Handsel Monday, traditionally the day on which gifts were exchanged in Scotland
“Handsel Monday” is a traditional Scottish term for the first Monday of the year.
A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Northern Bank in Belfast, one of the largest bank robberies in British history
On 20 December 2004, a total of £26.5 million in cash was stolen from the headquarters of Northern Bank on Donegall Square West in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Having taken family members of two bank officials hostage, an armed gang forced the workers to help them steal used and unused pound sterling banknotes. The money was loaded into a van and driven away in two trips. This was one of the largest bank robberies in the history of the United Kingdom.
The replica famine ship, the Jeanie Johnston, arrives in Dublin after final fittings in Cork
Jeanie Johnston is a replica of a three masted barque that was originally built in Quebec, Canada, in 1847 by the Scottish-born shipbuilder John Munn. The replica Jeanie Johnston performs a number of functions: an ocean-going sail training vessel at sea and in port converts into a living history museum on 19th century emigration and, in the evenings, is used as a corporate event venue.
The Princess Royal formally opened the Loch Lomond
The Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park became fully operational on 19 July 2002 and was officially opened by Princess Anne on 24 July 2002.