1693 Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pérignon's invention of Champagne.
1704 Gibraltar was captured for the British by Admiral Sir George Rooke.
1870 The British Red Cross Society was founded, by Lord Wantage.
1914 Britain declared war on Germany after the Germans had violated the Treaty of London by invading Belgium, and so began 'the war to end all wars'. The United States declared their neutrality.
1923 The BBC began using the 'pips' as a time signal in its broadcasts.
1942 The movie Holiday Inn premieres in New York, introducing Bing Crosby's holiday classic "White Christmas."
1954 Britain's first supersonic fighter plane, the English Electric Lightning P-1, made its maiden flight.
1964 The Kinks release "You Really Got Me" in the UK. With a distorted guitar sound accomplished by taking a razor blade to an amplifier, it becomes their first hit, spending two weeks at #1 UK in September.
1967 Pink Floyd releases their first album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", their only record made under the leadership of Syd Barrett.
1972 President Idi Amin declared that Uganda would expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within three months.
1984 American athlete Carl Lewis wins the 100m in 9.9 seconds in Los Angeles, first of 9 Olympic gold medals over 3 Games.
1989 'Licence to Kill' went on general cinema release in the United Kingdom. It was the sixteenth entry in the James Bond film series by Eon Productions, and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel.
2001 Australian cricket spinner Shane Warne skittles England (162) with 6/33 to guide tourists to a 7 wicket 3rd Test victory at Trent Bridge; Aussies regain Ashes with record 7th straight Test win v England.
2012 The annual stinging nettle-eating competition, started in 1986, was held at The Bottle Inn pub at Marshwood near Bridport in Dorset. The current record at the event for the most amount of nettles eaten in one hour is 76ft (23m).
2012 Great Britain enjoyed its most successful day at an Olympics in 104 years by winning six gold medals on day eight of the London Games.
2012 South African Oscar Pistorius becomes first double-leg amputee to compete at the Olympics; 400m London; out in semi's.
2014 People in the UK were encouraged to turn off their lights between 10pm and 11pm, leaving only a single light or candle for a symbolic act of reflection and hope in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of World War 1. On the eve of Britain officially entering the war, Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, uttered the words "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."
910 The last major Viking army to raid England was defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1100 Henry I was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
1305 Sir William Wallace, Scottish hero and champion of Scottish independence who beat Edward I at the battle of Stirling Bridge, was captured by the English and later executed as a traitor.
1583 Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland for the British crown - first English colony in North America and the beginning of the British Empire.
1620 The Mayflower departed from Southampton on its first attempt to reach North America but the sister ship, the Speedwell developed a leak. It had to be refitted at Dartmouth and, after further leaks (or possibly sabotage) the Mayflower made the 60 day crossing alone.
1816 Francis Ronalds built the first working electric telegraph in his garden on Hammersmith's Upper Mall. He offered his new invention to the Government, who dismissed it as being 'wholly unnecessary'. At this time the government was relying on a visual system (the semaphore) and it took a further 20 years for the electric telegraph to be commercialised.
1858 The first transatlantic cable was officially opened, with Queen Victoria sending a telegraphic message to US President James Buchanan.
1891 World's 1st traveler's cheques issued by American Express.
1901 Britain's first cinema, the Mohawk, opened in Islington, north London. Films were accompanied by the 16-piece Fonobian Orchestra. At the height of their popularity in the 1940s, cinemas in Britain had average weekly attendances of 30 million.
1925 The political party Plaid Cymru was formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language which was, at the time, in danger of dying out.
1926 Harry Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1½ hrs before escaping.
1957 Comic strip "Andy Capp" makes its debut.
1966 The Beatles release single "Yellow Submarine" with "Eleanor Rigby" in UK.
1970 The penalty shoot-out arrived in English football. The Hull City v Manchester United pre-season Watney Cup semi-final ended 1-1 at the end of extra time and so for the first time it was the turn of penalties. George Best became the first player to score in a penalty shoot-out and Denis Law the first to miss one – but Manchester United won 4-3.
1975 The first all-female hard-rock band is formed when producer Kim Fowley puts together The Runaways, featuring Joan Jett, future Bangle Michael Steele, and Lita Ford.
1976 The clock overlooking the Houses of Parliament stopped for the first time in 117 years.
1976 At a show in Birmingham, England, an inebriated Eric Clapton speaks out in favor of the right-wing National Front, repeating their slogan, "Keep Britain white," and adding, "I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism."
Clarifying his statements years later, Clapton says, "I made some fairly racial comments, but they weren't directed at any particular minority. It was a feeling of loss of identity and losing my Englishness."
1986 Princess Anne rode Gulfland to win the 3.45 at Redcar; her first victory as a jockey.
2013 Rain intervenes to end the 3rd cricket Test between Australia and England at Old Trafford; England retains the Ashes after winning the first 2 Tests.
2016 XXXI Summer Olympic Games officially open in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There are spectacular fireworks, awe-inspiring acrobats, and sensational dancers at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio, but supermodel Gisele Bundchen gets the biggest reaction when she takes a long walk across the stage to "The Girl From Ipanema," performed by the composer's grandson, Daniel Jobim.
1504 Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury was born. He had an extremely long nose and was extremely inquisitive, hence the expression 'Nosy Parker'.
1623 Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare died.
1675 Russian Tsar Alexis bans foreign hair styles to those below the nobility.
1809 Alfred Tennyson, English poet was born. He is the second most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, (after Shakespeare). Tennyson wrote a number of phrases that have become commonplaces of the English language, including "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", and "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die".
1844 The first UK press telegram was sent, to The Times, announcing the birth of Prince Alfred to Queen Victoria.
1856 The Great Bell is cast for the Great Clock of Westminster, London (Big Ben).
1880 In a remarkable race at the Astley Stakes in Lewes, East Sussex, 5 of the 9 horses passed the winning post virtually simultaneously. The judge declared a triple dead heat for first place, with a double dead heat for fourth.
1881 Sir Alexander Fleming, scientist, Scottish bacteriologist and discoverer of penicillin was born here at Darvel in Ayrshire. His 'bacteria killer' discovery changed the world of modern medicine and has saved millions of people around the world.
1889 The Savoy Hotel in London was opened.
1890 At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the 1st person to be executed by electric chair.
1923 Henry Sullivan becomes 3rd person and first American to swim English Channel (27 hours 25 minutes Dover-Calais).
1926 American Gertrude Ederle (20) becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel in 14 hours, 39 minutes, a record for male or female.
1932 1st Venice Film Festival opens, the world's oldest film festival.
1945 By the time the atom bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the Second World War had raged for six years. Germany had been defeated and Europe lay in ruins.
Focus turned to Japan, the last Axis Power country. US President Harry Truman and his military commanders knew that an invasion of Japan would be extremely costly in terms of Allied lives - up to a million casualties were predicted. So they resolved to use the newly developed atomic bomb to reduce Japanese cities to rubble without setting foot on land.
