History Hop Tags - Belfast

1910-10-20

The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland.

1911-05-31

R.M.S. Titanic launched, Belfast

1914-02-26

HMHS Britannic, sister to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast.

1955-03-24

British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast after 20 years

1968-10-09

About 2,000 students from Queen's University Belfast tried to march to Belfast City Hall in protest against 'police brutality' on 5 October in Derry; the march was blocked by loyalists led by Ian Paisley and after the demonstration, a student civil rights group—People's Democracy—was formed

1968-10-16

The People's Democracy (PD), formed on Oct 9, organise a march of 1,300 students from the Queen's University of Belfast to the City Hall in the centre of the city, Northern Ireland

1968-10-24

The People's Democracy (PD) stage a protest demonstration at Stormont Parliament buildings, Belfast, Northern Ireland

1968-12-20

The People's Democracy (PD) announce that its members will undertake a protest march from Belfast to Derry beginning 1 January 1969

1969-01-01

People's Democracy (PD) begin a 4-day march from Belfast across Northern Ireland to Derry, modeled on Martin Luther King's Selma to Montgomery march

1969-01-04

A People's Democracy march between Belfast and Derry is repeatedly attacked by loyalists and off-duty police officers

1969-04-24

Loyalist members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) explode a bomb at a water pipeline between Lough Neagh and Belfast, Northern Ireland

1969-05-10

In an interview with the 'Belfast Telegraph' former Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill states: "if you give Roman Catholics a good job and a good house, they will live like Protestants, ... They will refuse to have 18 children"

1969-07-12

As the 'marching season' reaches its height there is serious rioting in Derry, Belfast and Dungiven; many familles in Belfast are forced to move from their homes

1969-10-11

Three people shot dead during street violence in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast

1970-01-13

Riots begin in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast

1970-01-14

Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers begin to patrol the Falls Road area of Belfast for the first time since August 1969

1970-01-15

Riots break out in the Ardoyne area of Belfast

1970-03-06

A Catholic man is shot dead by British soldiers in Belfast, North Ireland

1970-03-31

Following an Orange Order parade, intense riots erupt on the Springfield Road in Belfast; violence lasts for three days, and the British Army used CS gas for the first time in large quantities

1970-04-01

Serious riots continue in the Ballymurphy estate in Belfast between Catholic residents and the British Army

1970-06-27

Following the arrest of Bernadette Devlin, intense riots erupt in Derry and Belfast leading to a prolonged gun battle between Irish republicans and loyalists

1970-06-28

Around 500 Catholic workers at the Harland and Wolff shipyard are forced to leave their work by Protestant employees as serious rioting continues in Belfast

1970-07-03

The British Army imposed a curfew on the Falls Road area of Belfast as they search for weapons; during the operation they come under attack from the Official IRA (OIRA) and republican rioters

1970-07-06

Irish Minister for External Affairs Partick Hillery pays an unofficial visit to the Falls Road area of Belfast, an areas only just subject to a curfew by British Army

1970-07-30

Riots hit Belfast, North Ireland

1970-07-31

Daniel O'Hagan (19), a Catholic civilian, is shot dead by the British Army during a serious riot in the New Lodge Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland

1970-09-04

An Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, Michael Kane (35), is killed in the premature explosion of the bomb he was planting at an electricity transformer in Belfast

1970-09-30

A Protestant man is shot and killed by Loyalists in Belfast, North Ireland

1970-10-30

There are serious riots in the Catholic Ardoyne area of Belfast which last for three nights

1970-12-23

A Protestant man is shot dead at his home in Belfast, North Ireland

1971-01-10

Members of the Irish Republican Army carry out a 'punishment attack' by tarring and feathering 4 men accused of criminal activities in Catholic areas of Belfast

1971-01-23

Riots break out in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, North Ireland

1971-01-27

The body of a man who had been shot dead is found in Belfast

1971-02-03

There is a series of house searches by the British Army in Catholic areas of Belfast, resulting in serious rioting and gun battles

