/image%2F0691026%2F20160124%2Fob_c0e1ea_psd-team.JPG)
/image%2F0691026%2F20160124%2Fob_fbb1b4_img-0956.JPG "The blog of Peter Sanderson-Dykes; some useful insights from the world of corporate coaching, plus an alternative look at various forms of current affairs and an insider's guide to life in France")
On This Day October 19th
Published on October 19 2016
Today is… 19th October.
On this day in 1781 Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. This surrender effectively ended the American revolutionary war and shortly afterwards the United States became an independent nation.
Another big event took place on this day in 1812 when Napoleon Bonaparte's forces began their retreat out of Russia.
On 19th October in 1954 Egypt and Britain concluded a pact on the Suez Canal, ending 72 years of British military occupation. Britain agreed to withdraw its 80,000-man force within 20 months, and Egypt agreed to maintain freedom of canal navigation.
The 19th October is Mother Teresa Day in Albania. She was born in Skopje, Macedonia which was then still in the Ottoman Empire although her family was of Albanian ancestry. And after living in Yugoslavia for some thirty years, she moved to India, where she spent the rest of her life helping poor people in Calcutta.