So it was that a B29 Superfortress nicknamed Enola Gay after the pilot's mother dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Between 129,000-226,000 people were killed, mostly civilians. About half died instantly when the bombings happened, and the rest died from radiation sickness and other illnesses in the days and weeks after.
The moral, legal and ethical issues of the bombing are still debated today. Days after the attacks, Japan surrendered to the Allies, and came under a US-led military occupation.
1949 The 'acid bath murderer' John Haigh was executed. He was convicted of the murders of six people, although he claimed to have killed a total of nine, dissolving their bodies in concentrated sulphuric acid before forging papers in order to sell their possessions and collect substantial sums of money.
1960 Chubby Checker performs "The Twist" for the first time on TV when he does it on American Bandstand. The song goes to #1 and starts a huge dance craze.
1961 British auto racer Sterling Moss scores his 16th and final Formula 1 victory in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
1962 Jamaica became independent, after being a British colony for 300 years.
1964 Prometheus, the world's oldest tree aged at least 4,862 years old, is accidentally cut down in Nevada, USA.
1966 Muhammad Ali knocks out English boxer Brian London in round 3 at Earl's Court in London to retain his undisputed world heavyweight title.
1971 Chay Blyth became the first to sail the world solo, non-stop, in the "wrong" direction i.e. east to west - against the prevailing winds and currents. His journey took 292 days.
1976 The government passed the Drought Act to combat the continued UK drought.
1977 After having made 472 League appearances for them Spurs let 32-year-old goalkeeper Pat Jennings move to rivals Arsenal for £45,000 believing his best years were behind him. Over the next 8 years he made another 237 League appearances for the Gunners.
1979 Marcus Hooper, 12, becomes then youngest person to swim English Channel.
1987 SDP leader Dr David Owen resigned after members of his party voted to merge with the Liberals.
1991 Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
1996 At a show in Hollywood, the Ramones play their final concert.
1485 Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales, at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway on the Dale Peninsula. He was 28 years old and had lived most of his life in exile in France. With him were 2,000 French mercenaries funded by the King of France. Little more than a fortnight later his supporters had defeated King Richard III at Bosworth, near Leicester, and he became King Henry VII. The Tudor dynasty which followed had a profound influence on Britain as we know it today.
1613 The death of Sir Thomas Fleming, the English judge in the trial of Guy Fawkes following the Gunpowder Plot.
1711 The first race meeting was held at Ascot, established by Queen Anne, thus giving them the status of 'Royal Ascot'.
1840 The employment of climbing boys as chimney sweeps was prohibited by an Act of Parliament.
1879 The opening of the 'Poor Man's Palace' in Openshaw, Manchester, a Salvation Army Citadel specifically for soldiers in the area.
1913 In Britain's first aviation tragedy, US airman 'Colonel' Samuel Cody was killed when his aircraft crashed at Farnborough.
1925 Britain introduced the Daylight Saving Act - bringing in British summer time so the nation changed clocks by one hour twice a year.
1926 The first British motor racing Grand Prix was staged at Brooklands; 110 laps of the track for a total distance of 287 miles.The winner was Robert Senechal in just over 4 hours at an average speed of almost 72 miles an hour.
1957 The Quarrymen (minus new member Paul McCartney, away at Scout camp) make their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Manager Alan Sytner instructs them not to play Rock and Roll, but midway through their skiffle performance, John Lennon lights into a version of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," which the crowd loves. The group, of course, becomes The Beatles.
1958 The Litter Act came into force in London as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Offenders could be fined up to £10 for dropping litter. In the first year nearly 1000 were prosecuted.
1993 The public got its first glimpse inside Buckingham Palace as people were given the opportunity to tour the London home of Queen Elizabeth II. Proceeds from ticket sales were earmarked to help repair fire damage at Windsor Castle.
1995 British athlete Jonathan Edwards twice broke his own world triple jump record, becoming the first man to clear 18 metres - whilst winning the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.
2002 The Queen held the first ever garden party at Balmoral Castle in Scotland to end her Jubilee Year. 3000 people were invited to attend.
2012 Fifty year old Jessica Harper former head of fraud and security at Lloyds Bank admitted carrying out a £2.4m fraud over a period of 4 years.
1296 The Stone of Scone, on which Scottish kings had been crowned for centuries, was seized by King Edward I of England.
1588 In a nine-hour battle off Gravelines, the English fleet engaged with the Spaniards in their last naval confrontation. The defeat of the Armada saved England from invasion and the action has enduring historical significance as the first major naval gun battle under sail.
1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act was passed in Britain. The Act dropped the system whereby parishes cared for their poor by a rate of poor relief and replaced it with the workhouse.
1854 Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges.
1898 Will Kellogg invents Corn Flakes.
1918 World War I -The start of the Battle of Amiens - Allied troops advanced against 20 German divisions and took 16,000 prisoners within 2 hours.
1940 The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain and so began The Battle of Britain with 31 German aircraft shot down, the battles would continue into the following October.
1953 Nigel Mansell, English racing driver was born. He won both the Formula One World Championship in 1992 and the American CART Indy Car World Series in 1993 making him the only person to hold both titles simultaneously.
1958 In Britain, Columbia Records signed a 17 year old singer called Cliff Richard.
1963 The Great Train Robbery, in which over £2.5 million was stolen, took place near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. The day of the train robbery also happened to be the 34th birthday of Ronnie Biggs, one of the robbers.
1969 The Beatles are photographed by Iain MacMillan crossing the street as they walk away from EMI Studios, for the cover of their "Abbey Road" album. Fans find many nested clues in the shot of the four band members walking in stride across the street, fuelling rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.
1983 1st Athletics World Championships.
1991 John McCarthy, Britain's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, was freed after more than five years in captivity. He had been held hostage since April 17, 1986 - a total of 1,943 days.
2006 Actor Sylvester Stallone and former heavyweight boxing contender Chuck Wepner settle lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed sum; Wepner claims he was the inspiration for the "Rocky" movies.
1173 Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
1721 Prisoners at Newgate Jail were used as 'guinea pigs' to test vaccines used against disease.
1796 Horatio Nelson captured from the French, the island of Elba, to which Napoleon Bonaparte was later exiled.
1870 The Elementary Education Act was passed. It gave compulsory, free education to every child in England and Wales between the age of five and 13.
1898 Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine.
1902 Following a six-week delay due to an emergency appendectomy, Edward VII was crowned in Westminster Abbey following the death of his mother Queen Victoria. Edward was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.
1907 Robert Baden-Powell's first Boy Scout encampment concluded at Brownsea Island in Dorset. The experimental camp developed into the worldwide Scouts and Guides organizations.
1914 World War I: HMS Birmingham sank a German submarine, the first to be sunk by the Royal Navy.
1945 US drops second atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan, destroying part of the city.
1958 Cliff Richard performed at Butlin's Holiday Camp in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, as Cliff Richard and The Drifters.