1971-02-06

Bernard Watt (28), a Catholic civilian, is shot and killed by the British Army (BA) during street disturbances in Ardoyne, Belfast

1971-02-06

James Saunders (22), a member of the IRA, is shot and killed by the British Army during a gun battle near the Oldpark Road, Belfast

1971-02-26

Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers are shot and killed by the Irish Republican Army while on a mobile patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, North Ireland

1971-03-12

Thousands of Belfast shipyard workers march demanding the introduction of Internment for members of the Irish Republican Army

1971-03-27

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) holds its first Annual Conference in the Ulster Hall in Belfast

1971-04-10

The Republican commemorations is held in Belfast of the Easter Rising (in 1916 in Dublin), revealing conflicts between the two wings of the Irish Republican Army

1971-05-15

Irish Republican Army member William 'Billy' Reid is shot dead by British soldiers in Belfast

1971-05-22

A British soldier is killed by members of the Official Irish Republican Army in Belfast

1971-05-25

The Provisional Irish Republican Army throw a time bomb into Springfield Road British Army base in Belfast, killing British Army Sergeant Michael Willetts and wounding seven officers

1971-07-11

The Irish Republican Army set off a number of bombs in the centre of Belfast injuring a number of people

1971-08-07

A Catholic man is shot dead by a British soldier in Belfast

1971-08-08

A British soldier is shot dead by the Irish Republican Army in Belfast

1971-08-10

During the internment round-up operation in west Belfast, the Parachute Regiment kill 11 unarmed civilians in what became known as the Ballymurphy massacre

1971-08-11

4 people are shot dead in separate incidents in Belfast; three of them by the British Army, as violence continues following the introduction of Internment and Operation Demetrius

1971-09-02

There are further Irish Republican Army bombs set off across the region, including one in Belfast which wrecked the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party

1971-09-06

William Craig and Ian Paisley speak at a rally in Belfast before a crowd of approximately 20,000 people and call for the establishment of a 'third force' to defend 'Ulster'

1971-09-13

Two North Ireland Loyalists are mortally injured when the bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely in a house in Bann Street, Belfast

1971-10-23

Two female members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) are shot dead by the British Army in the Lower Falls area of Belfast

1971-10-24

A member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is shot dead by undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary officers during a bomb attack in Belfast

1971-10-25

A man dies two days after being shot during an Irish Republican Army attack on the British Army in Belfast

1971-11-18

A British soldier is shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast

1971-12-04

McGurk's Bar bombing: the UVF explode a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing fifteen Catholic civilians and wounding seventeen others; this was the highest death toll from a single incident in Belfast during 'the Troubles'

1971-12-06

A woman dies trying to salvage property from the Salvation Army Citadel in Belfast after bomb which started a large fire in an adjoining building

1971-12-11

A bomb explodes outside a furniture showroom on the mainly-Protestant and loyalist Shankill Road, Belfast; four civilians (including two babies) were killed and nineteen wounded

1972-01-02

Anti-internment rally in Belfast, North Ireland

1972-01-03

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb in Callender Street, Belfast, which injures over 60 people

1972-01-17

Seven men who were held as internees escape from the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough, North Ireland

1972-03-01

Two Catholic teenagers were shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary while 'joy riding' in a stolen car in Belfast

1972-03-04

Abercorn Restaurant bombing: a bomb explodes in a crowded restaurant in Belfast, killing two civilians and wounding 130

1972-03-09

Four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast

1972-03-15

Two British soldiers killed when attempting to defuse a bomb in Belfast; an RUC officer iskilled in an IRA attack in Coalisland, County Tyrone

1972-03-18

Ulster Vanguard hold a rally of 60,000 people in Belfast; William Craig tells the crowd: "if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy"

1972-03-20

Donegall Street bombing: the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonate its first car bomb on Donegall Street in Belfast; four civilians, two RUC officers and a UDR soldier killed while 148 people were wounded

1972-04-07

Three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature bomb explosion in Belfast

1972-04-15

A member of the Official Irish Republican Army is shot dead by British soldiers at Joy Street in the Markets area of Belfast close to his home

1972-04-15

A member of the British Army is shot dead by the Official IRA in the Divis area of Belfast.

