Every weekend Spectator Life brings you doses of topical trivia – facts, figures and anecdotes inspired by the current week’s dates in history …
6 February
In 1918 British women over the age of 30 received the vote. The comedian Frank Skinner had a mother who always voted Labour and a father who always voted Conservative. So they agreed not to bother voting, as they’d only cancel each other out. But one election night, as it was announced on TV that the polls had just closed, Skinner’s mother said: ‘I voted.’ Skinner recalls that ‘my dad went absolutely crazy’.
7 February
In 1991 the IRA fired three mortars at 10 Downing Street. Two fell short, while the third only reached the garden. This was because the van from which the mortars were fired had parked in slightly the wrong place on Whitehall.
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