1963 ITV transmitted the first edition of the pop music programme Ready Steady Go to rival the BBC's Top of the Pops. The presenter was Cathy McGowan.
1969 Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders.
1974 Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President.
1979 Brighton established the first nudist beach in Britain, despite protests from those fearing depravity.
1981 Six English lifeguards set a relay swim record of the English Channel of 7 hours 17 minutes.
1983 22-year-old Thomas Reilly is shot and killed by a British soldier in Belfast. He was a friend of the band Spandau Ballet, and sold merch on their True tour. His death would inspire the band's song "Through The Barricades".
1984 Daley Thompson won the Olympic decathlon at the Summer Games in Los Angeles.
1986 At the Knebworth Park Festival in England, Queen play their last concert with Freddie Mercury, who dies five years later. An audience of 120,000 hears them close out with "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" and "God Save The Queen."
1991 British radio show "On the Hour" debuts on BBC Radio 4 with first appearance of Alan Partridge character.
1992 Last day of Test Cricket for David Gower.
1997 In Sheffield, England, The Verve play their first show since their breakup two years earlier. The following month, they release their album Urban Hymns, which becomes one of the most successful in UK history.
2002 Lisa Marie Presley marries actor Nicolas Cage, a union that lasts less than four months.
2012 Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics.
2016 Longest ever hunger strike ends, Indian human rights campaigner Irom Sharmila tastes honey after 16 years.
2018 EPL club Tottenham Hotspur fails to bring in one player during the transfer window; first time since FIFA made system compulsory in 2002-03.
991 At the Battle of Maldon (Essex) the English were defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings. After the battle, Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and aldermen advised King Aethelred to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle. The result was a payment of 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver.
1842 Britain passed the Mines Act - forbidding women and children from working underground.
1889 The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.
1895 The first Promenade Concert (The Proms) was held at the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Henry Wood.
1897 German chemist Felix Hoffman first synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, which would later be patened by his company Bayer under the name "aspirin"
1897 The founding the the RAC - the Royal Automobile Club - originally known as the Automobile Club of Great Britain.
1911 British MPs voted to receive salaries for the first time.
1954 Sir Gordon Richards announced his retirement as a racing jockey to become a trainer. Sir Gordon rode 4,870 winners in his 34-year racing career.
1961 Britain applied for membership of the EEC - the European Economic Community.
1984 Famous Mary Decker-Zola Budd collision during 3,000m at the LA Olympics; Decker falls, Budd finishes 7th; Maricica Puică of Romania wins.
1985 While taking part in a yacht race, Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon is trapped along with five other team members after his boat capsizes. The British coast guard scrambles to rescue the stricken crew, and after repairs to its keel the vessel goes on to take third place in the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
1986 English cricketer Ian Botham scored a record 175 in a one day Sunday League match - including 13 sixes.
1996 Oasis play the first of two shows at Knebworth, England. One in 20 of the UK's population applies for a ticket and the band plays to 125,000 people per night in what are the biggest gigs of the Britpop era.
1998 English football club Manchester United became the first club in the world to have its own TV channel - MUTV.
2003 The temperature in Britain exceeded 100° F for the first time when 101.3 °F (38.5 °C) was recorded in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham, Kent.
2017 100 year-old fruit cake by Huntley & Palmers deemed "almost eatable" after being discovered in hut used by Captain Scott's expedition in Antarctica.
2019 Financier Jeffrey Epstein found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell in New York, while awaiting trail for sex trafficking charges.
The Charity Shield match between Leeds and Liverpool was the first to be played at Wembley and the first to be decided on penalties but it is best remembered for the sending off of Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan.
Liverpool signed Kevin Keegan’s replacement at Anfield – Kenny Dalglish. The Scot was bought from Celtic for £440,000 and became a Liverpool legend.
Football On This Day – 10th August 2003.
Football finally arrived at the City of Manchester Stadium – Eastlands – after its conversation from the stadium that staged the 2002 Commonweath Games. Manchester City’s first match was a friendly against Barcelona with Nicolas Anelka scoring the first goal at the ground in City’s 2-1 victory.
1093 Foundation stone for the new Norman Durham cathedral laid by Bishop William of St. Calais in England.
1896 Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain.
1909 The first recorded use of the new emergency wireless signal SOS used by American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC.
1918 World War I: The end of the Battle of Amiens that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. The battle is also notable for the large number of surrendering German forces. It was one of the first major battles involving armoured warfare and marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front.
1934 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942 Barnes Wallis patented his 'bouncing bomb', used successfully to destroy German dams in the 2nd World War.
1964 The Who, temporarily known as the High Numbers, take the stage at Harrow, England's Railway Hotel, but not before lead singer Roger Daltrey is involved in a fistfight with his father-in-law outside.
1968 The start of National Apple Week in England. The Beatles launched their new record label, Apple.
1971 The Prime Minister, Edward Heath, steered the British yachting team to victory in the Admiral's Cup.
1975 The Government took ownership of British Leyland, the only major British-owned car company.
1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th hundred, v Aust at Headingley.
1982 The notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray were allowed out of prison for the funeral of their mother.
1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, winning his 4th Olympic gold medal as part of the US 4 x 100m relay team; world record (37.83).
1984 A British 1-2 in the 1,500m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title.
1984 During a radio voice test, US President Reagan jokes he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."
1986 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Inverness Club: Bob Tway holes a famous bunker shot on the 18th to beat Australian Greg Norman by 2 stokes.
1988 Al-Qaeda formed at a meeting between Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Dr Fadl in Peshawar, Pakistan.
1991 The Worthington Cup (League Cup) tie between Torquay and Portsmouth was called off because of a total eclipse of the sun. The problem wasn't that everything was going to go dark but the police decided that they didn't have the manpower to police both the match and the influx of visitors expected in the area to witness the eclipse. The eclipse couldn't be put off - so the match was.
1994 The death of Surrey born actor Peter Cushing, OBE. He is known for his many appearances in Hammer Films.
2017 Chinese crime writer Liu Yongbiao after announcing his novel called "Beautiful Writer who Killed", arrested for murders of four people nearly 22 years ago.
1976 Keith Moon Shows His Dark Side In A Moment Of Lunacy.
Keith Moon trashes a hotel room - no surprise there. But this time The Who drummer is hospitalized after beating up his room at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami.
Keith Moon has exhibited destructive tendencies since the early days of The Who, when in response to Pete Townshend smashing a guitar, he kicked over his drum kit to the delight of the crowd - a stunt that has become a signature of the band's raucous sets that they end with what they call "auto-destructive art."
He even went so far in 1967 as to load his bass drum with gunpowder for a TV appearance - an event later featured as the opening to the 1979 movie The Kids Are Alright. That particular stunt was not repeated after it ended with Pete Townshend's hair on fire and Moon with a piece of cymbal protruding from his arm.
The carnage is not restricted to stage shows, and Moon has also become (in)famous for destroying hotel rooms. His first time was in Germany in 1966, and the bills have racked up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last decade. This time the errant drummer comes off the worse and ends up in the Hollywood Memorial Hospital, Florida, taken away by ambulance after drunkenly destroying his room and then collapsing for the second time in five months.
