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1900 Frank Devlin was born on this day in 1900. He was Ireland’s most successful ever badminton player, winning the All England Open six times and the Irish Championships twice.
Devlin was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997 along with his daughter, Judy Devlin, who was also a professional player.
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1946 Pádraic Ó Máille, the founder of the Irish political party Sinn Féin, died on this day in 1946. Ó Máille was a farmer from Galway but was interested in politics as a member of the Irish Volunteers. He was also the man that co-founded the Gaelic League with Ireland’s first president, Douglas Hyde.
Click here to read more about Douglas Hyde
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1966 Happy birthday to Steve Staunton, born on this day in 1966. Staunton had a long and successful career as a footballer. He won the English Division One title and FA Cup playing for Liverpool, and the English League Cup with Aston Villa.
Staunton played for the Irish national team 102 times, including appearing in three World Cups. He also had a brief spell as manager of Ireland from 2006 to 2007.
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1968 Alfred Chester Beatty died on this day in 1968. He was an irish American who made millions in the mining industry. He was known as the King of Copper, and made an honourary Irish citizen in 1957.
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1974 The Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team beat the UCLA Bruins 71-70 on this day in 1974. The victory ended the UCLA’s run of 88 consecutive games undefeated, since they lost exactly three years earlier, on 19th January 1971, to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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1998 On this day in 1998, the Loyalist Volunteer Force claimed responsibility for shooting dead Catholic taxi driver Larry Brennan in Belfast. The murder was in retaliation to the killing of their leader Billy Wright in Maze prison.
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