Yvonne Fletcher was fatally wounded on 17 April 1984 by a shot coming from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square in London. She had been deployed as a constable of the Metropolitan Police to monitor a demonstration against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. During the protest, two unknown gunmen opened fire with Sterling submachine guns, killing Fletcher and wounding eleven Libyans. The inquest found that she was "killed by a bullet coming from one of two windows on the west side of the front on the first floor of the Libyan People's Bureau". After an eleven-day siege of the embassy, those inside were expelled from the United Kingdom, and diplomatic relations with Libya were severed. In 1999 a warming of diplomatic relations with Britain led to the payment of compensation and a statement from the Libyan government admitting culpability in Fletcher's shooting. British police continued their investigation until 2017, but no one has been convicted of Fletcher's murder.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Yvonne_Fletcher
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1080:
On the death of his brother Harald III, Canute IV, who later became the first Dane to be canonized, became King of Denmark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_IV_of_Denmark
1362:
Lithuanian Crusade: After a month-long siege, the Teutonic Order captured and destroyed Kaunas Castle (reconstruction pictured) in Lithuania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kaunas_(1362)
1907:
The first of three dreadnought battleships for Brazil was laid down, sparking a vastly expensive South American naval arms race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_dreadnought_race
1951:
The Peak District was designated the first national park in the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_District
1973:
George Lucas began writing a 13-page film treatment entitled The Star Wars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(film)
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
kyriarchy: A system of ruling and oppression in which many people may interact and act as oppressor or oppressed. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kyriarchy
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The idea that Anarchy can be inaugurated by force is as fallacious as the idea that it can be sustained by force. Force cannot preserve Anarchy; neither can it bring it. In fact, one of the inevitable influences of the use of force is to postpone Anarchy. The only thing that force can ever do for us is to save us from extinction, to give us a longer lease of life in which to try to secure Anarchy by the only methods that can ever bring it. But this advantage is always purchased at immense cost, and its attainment is always attended by frightful risk. The attempt should be made only when the risk of any other course is greater. --Benjamin Tucker https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Tucker