Moon is released from the hospital a week later and flies to Malibu to recuperate in the new house he is building. Before doing so, he tells local DJ Dave Ryder, "I don't really remember much about it. I felt dizzy... and I just blacked out." Medical staff describe his condition as a breakdown caused by overwork and pressure.
The hard-living star has long suffered from alcohol addiction, resulting in increasingly erratic behaviour both on and off stage. The only reason he has not been fired from The Who is because his bandmates are concerned that doing so may finally tip him over the edge. Despite repeated attempts to sober up, his h ell raising continues until 1978 when he dies after overdosing on the very drugs he is prescribed to wean him off drink.
Not in my day " Being a Bad Boy was Cool " In Scotland you got the Leather Strap sprinkled with salt & pepper in England you got the " Cain " really whippy one. Thumb ended up like a Banana couldn't wipe your bottom for days. kid u not.!
The Glorious Twelfth - 12th August marks the start of the grouse shooting season and is traditionally known as the Glorious Twelfth.
The Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) is a medium-sized game bird found only in the British Isles. It breeds on the heather moors of northern Britain.
The season lasts from 12 August to 10 December. Throughout this period shooters from all over the world head for the moors of Scotland and northern England.
1851 The Hundred Guinea Cup was offered to the winner of a yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It was won by the US schooner 'America', and the trophy became 'the America's Cup'.
1865 Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery.
1886 W. G. Grace makes his highest Test Cricket score, scoring 170 vs Australia at The Oval.
1908 Henry Ford's company builds the first Model T car.
1914 France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.
1930 Clarence Birdseye is granted a patent for method for quick freezing food.
1944 The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) supplying fuel across the English Channel to the Allied forces in France, went into operation from the Isle of Wight. It could transfer up to 700 tons of fuel a day.
1949 Big Ben ran at its slowest for 90 years as flocks of starlings took roost on the minute hands, slowing it by four and a half minutes.
1960 Pete Best becomes the drummer of the Silver Beetles, who are renamed The Beatles.
1964 A massive manhunt got under way across Britain after Charlie Wilson, one of the gang involved in the Great Train Robbery, broke out of the high-security Winson Green prison in Birmingham. He was on the run for four years, before being finally re-captured in Canada and returned to jail in Britain, where he served out the rest of his sentence. Wilson then moved to the Costa del Sol in Spain, was alleged to have become involved in drugs dealing and was shot dead by a hitman on 23rd April 1990 as he relaxed by his swimming pool.
1964 The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.
1976 Fulham announced that they had signed George Best and Rodney Marsh. With Bobby Moore already at Craven Cottage the dream was surely one of promotion. The reality – they were almost relegated, finishing just one point outside the Second Division relegation zone.
1981 IBM introduces its first Personal Computer (PC & PC-DOS version 1.0).
1991 England defeated the West Indies in the fifth Test Match at the Oval, to draw the summer series 2 - 2.
1996 After the shortest reign of any Highbury boss – just 47 matches – Arsenal sacked manager Bruce Rioch. Johan Cruyff was the favourite to replace him but instead in September Arsenal would appoint an unknown Frenchman, Arsène Wenger.
2012 XXX Summer Olympic Games close in London, England.
2016 Italian jockey Frankie Dettori aboard Predilection rides his 3,000th British winner at Newmarket.
2018 US man steals a plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, flies for an hour chased by military jets before crashing on Ketron Island.
On this Day 1950 in our street there was only one car, that person was the only one to own a black & White TV. You got free milk at School cost one penny to open the Toilet door. Those were the Days. cough!
1814 The Cape of Good Hope Province became a British colony when it was given over to the British by the Dutch for £6 million.
1899 The birth of Alfred Hitchcock, English film director of suspense and psychological thriller films.
1908 The tenor Enrico Caruso was fond of posing in his many motor cars but never learned to drive. On 13th August 1908, in London, his wife Ada Giachetti eloped with their chauffeur.
1910 The death of Florence Nightingale, English nurse who came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed 'The Lady with the Lamp' after her habit of making rounds at night.
1913 The first production in the UK of stainless steel by Sheffield born Harry Brearley.
1915 The 'Brides In The Bath' murderer George Joseph Smith, who drowned his brides in a zinc bath after ensuring their finances were in his favour, was hanged.
1942 The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb.
1946 The death of the writer Herbert George Wells (often referred to as H.G. Wells). He is now best remembered for his science fiction novels including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898).
1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany.
1964 The last hangings in Britain took place when two men,Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, a laundry van driver from Seaton, Cumbria. Evans was hanged at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8:00 a.m. and at exactly the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.
1976 The first observation, by Dean R. Campbell, of the day marked as ‘International Left Handers Day’ which has been celebrated every year since. Around 10 per cent of the world’s population is left-handed, including scientist Sir Isaac Newton, former prime minister David Cameron, the wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and also Prince William, the future king. Left-handed people have been considered unlucky and even evil - the word "sinister" comes from the Latin word for left. In Britain in the Middle Ages, "lefties" were associated with the devil and often accused of the crime of witchcraft, meaning they would get burned at the stake.
1991 Britain introduced the Dangerous Dog Act in which aggressive dogs must be muzzled and held on a leash in public.
1996 Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0.
1997 South Park's first episode is aired.
1997 It was a proud day for Derby County when they staged the first Premier League match at their new Pride Park ground. The match against Wimbledon was abandoned in the second half when the floodlights failed.
2001 A Government announcement paved the way for more speed cameras, that would also be harder to evade.
2004 Anfield legend Michael Owen moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid. He had a poor time in Madrid while, ironically, Liverpool won the Champions League for the first time at the end of the first season without him.
2004 28th Olympic Games opens at Athens, Greece.
2012 If Yorkshire was regarded as an independent country, it was calculated that it would have finished 12th out of the 204 competing countries in the medals table at the Olympics! The county won seven gold medals, two silver and three bronze.
2016 American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his career at the Rio Olympics as part of the winning 4x100 medley relay, his record 23rd gold medal.
2016 British super-star Mo Farah wins 1st leg of 5,000/10,000m double (repeat of London 2012) in 27:05.17 in the 10k at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.
1885 Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
1908 The world's first international beauty contest was held at Folkestone, Kent.
1920 VII Summer Olympic Games open in Antwerp, Belgium; first time Olympic Oath voiced, doves released to symbolise peace, and Olympic Flag flown.
1945 World War II: Following the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.
1947 Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947 when British India was partitioned into two independent states: India, which was mainly Hindu, and Pakistan, which was mainly Muslim.
1948 Australian cricketer Don Bradman played his last Test match innings at the Oval Cricket Ground in London. After receiving a standing ovation, he was bowled out for nought - blinded, it's claimed, by the tears in his eyes.