1972-04-22

An 11-year-old boy killed by a rubber bullet fired by the British Army in Belfast; he was the first to die from a rubber bullet impact

1972-05-10

An Irish Republican Army bomb starts a fire that destroys the Belfast Co-operative store

1972-05-13

Battle at Springmartin: following a loyalist car bombing of a Catholic-owned pub in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast, clashes erupte between the PIRA, UVF and British Army

1972-05-14

A 13 year old Catholic girl is shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in Ballymurphy, Belfast

1972-05-17

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) fires on workers leaving the Mackies engineering works in west Belfast (Although the factory was sited in a Catholic area it had an almost entirely Protestant workforce)

1972-05-26

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) plant a bomb in Oxford Street, Belfast, killing a 64 year old woman

1972-05-28

Four Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and four civilians killed when a bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely at a house in Belfast

1972-06-11

Gun battle between Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries break out in the Oldpark area of Belfast

1972-06-19

A Catholic civilian is shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the Cracked Cup Social Club, Belfast

1972-07-02

Two Catholic civilians are shot and killed in Belfast by Loyalist paramilitaries, probably the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)

1972-07-03

The Ulster Defence Association and the British Army come into conflict about a 'no-go' area at Ainsworth Avenue, Belfast

1972-07-05

Two Protestant brothers are found shot dead outside of Belfast (There was speculation that they were killed by Loyalists because they had Catholic girlfriends)

1972-07-09

Springhill Massacre: British snipers shoot dead five Catholic civilians and wounded two others in Springhill, Belfast.

1972-07-13

A series of gun-battles and shootings erupt across Belfast between the Provisional Irish Republican Army and British Army soldiers

1972-07-18

The 100th British soldier to die in the conflict is shot by a sniper in Belfast

1972-07-21

Bloody Friday: within the space of seventy-five minutes, the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode twenty-two bombs in Belfast; six civilians, two British Army soldiers and one UDA volunteer were killed, 130 injured

1972-07-22

2 Catholics are abducted, beaten, and shot dead in a Loyalist area of Belfast

1972-08-14

2 British soldiers are killed by an IRA booby trap bomb in Belfast

1972-08-14

A Catholic civilian is shot dead during an IRA attack on a British Army patrol in Belfast

1972-09-02

The headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Belfast is severely damaged by an IRA bomb

1972-09-14

2 people are killed and 1 mortally wounded in a Ulster Volunteer Force bomb attack on the Imperial Hotel, Belfast

1972-10-10

3 members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion in a house in Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast

1972-10-14

North Irish Loyalist paramilitaries raid Headquarters of the 10 Ulster Defence Regiment in Belfast and stole rifles and ammunition

1972-10-16

A Protestant youth member (15) of the Ulster Defence Association, and a UDA member (26) are run over by British Army vehicles during riots in east Belfast

1972-10-17

The Ulster Defence Association open fire on the British Army in several areas of Belfast

1972-10-31

2 Catholic children (6 and 4) playing on the street are killed in a Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) car bomb attack on a bar in Ship Street, Belfast

1973-02-04

British Army snipers shoot dead a Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and three civilians at the junction in Belfast during the 'Troubles' in N Ireland

1974-05-02

Six Catholic civilians killed and eighteen wounded when the UVF explode a bomb at Rose & Crown Bar on Ormeau Road, Belfast

1975-04-12

Six Catholic civilians are killed in a Ulster Volunteer Force gun and grenade attack on Strand Bar in Belfast, North Ireland

1975-08-13

Bayardo Bar attack: Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers carry out a gun and bomb attack on a pub in Belfast frequented by Ulster Volunteer Force commanders; 4 Protestant civilians and 1 UVF member are killed

1975-11-25

A loyalist gang nicknamed the "Shankill Butchers" undertakes its first "cut-throat killing"; the gang was named for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder (by throat slashing) of random Catholic civilians in Belfast

1976-07-30

4 Protestant civilians were shot dead at a pub off Milltown Road, Belfast; the attack was claimed by the Republican Action Force

