On This Day: 8th April

Here's another entry on this subject(remember, keep on topic!):

•563 BC: Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, is born (traditional date).

•217: The brutal Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated while relieving himself at a roadside.

•1904: The ‘Entente Cordiale’ is signed by Britain and France, finally ending centuries of intermittent conflict.

That was nice of him. How did that go?

Not so good - the Conservatives were bitterly opposed to Home Rule and stirred things up in Belfast - Randolph Churchill's 'Orange Card' was played and proved the ace in the pack.

8 June 1886: Defeat of the first Home Rule Bill. Introduced by W.E. Gladstone the proposed legislation was to give Ireland very limited control of her own affairs. Though Parnell supported it on the basis of gaining more at a later date, it was
defeated in the House of Commons by 343 votes against the motion and 311 for it.