1967 All UK offshore pirate radio stations were declared illegal when the UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act became law at midnight On This Day, but Radio Caroline continued to broadcast until March 1968.
1969 The first British troops were deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order.' Operation Banner', as it was named, was initially to be a limited operation but it lasted for 38 years.
1971 After moving from Scunthorpe United in May Kevin Keegan made his League debut for Liverpool on the opening day of the 1971/72 First Division season, scoring after 12 minutes of the 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
1995 "Battle of Brit Pop" rival bands Oasis (Roll with It) and Blur (Country House) release singles on the same day.
2013 Mark Sutton, the 42 year old British stuntman who parachuted into the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony dressed as James Bond, was killed in a wingsuit flying accident in the Swiss Alps.
2016 Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt wins coveted 100m Olympic 100m gold medal in 9.81 at Rio de Janeiro Olympics - first man to win the event 3 times.
2018 Italy's Morandi Bridge collapses in Genoa, taking 30 vehicles with it and killing 43.
1620 Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
1842 The first regular British detective force was formed as a division of the Metropolitan Police, under the joint command of Inspector Pearce and Inspector John Haynes. In 1878 it became known as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
1872 The first voting by ballot in Great Britain took place in a by-election at Pontefract, when Hugh Childers, a Liberal MP and minister was re-elected.
1903 New Zealand's All Blacks play their first Rugby Test Match against Australia's Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground; New Zealand win 22-3.
1914 Panama Canal opens with the SS Ancon making the 1st official steamship through the canal.
1939 "The Wizard of Oz" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.
1939 The Cunard liner Queen Mary recaptured the Blue Riband from the SS Normandie, crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes.
1941 Corporal Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 a.m. making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1962 Unhappy with Pete Best's role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members decided to sack him. He played his last gig at The Cavern, Liverpool, two years and three days after he first performed with them.
1963 The execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland and the first to be hanged in Aberdeen since 1891. Burnett was tried at the high court in Aberdeen in July and found guilty of the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan.
1969 Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm.
Swami Satchidananda addressing the opening ceremony at Woodstock.
1971 Controversial horse rider Harvey Smith was stripped of his £2,000 winnings and a major show jumping title for allegedly making a rude V-sign gesture.
1971 Despite crashing out on lap 36, Scotsman Jackie Stewart clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship at the Austrian Grand Prix at Österreichring.
1974 Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours or 52 days).
1977 England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Australia.
1987 Caning was officially banned in British schools (excluding independent schools).
1988 Glasgow passport office started to issue the new EEC passports. It was the first office to be computerised to dispense the burgundy coloured documents, which replaced the traditional blue ones.
1992 Striker Brian Deane scores both goals for Sheffield United in a season-opening 2-1 home win over Manchester United at Bramall Lane; first of Deane's goals is the first in EPL's inaugural season.
1743 The earliest prize-ring code of boxing rules was formulated in England by the champion fighter Jack Broughton.
1819 The Peterloo massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester when militia, with sabres drawn, charged on a crowd of 60,000–80,000 gathered to hear discussion on the reform of parliamentary representation. 15 people were killed and 650 injured.
1858 A telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to US President Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.
1897 Endowed by the sugar merchant Henry Tate, the Tate Gallery, in London, was opened.
1930 The first British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
1958 Madonna Louise Ciccone is born in Bay City, Michigan. Shortening her name she becomes the best-selling female singer of all time.
1960 Britain granted independence to the crown colony of Cyprus.
1962 Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles' drummer, first official concert two days later.
1966 The Monkees release their first single, "Last Train To Clarksville."
1975 Peter Gabriel quits Genesis.
1977 Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland as a result of an overdose from prescription drugs.
1980 British rock musician Jools Holland quits band Squeeze.
1984 John De Lorean was acquitted in Los Angeles of charges that he conspired to import 100 kg of cocaine, and used the proceeds to save his financially-troubled Northern Ireland sports car company.
1986 At a soggy Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen gets a huge ovation when he takes the stage with the band. Twenty months earlier, Allen's left arm was severed in a car accident, and after extensive rehab and some warm-up gigs, he makes a triumphant return at the festival, playing barefoot behind a drum kit modified with electronic pedals.
1992 British Williams driver Nigel Mansell finishes second in Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
2003 Cristiano Ronaldo (18) makes his debut for Manchester United in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers.
2004 Flash floods devastated the north Cornwall coastal village of Boscastle after the area's average August rainfall fell in just two hours.
2006 Steve McClaren took charge of his first match as England manager, dropping David Beckham for the friendly against European champions Greece at Old Trafford which England won 4-0.
2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
2018 Aretha Franklin dies after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at age 76.
2020 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan wins his 6th world title with an 18-8 win over Kyren Wilson.
1483 The date presumed that two young princes, the uncrowned Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, were killed in the Tower of London.
1836 Under the Registration Act, the compulsory registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in Britain.
1869 The first international boat race took place on the River Thames when Oxford beat Harvard.
1896 Mrs. Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car. It is said she froze in panic at the sight of the oncoming car, which was travelling at just four miles per hour.
1940 Adolf Hitler orders a total blockade of Great Britain.
1946 George Orwell publishes "Animal Farm" in the United Kingdom.
1964 Geoff Boycott scores his 1st Test Cricket century, 113 v Aust at the Oval.
1964 Liverpool won 5-0 away to KR Reykjavik in a European Cup Preliminary Round tie - Liverpool's first match in a European competition.
1979 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" premieres in US theatres.
1980 Azaria Chamberlain disappears, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history.
1982 First Compact Discs (CDs) released to the public in Germany.
1989 Electronic tagging was used for the first time in Britain, on Richard Hart, accused of theft.
1996 On the opening day of the Premier League season a 21-year-old player by the name of David Beckham hit the headlines when he scored for Manchester United with a lob over Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan which was hit from the half-way line. Two weeks later he made his England debut.
1612 Pendle Witch trial begins with 10 people accused of witchcraft in Lancaster, England, key witness 9 year-old boy.
1941 Britain's National Fire Service was established.
1948 Jockey Lester Piggott, aged 12, rode his first winner on only his seventh ride.
1948 The Australian cricket team completed a 4–0 Ashes series win over England during their undefeated 'Invincibles' tour.
1959 The proposed route of the M1 was altered to save a forest from destruction.
1962 The Beatles perform at the 17th annual fete for the Birkenhead, England, Horticultural Society at the local Hulme Hall, a gig notable as the first time Ringo Starr will play onstage with the band.
1966 The Tay road bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
1967 The luxury liner Queen Mary was sold to the Southern Californian town of Long Beach.
1969 Jimi Hendrix closes out Woodstock with an early morning performance of "Hey Joe." The festival headliner, he was supposed to play the previous night, but when it runs long, he ends up taking the stage on a Monday morning. His set includes a scorching rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."
1969 Mick Jagger accidentally shot while filming "Ned Kelly".
1977 Elvis Presley's funeral is held at Graceland, where 150 guests are invited inside and about 75,000 fans pay their respects outside.