1976-08-10

A Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer is shot dead by the British Army as he drove along a road in Belfast; his car then went out of control and killed 3 children, sparking a series of "peace rallies" throughout the month by a group that became known as 'Peace People'

1976-08-14

10,000 Northern Ireland women demonstrate for peace in Belfast

1978-02-17

La Mon restaurant bombing: 11 civilians and 1 RUC officer are killed and 30 wounded by a Provisional Irish Republican Army incendiary bomb at the La Mon Restaurant near Belfast

1978-06-21

The British Army shoot dead 3 Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a passing Ulster Volunteer Force member at a postal depot on Ballysillan Road, Belfast; it is claimed that the PIRA volunteers were about to launch a bomb attack

1979-02-20

11 loyalists known as the "Shankill Butchers" are sentenced to life in prison for 19 murders; the gang was named for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder (by throat slashing) of random Catholic civilians in Belfast

1980-01-17

Dunmurry train explosion: a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb prematurely detonates on a passenger train near Belfast, killing three and injuring five (including the bombers)

1980-06-10

8 Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners escape from Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast using handguns smuggled into prison

1981-10-03

Irish Nationalist at Maze Prison near Belfast end 7-mo hunger strike

1982-04-20

The Provisional Irish Republican Army explode bombs in Belfast, Derry, Armagh, Ballymena, Bessbrook and Magherafelt; 2 civilians are killed and 12 injured

1984-03-14

Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

1988-03-19

2 British soldiers lynched in Belfast, North Ireland

1993-10-16

IRA bomb attack on fish & chips restaurant in Belfast, 10 killed

1993-10-23

Seven people killed by IRA bomb attack in Belfast

1998-04-10

The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement for Northern Ireland is signed by the British and Irish goverments

1813-12-19

Thomas Andrews, Belfast Ireland, chemist/physicist (ozone)

1880-10-23

Una O'Connor, Belfast Ireland, actress (David Copperfield)

1888-11-24

Cathleen Nesbitt, Belfast Ireland, actress (Agatha-Farmer's Daughter)

1898-11-29

C. S. Lewis [Clive Staples], Belfast, sci-fi author (Silver Chair), (d. 1963)

1900-08-21

Eileen Percy, Belfast Ireland, silent film actress (Let's Go)

1911-06-05

Arthur Vick, vice chancelor (Queens University, Belfast)

1921-05-12

Henry Mackie, designer of the Belfast Calorimeter

1926-04-09

Lord Fitt, MP (Belfast Ireland)

1931-12-31

Bob Shaw, Belfast, Northern Ireland, sci-fi author (Light of Other Days, The Ragged Astronauts)

1939-12-08

James Galway, Belfast Ireland, flutist (18k gold flute, Royal Phil)

1942-10-14

Billy Harrison, Belfast Ireland, rock guitarist (Them)

1944-11-26

Alan Henderson, Belfast, rock bassist (Them)

1945-08-31

[George I] Van Morrison, Belfast, singer (Here Comes the Night)

1946-10-31

Stephen Rea, Belfast, Northern Ireland, film and stage actor (Crying Game, Michael Collins)

1947-01-12

Matt Molloy, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast

1947-09-03

Eric Bell, rock guitarist (Thin Lizzy Belfast, N Ireland

1955-05-10

Rick Steves, Belfast and the Best of Northern Ireland

1960-12-10

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast, actor/director (High Season, Dead Again)

1967-11-02

Derek Porter, Belfast Ireland, Canadian rower (Oly-gold/silver-92/96)

1983-01-03

Belinda Pegrum, The Belfast Boys

1983-04-03

Candace Thomas, The Belfast Boys

1933-06-03

William Muldoon, Belfast NY, boxing commissioner, dies at 88

1982-11-16

Lenny Murphy, Leader of Belfast's notorious Shankill Butchers (b. 1952)

1994-07-30

Henry Mackie, designer of the Belfast Calorimeter, dies at 73

2007-01-03

Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast 1983-2001 (b. 1924)