Scotland timeline

Sir William Wallace is Executed for High Treason

This is the truth I tell you: of all things freedom's most fine. Never submit to live, my son, in the bonds of slavery entwined. Read more

Plot Leads to Major Catastrophe

Alexander 'Sandy' Keith, Jr. was a notorious nineteenth century criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Keith was born in 1827 in Caithness,... Read more

Tay Bridge Disaster

At approximately 7:15 p.m. on the stormy night of 28 December 1879, the central navigation spans of the Tay bridge collapsed into the Firth of Tay... Read more

Quintinshill Rail Disaster

On 22 May 1915, a 213 yard long troop train was telescoped down to 67 yards, a third of its original length, when it was involved in a triple... Read more

HMS Natal Explosion

On 30th December 1915 Natal was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron under the command of Captain Eric Back RN. Shortly after 3.20pm, and... Read more

Destruction of HMS Vanguard

The eighth HMS Vanguard was the victim of an internal explosion. Her magazine was detonated by unstable cordite and within seconds the battleship... Read more

Sinking of HMS Iolaire

Iolaire cast off from Kyle at 7.30pm on Old Year’s Night. At half past midnight she was twelve miles from Stornoway where the armed drifter Budding... Read more

Glen Cinema Disaster

The cinema (opened in 1901), known as 'The Glen' and 'The Royal Animated Pictures' once formed part of the Good Templar Halls (now occupied by... Read more

Loch Ness Monster Witnessed by George Spicer and His Wife

Modern interest in the monster was sparked by the 22 July 1933 sighting, when George Spicer and his wife saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal'... Read more

Castlecary Rail Accident

On December 10, disaster struck the railway station at Castlecary, between Falkirk and Glasgow. Heavy snow that day had led to big delays, and by... Read more

Clydebank Blitz

On 13th March, 1941, 236 Luftwaffe bombers attacked targets in the Clydebank area. These included the shipyards, Dalnottar tank farm and large... Read more

USAAF B-24 Liberator Bomber Crashes into Fairy Loches

On the 13th June 1945 a USAAF B-24H Liberator with 9 crew and 6 US army passengers took off from Prestwick for home, having survived the War. The... Read more

Goswick Rail Crash

The Goswick rail crash occurred on 26 October 1947 near the village of Goswick, Northumberland, England. The Flying Scotsman express from Edinburgh... Read more

KLM Constellation Air Disaster

Take-off from Schiphol was planned at 20:00 on 20 October 1948 for a flight to New York via Prestwick, with as alternative Shannon, Ireland. The... Read more

John Boyd Orr is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, CH, DSO, MC, FRS (23 September 1880 – 25 June 1971), also known as Sir John Boyd Orr from 1935 to 1949, was a... Read more

Ibrox Disaster

Sixty-six football supporters have been killed following a match between Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers at the Ibrox Park stadium in... Read more

Archie Gemmill Becomes Unlikely Hero through Key Goal Against the Netherlands in 1978 World Cup Finals

Scotland's greatest World Cup moment came against the Dutch at the 1978 Finals. To guarantee progress from their group, Ally MacLeod's side needed... Read more

Piper Alpha Disaster

The Piper Alpha story can be told in flat statistics and lose none of its capacity to horrify. The first explosion took place at around 10pm, when... Read more

Lockerbie Bombing Kills 270

Pan Am Flight 103, also commonly referred to as the Lockerbie bombing, was the bombing of a Pan Am transatlantic flight from London Heathrow... Read more

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Convicted "Lockerbie Bomber", Granted Release by Scottish Officials

On 20 August 2009, despite protests from political figures on both sides of the Atlantic, the Scottish Government Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill... Read more