1977 South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is arrested at a roadblock (dies of police beating 12 September).
1982 The City of Liverpool named four Streets after the fab four, John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.
1983 Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d becomes the youngest woman to swim English Channel.
1987 Philip Rush of NZ, set record for triple crossing the English Channel his time 28:21 was 10 hours faster than 1st man to do it.
1989 Manchester United Football Club was sold for £20m in the biggest takeover deal in the history of British football.
2016 Jamaica's Usain Bolt wins the gold medal in the men's 200m for the 3rd successive Summer Olympics, recording a time of 19.78 in Rio de Janeiro.
2016 Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee records time of 1:45.01 to retain his Olympic men's triathlon title at the Rio de Janeiro Games; 0:06 in front of second-place finisher, brother Jonathan Brownlee.
Comments
1693 Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pérignon's invention of Champagne.
1704 Gibraltar was captured for the British by Admiral Sir George Rooke.
1870 The British Red Cross Society was founded, by Lord Wantage.
1914 Britain declared war on Germany after the Germans had violated the Treaty of London by invading Belgium, and so began 'the war to end all wars'. The United States declared their neutrality.
1923 The BBC began using the 'pips' as a time signal in its broadcasts.
1942 The movie Holiday Inn premieres in New York, introducing Bing Crosby's holiday classic "White Christmas."
1954 Britain's first supersonic fighter plane, the English Electric Lightning P-1, made its maiden flight.
1964 The Kinks release "You Really Got Me" in the UK. With a distorted guitar sound accomplished by taking a razor blade to an amplifier, it becomes their first hit, spending two weeks at #1 UK in September.
1967 Pink Floyd releases their first album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", their only record made under the leadership of Syd Barrett.
1972 President Idi Amin declared that Uganda would expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within three months.
1984 American athlete Carl Lewis wins the 100m in 9.9 seconds in Los Angeles, first of 9 Olympic gold medals over 3 Games.
1989 'Licence to Kill' went on general cinema release in the United Kingdom. It was the sixteenth entry in the James Bond film series by Eon Productions, and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel.
2001 Australian cricket spinner Shane Warne skittles England (162) with 6/33 to guide tourists to a 7 wicket 3rd Test victory at Trent Bridge; Aussies regain Ashes with record 7th straight Test win v England.
2012 The annual stinging nettle-eating competition, started in 1986, was held at The Bottle Inn pub at Marshwood near Bridport in Dorset. The current record at the event for the most amount of nettles eaten in one hour is 76ft (23m).
2012 Great Britain enjoyed its most successful day at an Olympics in 104 years by winning six gold medals on day eight of the London Games.
2012 South African Oscar Pistorius becomes first double-leg amputee to compete at the Olympics; 400m London; out in semi's.
2014 People in the UK were encouraged to turn off their lights between 10pm and 11pm, leaving only a single light or candle for a symbolic act of reflection and hope in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of World War 1. On the eve of Britain officially entering the war, Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, uttered the words "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."
910 The last major Viking army to raid England was defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1100 Henry I was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
1305 Sir William Wallace, Scottish hero and champion of Scottish independence who beat Edward I at the battle of Stirling Bridge, was captured by the English and later executed as a traitor.
1583 Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland for the British crown - first English colony in North America and the beginning of the British Empire.
1620 The Mayflower departed from Southampton on its first attempt to reach North America but the sister ship, the Speedwell developed a leak. It had to be refitted at Dartmouth and, after further leaks (or possibly sabotage) the Mayflower made the 60 day crossing alone.
1816 Francis Ronalds built the first working electric telegraph in his garden on Hammersmith's Upper Mall. He offered his new invention to the Government, who dismissed it as being 'wholly unnecessary'. At this time the government was relying on a visual system (the semaphore) and it took a further 20 years for the electric telegraph to be commercialised.
1858 The first transatlantic cable was officially opened, with Queen Victoria sending a telegraphic message to US President James Buchanan.
1891 World's 1st traveler's cheques issued by American Express.
1901 Britain's first cinema, the Mohawk, opened in Islington, north London. Films were accompanied by the 16-piece Fonobian Orchestra. At the height of their popularity in the 1940s, cinemas in Britain had average weekly attendances of 30 million.
1925 The political party Plaid Cymru was formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language which was, at the time, in danger of dying out.
1926 Harry Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1½ hrs before escaping.
1957 Comic strip "Andy Capp" makes its debut.
1966 The Beatles release single "Yellow Submarine" with "Eleanor Rigby" in UK.
1970 The penalty shoot-out arrived in English football. The Hull City v Manchester United pre-season Watney Cup semi-final ended 1-1 at the end of extra time and so for the first time it was the turn of penalties. George Best became the first player to score in a penalty shoot-out and Denis Law the first to miss one – but Manchester United won 4-3.
1975 The first all-female hard-rock band is formed when producer Kim Fowley puts together The Runaways, featuring Joan Jett, future Bangle Michael Steele, and Lita Ford.
1976 The clock overlooking the Houses of Parliament stopped for the first time in 117 years.
1976 At a show in Birmingham, England, an inebriated Eric Clapton speaks out in favor of the right-wing National Front, repeating their slogan, "Keep Britain white," and adding, "I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism."
Clarifying his statements years later, Clapton says, "I made some fairly racial comments, but they weren't directed at any particular minority. It was a feeling of loss of identity and losing my Englishness."
1986 Princess Anne rode Gulfland to win the 3.45 at Redcar; her first victory as a jockey.
2013 Rain intervenes to end the 3rd cricket Test between Australia and England at Old Trafford; England retains the Ashes after winning the first 2 Tests.
2016 XXXI Summer Olympic Games officially open in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There are spectacular fireworks, awe-inspiring acrobats, and sensational dancers at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio, but supermodel Gisele Bundchen gets the biggest reaction when she takes a long walk across the stage to "The Girl From Ipanema," performed by the composer's grandson, Daniel Jobim.
1504 Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury was born. He had an extremely long nose and was extremely inquisitive, hence the expression 'Nosy Parker'.
1623 Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare died.
1675 Russian Tsar Alexis bans foreign hair styles to those below the nobility.
1809 Alfred Tennyson, English poet was born. He is the second most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, (after Shakespeare). Tennyson wrote a number of phrases that have become commonplaces of the English language, including "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", and "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die".
1844 The first UK press telegram was sent, to The Times, announcing the birth of Prince Alfred to Queen Victoria.
1856 The Great Bell is cast for the Great Clock of Westminster, London (Big Ben).
1880 In a remarkable race at the Astley Stakes in Lewes, East Sussex, 5 of the 9 horses passed the winning post virtually simultaneously. The judge declared a triple dead heat for first place, with a double dead heat for fourth.
1881 Sir Alexander Fleming, scientist, Scottish bacteriologist and discoverer of penicillin was born here at Darvel in Ayrshire. His 'bacteria killer' discovery changed the world of modern medicine and has saved millions of people around the world.
