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  1. On this day - 7 February

On this day - 7 February

Historical items of interest as featured in the papers of the day.

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Queen Elizabeth II flies home as Queen following death of King George VI

Daily Express 07/02/1971

Following the death of King George VI on February 6th 1952, the new Queen Elizabeth II flew from Kenya back to the United Kingdom, landing in London. She had returned from an overnight stay in the Treetops Lodge, where she had viewed wild elephants and rhinos, when she heard the news of her father's death. It was requested that people stay away from the airport on the plane's arrival in order to keep the new Queen's return as quiet as possible.

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Image for page DExp_1991_02_08_001

Mortar attack on 10 Downing Street

Daily Express 07/02/1991
On February 7th 1991 three homemade mortar shells were launched by the Provisional IRA at 10 Downing Street in an attempt to murder the Prime Minister John Major and his war cabinet. They were meeting to discuss the Gulf war. One of the shells landed in the garden of 10 Downing Street and detonated but caused minimal impact to those inside the building due to bomb proof windows. The other two shells overshot their target and landed nearby on Mountbatten Green. Four individuals were injured as a result of the attack, including two policemen.

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