities, including humanitarian and disaster relief operations, counterterrorism, and support for international peacekeeping efforts.

Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.

Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show opens in London.

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Rainier III becomes Prince of Monaco.

Prince Rainier III ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs in European history. Though internationally known for his marriage to American actress Grace Kelly, he was also responsible for reforms to Monaco’s constitution and for expanding the principality’s economy from its traditional casino gambling base to its current tax haven role. Gambling accounts for only approximately three percent of the nation’s annual revenue today; when Rainier ascended the throne in 1949, it accounted for more than 95 percent.

Rainier was born at Prince’s Palace in Monaco, the only son of Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, and her husband, Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois. Rainier was the first native-born prince since Honoré IV in 1758. Rainier’s mother was the only child of Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and Marie Juliette Louvet; she was legitimized through formal adoption and subsequently named heir presumptive to the throne of Monaco. Rainier’s father was a half-French, half-Mexican who adopted his wife’s dynasty, Grimaldi, upon marriage and was made a Prince of Monaco by marriage by Prince Louis, his father-in-law. Rainier had one sibling, Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy.

Rainier’s early education was conducted in England, at the prestigious public schools of Summerfields in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, and later at Stowe, in Buckinghamshire. After England, Rainier attended the Institut Le Rosey in Rolle and Gstaad, Switzerland from 1939, before continuing to the University of Montpellier in France, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943, and finally to the Institut d’études politiques de Paris in Paris.

In 1944, upon his 21st birthday, Rainier’s mother renounced her right to the Monegasque throne and Rainier became Prince Louis’s direct heir. In World War II Rainier joined the Free French Army in September 1944, and serving under General de Monsabert as a second lieutenant, and seeing action during the German counter-offensive in Alsace. He received the French Croix de Guerre with bronze star and was given the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor in 1947. Following his decommission from the French Army, he was promoted by the French government as a captain in April 1949 and a colonel in December 1954.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Rainier had a ten-year relationship with the French film actress Gisèle Pascal, whom he had met while a student at Montpellier University, and the couple lived at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Rainier’s sister, Princess Antoinette, wishing her own son to ascend the throne, spread rumours that Pascal was infertile. The rumours combined with a snobbery over Pascal’s family origins ultimately ended the relationship.

Rainier became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco on the death of Louis II on 9 May 1949.

Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.

The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, more commonly known in Australia as The Big Picture, is a 1903 painting by the Australian artist Tom Roberts. The painting, measuring 304.5 by 509.2 centimetres, or roughly 10 by 17 feet, depicts the opening of the first Parliament of Australia at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne on 9 May 1901.

The painting is part of the Royal Collection but has been on permanent loan to the Parliament of Australia since 1957. The work, currently on display in Parliament House, Canberra, has been described as “undoubtedly the principal work of art recording Australia’s Parliamentary History.”

On 1 January 1901, after years of debate, the various colonies in Australia joined in a federation. While the new Constitution of Australia called for a new capital to be constructed, away from the major cities, until that time Melbourne would act as the seat of government of the new nation. Elections were held for the first Parliament of Australia and on 9 May 1901, the new parliament was sworn in at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

The opening of the new parliament was seen as a historic and momentous occasion with King Edward VII’s son, the Duke of Cornwall and York coming to Australia to officially open the new parliament on behalf of the King. To appropriately capture the occasion, the “Australian Art Association”, a consortium of private benefactors, sought to commission a painting of the event as a “gift to the nation”. Their motives were not entirely altruistic; the consortium hoped to profit by selling prints. Roberts was not the consortium’s first choice, with J. C. Waite initially preferred.

he painting was first exhibited in the Royal Academy in London before being presented to King Edward VII by the Commonwealth Government in 1904. It was then moved to St. James’s Palace where it remained on display until 1957. That year, Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia requested the permanent loan of the painting from Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen consented and the picture returned to Australia in 1958.

The picture was to be exhibited in the King’s Hall of the then Parliament House with the other historic records of events as the opening of the first Parliament in Canberra in 1927 and the Royal opening of Parliament in 1954, however it was too big for the available space. The decision was made to store the painting at the Australian War Memorial after a tour of the various state galleries. In 1969, the painting was moved to the Parliament House basement where it remained until 1980.

As a result of its travels, the picture had deteriorated considerably and required major restoration work.

The picture had long been unprotected from changes in temperature and humidity, it had been constantly rolled and unrolled and untacked from its stretcher frame. At one stage it was even folded in half for transport. All this seriously affected the canvas. It gradually sagged, undulated and malformed and was in danger of becoming completely dilapidated.

—?Katrina Rumley, quoted in Mackenzie.
The School of Materials Conservation at the Canberra College of Advanced Education started restoration work in 1980. The work included infra-red and ultra-violet photography to determine the condition of the painting followed by removal of old varnish and grime, repairs to the tacking margin and restoration of some small areas of paint. The work was completed in time for it to be taken to the new High Court of Australia building for its official opening by the Queen in 1981.

The designers of the new Parliament House were mindful of the need to provide an appropriate space to display The Big Picture in the new building. The Joint Standing Committee responsible for the new building made the decision to place the painting in the Main Committee Room Foyer. The architects worked to ensure that major design elements in the room such as the skylight and balustrade around the work allowed for the integration of the painting with the available space. Because the fragile state of the picture prevented it from being rolled, moving the painting from the High Court to Parliament House was a major logistical exercise. The move required removal of some windows at the High Court, the construction of a special carrying frame and scaffolding and a system of winches to support the picture in place. The painting remains in this specially designed location to this day.

On the occasion of the centenary of Federation in 2001, the Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks led a call for ownership of the painting to be formally transferred from the British Royal Collection to the Australian Crown. This was opposed as being both impracticable and unnecessary, as the Queen or her successors were unlikely to request its return.

The Australian Parliament sits for the first in Canberra.

The Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.