1889 The Savoy Hotel in London was opened.
1890 At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the 1st person to be executed by electric chair.
1923 Henry Sullivan becomes 3rd person and first American to swim English Channel (27 hours 25 minutes Dover-Calais).
1926 American Gertrude Ederle (20) becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel in 14 hours, 39 minutes, a record for male or female.
1932 1st Venice Film Festival opens, the world's oldest film festival.
1945 By the time the atom bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the Second World War had raged for six years. Germany had been defeated and Europe lay in ruins.
Focus turned to Japan, the last Axis Power country. US President Harry Truman and his military commanders knew that an invasion of Japan would be extremely costly in terms of Allied lives - up to a million casualties were predicted. So they resolved to use the newly developed atomic bomb to reduce Japanese cities to rubble without setting foot on land.
So it was that a B29 Superfortress nicknamed Enola Gay after the pilot's mother dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Between 129,000-226,000 people were killed, mostly civilians. About half died instantly when the bombings happened, and the rest died from radiation sickness and other illnesses in the days and weeks after.
The moral, legal and ethical issues of the bombing are still debated today. Days after the attacks, Japan surrendered to the Allies, and came under a US-led military occupation.
1949 The 'acid bath murderer' John Haigh was executed. He was convicted of the murders of six people, although he claimed to have killed a total of nine, dissolving their bodies in concentrated sulphuric acid before forging papers in order to sell their possessions and collect substantial sums of money.
1960 Chubby Checker performs "The Twist" for the first time on TV when he does it on American Bandstand. The song goes to #1 and starts a huge dance craze.
1961 British auto racer Sterling Moss scores his 16th and final Formula 1 victory in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
1962 Jamaica became independent, after being a British colony for 300 years.
1964 Prometheus, the world's oldest tree aged at least 4,862 years old, is accidentally cut down in Nevada, USA.
1966 Muhammad Ali knocks out English boxer Brian London in round 3 at Earl's Court in London to retain his undisputed world heavyweight title.
1971 Chay Blyth became the first to sail the world solo, non-stop, in the "wrong" direction i.e. east to west - against the prevailing winds and currents. His journey took 292 days.
1976 The government passed the Drought Act to combat the continued UK drought.
1977 After having made 472 League appearances for them Spurs let 32-year-old goalkeeper Pat Jennings move to rivals Arsenal for £45,000 believing his best years were behind him. Over the next 8 years he made another 237 League appearances for the Gunners.
1979 Marcus Hooper, 12, becomes then youngest person to swim English Channel.
1987 SDP leader Dr David Owen resigned after members of his party voted to merge with the Liberals.
1991 Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
1996 At a show in Hollywood, the Ramones play their final concert.
1485 Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales, at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway on the Dale Peninsula. He was 28 years old and had lived most of his life in exile in France. With him were 2,000 French mercenaries funded by the King of France. Little more than a fortnight later his supporters had defeated King Richard III at Bosworth, near Leicester, and he became King Henry VII. The Tudor dynasty which followed had a profound influence on Britain as we know it today.
1613 The death of Sir Thomas Fleming, the English judge in the trial of Guy Fawkes following the Gunpowder Plot.
1711 The first race meeting was held at Ascot, established by Queen Anne, thus giving them the status of 'Royal Ascot'.
1840 The employment of climbing boys as chimney sweeps was prohibited by an Act of Parliament.
1879 The opening of the 'Poor Man's Palace' in Openshaw, Manchester, a Salvation Army Citadel specifically for soldiers in the area.
1913 In Britain's first aviation tragedy, US airman 'Colonel' Samuel Cody was killed when his aircraft crashed at Farnborough.
1925 Britain introduced the Daylight Saving Act - bringing in British summer time so the nation changed clocks by one hour twice a year.
1926 The first British motor racing Grand Prix was staged at Brooklands; 110 laps of the track for a total distance of 287 miles.The winner was Robert Senechal in just over 4 hours at an average speed of almost 72 miles an hour.
1957 The Quarrymen (minus new member Paul McCartney, away at Scout camp) make their debut at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Manager Alan Sytner instructs them not to play Rock and Roll, but midway through their skiffle performance, John Lennon lights into a version of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," which the crowd loves. The group, of course, becomes The Beatles.
1958 The Litter Act came into force in London as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Offenders could be fined up to £10 for dropping litter. In the first year nearly 1000 were prosecuted.
1993 The public got its first glimpse inside Buckingham Palace as people were given the opportunity to tour the London home of Queen Elizabeth II. Proceeds from ticket sales were earmarked to help repair fire damage at Windsor Castle.
1995 British athlete Jonathan Edwards twice broke his own world triple jump record, becoming the first man to clear 18 metres - whilst winning the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.
2002 The Queen held the first ever garden party at Balmoral Castle in Scotland to end her Jubilee Year. 3000 people were invited to attend.
2012 Fifty year old Jessica Harper former head of fraud and security at Lloyds Bank admitted carrying out a £2.4m fraud over a period of 4 years.
1296 The Stone of Scone, on which Scottish kings had been crowned for centuries, was seized by King Edward I of England.
1588 In a nine-hour battle off Gravelines, the English fleet engaged with the Spaniards in their last naval confrontation. The defeat of the Armada saved England from invasion and the action has enduring historical significance as the first major naval gun battle under sail.
1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act was passed in Britain. The Act dropped the system whereby parishes cared for their poor by a rate of poor relief and replaced it with the workhouse.
1854 Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges.
1898 Will Kellogg invents Corn Flakes.
1918 World War I -The start of the Battle of Amiens - Allied troops advanced against 20 German divisions and took 16,000 prisoners within 2 hours.
1940 The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain and so began The Battle of Britain with 31 German aircraft shot down, the battles would continue into the following October.
1953 Nigel Mansell, English racing driver was born. He won both the Formula One World Championship in 1992 and the American CART Indy Car World Series in 1993 making him the only person to hold both titles simultaneously.
1958 In Britain, Columbia Records signed a 17 year old singer called Cliff Richard.
1963 The Great Train Robbery, in which over £2.5 million was stolen, took place near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. The day of the train robbery also happened to be the 34th birthday of Ronnie Biggs, one of the robbers.
1969 The Beatles are photographed by Iain MacMillan crossing the street as they walk away from EMI Studios, for the cover of their "Abbey Road" album. Fans find many nested clues in the shot of the four band members walking in stride across the street, fuelling rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.
1983 1st Athletics World Championships.
1991 John McCarthy, Britain's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, was freed after more than five years in captivity. He had been held hostage since April 17, 1986 - a total of 1,943 days.
2006 Actor Sylvester Stallone and former heavyweight boxing contender Chuck Wepner settle lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed sum; Wepner claims he was the inspiration for the "Rocky" movies.
2008 IXXX Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, China.
2018 EPL club Chelsea sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Spain's Athletic Bilbao for £72 million; world-record fee for a goalkeeper.
