Daily Chat 16/06/09

In an odd little P.S. to the War of the Roses, the Battle of Stoke Field took place on this day in 1487. Abraham Lincoln gave his famous "A House Divided" speech to the Illinois senate in 1858. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space and during the Soweto Uprising in 1976, police opened fire on a peaceful protest of 15,000 students, killing 566 children. Celebrating birthdays today: Dame Eileen Atkins, Joyce Carol Oates, Lamont Dozier and Cobi Jones. It's Bloomsday wherever there are fans of James Joyce.