13 October
The first party election broadcast was made on BBC radio by the prime minister, Ramsey MacDonald, on this day in 1924
The three main party leaders each made 20-minute speeches. MacDonald made a special pitch to new voters. ‘Let me welcome the goodly company of new electors whom we have long striven to get on the register and to whom we are now glad to appeal,’ he said. ‘May they govern their country well.
The first radio broadcast of a football match came on 22 January 1927 and featured a 1-1 draw between Arsenal and Sheffield United. According to the Football Association’s website, ‘So that listeners could imagine where the ball was during play, the pitch was divided into numbered squares. Hence the expression “back to square one”.’
Which only goes to show that they know as much about the origins of famous phrases as they do about appointing England football managers. Hence the expression ‘sweet FA’.
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