Shipping
3rd October 1788 - King's Dock, now occupied by the Echo Arena, opened. Built on the site for former shipyards at the cost of £25,000, it was named after King George III. Williamson's Advertiser reported "On Friday the new dock, the King’s Dock, at the south end of town, was opened and the water let into it when the Amphitrite, Greenland ship, Captain Pagan commander, entered it”.
Military
21st October 1915 - As the Great War showed no sign of ending, the recruitment drive was stepped up in Liverpool with 75,000 letters signed by Lord Derby being prepared to send out, while agents were also visiting those getting off ships. The Evening Express reported "Without allowing their ardour time to cool they make a bee line for the recruiting office and transact the business of attestation and undergo medical examination straight away. Others are brought from the highways and by-ways as well as from the high seas, the system of recruiting officers visiting steamers arriving in Liverpool having been consistently carried out”.
Religion
25th October 1978 - A service of Thanksgiving and Dedication took place at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral after worl was finally completed on the building, 74 years after it had began. The Daily Post reported "The service at the cathedral, bathed in television lights and glowing with colour provided the pageantry. More than 2,500 guests from all walks of life attended the magnificent ceremony. In the presence of Elizabeth II, whose great grandfather Edward VII had laid the foundation stone, Liverpool inherited the world’s fifth largest cathedral, the first Mother Church in the northern provinces since the Reformation. No words can adequately convey the feeling of thanksgiving”,
Politics
28th October 1858 - The salary of the Mayor was borught into question by a reader of the Liverpool Mercury. A writer signing off as 'Anti Humbug' wrote “I read in the Times a few days ago that at a meeting of the Newcastle Town Council recently it was resolved by a large majority to abolish
the Mayor’s salary and that in future only the ‘legitimate expenses’ are to be allowed. Surely this has not escaped the notice of Mr Gladstone or some of the
advocates of retrenchment in our present corporate expenditure. It is hoped therefore that someone will have sufficient courage at the election of the new Mayor to move that the allowance of £2,000 (or whatever it is) be not made in the future".
the Mayor’s salary and that in future only the ‘legitimate expenses’ are to be allowed. Surely this has not escaped the notice of Mr Gladstone or some of the
advocates of retrenchment in our present corporate expenditure. It is hoped therefore that someone will have sufficient courage at the election of the new Mayor to move that the allowance of £2,000 (or whatever it is) be not made in the future".
The above events are covered in further detail, along with other stories for every day of the year, in The Liverpool Book Of Days, which was published in September 2012. Signed copies are available here.