Religion
4th December 1848 - St Francis Xaviers Church (SFX) in Everton opened, eight years after it was first planned by local Catholic businessmen. The Liverpool Mercury reported "This splendid edifice, situated in Salisbury Street opposite the Collegiate Institution, was opened for Divine service yesterday. The sermon was preached by the Rev. William Cobb. He delivered with great eloquence a panegyric upon the saint whose name has been given the church. After the service all the clergy and a number of ladies and gentlemen were most hospitably entertained at the house attached to the church by the Rev. Francis West".
Wartime
20th December 1940 - Tragedy struck in Vauxhall when a communal air raid shelter took a direct hit killing over 70 people who lived in the same tenement building, Blackstock Gardens. Due to reporting restriction the full scale of the tragedy did not appear in the press, with the Liverpool Echo simply stating "A communal shelter was hit and it is feared that there are many casualties". A memorial stands to the victims on Vauxhall Road.
Christmas
25th December 1945 - Britain's first peacetime Christmas for seven years was a low key affair, with most happy to spend it at home with their families. The Daily Post reported “There seems no doubt that most families managed to get a good Christmas meal thanks among other things to the increase in rations. It would have been sad had matters turned out otherwise, for many ex-servicemen on Merseyside and ex-prisoners of war were having their first Christmas at home for three, four and even five years. It has been on the whole a stay at home Christmas, many hotels in resorts are still requisitioned by Government departments. Many people wished for their first ‘peace’ Christmas to be spent by their firesides".
New Year
31st December 1899 - Despite the significance of the date there were no special celebrations to mark the end of the 1800s. The Liverpool Mercury reportred that although there were more revellers than normal, it was down to the milder weather compared to previous years. It was most concerned about the number of chirldren out on the streets, commenting "“The scene in Church Street was the most disgraceful ever witnessed on such an occasion. Young boys and girls of ten years and twelve years were helplessly drunk and many more children who ought to have been in bed, were screaming out coarse ditties”.