1173 Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
1721 Prisoners at Newgate Jail were used as 'guinea pigs' to test vaccines used against disease.
1796 Horatio Nelson captured from the French, the island of Elba, to which Napoleon Bonaparte was later exiled.
1870 The Elementary Education Act was passed. It gave compulsory, free education to every child in England and Wales between the age of five and 13.
1898 Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine.
1902 Following a six-week delay due to an emergency appendectomy, Edward VII was crowned in Westminster Abbey following the death of his mother Queen Victoria. Edward was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.
1907 Robert Baden-Powell's first Boy Scout encampment concluded at Brownsea Island in Dorset. The experimental camp developed into the worldwide Scouts and Guides organizations.
1914 World War I: HMS Birmingham sank a German submarine, the first to be sunk by the Royal Navy.
1945 US drops second atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan, destroying part of the city.
1958 Cliff Richard performed at Butlin's Holiday Camp in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, as Cliff Richard and The Drifters.
1963 ITV transmitted the first edition of the pop music programme Ready Steady Go to rival the BBC's Top of the Pops. The presenter was Cathy McGowan.
1969 Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders.
1974 Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President.
1979 Brighton established the first nudist beach in Britain, despite protests from those fearing depravity.
1981 Six English lifeguards set a relay swim record of the English Channel of 7 hours 17 minutes.
1983 22-year-old Thomas Reilly is shot and killed by a British soldier in Belfast. He was a friend of the band Spandau Ballet, and sold merch on their True tour. His death would inspire the band's song "Through The Barricades".
1984 Daley Thompson won the Olympic decathlon at the Summer Games in Los Angeles.
1986 At the Knebworth Park Festival in England, Queen play their last concert with Freddie Mercury, who dies five years later. An audience of 120,000 hears them close out with "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" and "God Save The Queen."
1991 British radio show "On the Hour" debuts on BBC Radio 4 with first appearance of Alan Partridge character.
1992 Last day of Test Cricket for David Gower.
1997 In Sheffield, England, The Verve play their first show since their breakup two years earlier. The following month, they release their album Urban Hymns, which becomes one of the most successful in UK history.
2002 Lisa Marie Presley marries actor Nicolas Cage, a union that lasts less than four months.
2012 Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics.
2016 Longest ever hunger strike ends, Indian human rights campaigner Irom Sharmila tastes honey after 16 years.
2018 EPL club Tottenham Hotspur fails to bring in one player during the transfer window; first time since FIFA made system compulsory in 2002-03.
991 At the Battle of Maldon (Essex) the English were defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings. After the battle, Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and aldermen advised King Aethelred to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle. The result was a payment of 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver.
1842 Britain passed the Mines Act - forbidding women and children from working underground.
1889 The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Yorkshire.
1895 The first Promenade Concert (The Proms) was held at the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Henry Wood.
1897 German chemist Felix Hoffman first synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, which would later be patened by his company Bayer under the name "aspirin"
1897 The founding the the RAC - the Royal Automobile Club - originally known as the Automobile Club of Great Britain.
1911 British MPs voted to receive salaries for the first time.
1954 Sir Gordon Richards announced his retirement as a racing jockey to become a trainer. Sir Gordon rode 4,870 winners in his 34-year racing career.
1961 Britain applied for membership of the EEC - the European Economic Community.
1984 Famous Mary Decker-Zola Budd collision during 3,000m at the LA Olympics; Decker falls, Budd finishes 7th; Maricica Puică of Romania wins.
1985 While taking part in a yacht race, Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon is trapped along with five other team members after his boat capsizes. The British coast guard scrambles to rescue the stricken crew, and after repairs to its keel the vessel goes on to take third place in the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
1986 English cricketer Ian Botham scored a record 175 in a one day Sunday League match - including 13 sixes.
1996 Oasis play the first of two shows at Knebworth, England. One in 20 of the UK's population applies for a ticket and the band plays to 125,000 people per night in what are the biggest gigs of the Britpop era.
1998 English football club Manchester United became the first club in the world to have its own TV channel - MUTV.
2003 The temperature in Britain exceeded 100° F for the first time when 101.3 °F (38.5 °C) was recorded in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham, Kent.
2017 100 year-old fruit cake by Huntley & Palmers deemed "almost eatable" after being discovered in hut used by Captain Scott's expedition in Antarctica.
2019 Financier Jeffrey Epstein found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell in New York, while awaiting trail for sex trafficking charges.
The Charity Shield match between Leeds and Liverpool was the first to be played at Wembley and the first to be decided on penalties but it is best remembered for the sending off of Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan.
Football On This Day – 10th August 1977.
Liverpool signed Kevin Keegan’s replacement at Anfield – Kenny Dalglish. The Scot was bought from Celtic for £440,000 and became a Liverpool legend.
Football On This Day – 10th August 2003.
Football finally arrived at the City of Manchester Stadium – Eastlands – after its conversation from the stadium that staged the 2002 Commonweath Games. Manchester City’s first match was a friendly against Barcelona with Nicolas Anelka scoring the first goal at the ground in City’s 2-1 victory.
1093 Foundation stone for the new Norman Durham cathedral laid by Bishop William of St. Calais in England.
1896 Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain.
1909 The first recorded use of the new emergency wireless signal SOS used by American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC.
1918 World War I: The end of the Battle of Amiens that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. The battle is also notable for the large number of surrendering German forces. It was one of the first major battles involving armoured warfare and marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front.
1934 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942 Barnes Wallis patented his 'bouncing bomb', used successfully to destroy German dams in the 2nd World War.
1964 The Who, temporarily known as the High Numbers, take the stage at Harrow, England's Railway Hotel, but not before lead singer Roger Daltrey is involved in a fistfight with his father-in-law outside.
1968 The start of National Apple Week in England. The Beatles launched their new record label, Apple.
1971 The Prime Minister, Edward Heath, steered the British yachting team to victory in the Admiral's Cup.
1975 The Government took ownership of British Leyland, the only major British-owned car company.
1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th hundred, v Aust at Headingley.
1982 The notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray were allowed out of prison for the funeral of their mother.
1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, winning his 4th Olympic gold medal as part of the US 4 x 100m relay team; world record (37.83).
1984 A British 1-2 in the 1,500m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title.
1984 During a radio voice test, US President Reagan jokes he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."
1986 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Inverness Club: Bob Tway holes a famous bunker shot on the 18th to beat Australian Greg Norman by 2 stokes.
1988 Al-Qaeda formed at a meeting between Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Dr Fadl in Peshawar, Pakistan.
1991 The Worthington Cup (League Cup) tie between Torquay and Portsmouth was called off because of a total eclipse of the sun. The problem wasn't that everything was going to go dark but the police decided that they didn't have the manpower to police both the match and the influx of visitors expected in the area to witness the eclipse. The eclipse couldn't be put off - so the match was.
1994 The death of Surrey born actor Peter Cushing, OBE. He is known for his many appearances in Hammer Films.
2017 Chinese crime writer Liu Yongbiao after announcing his novel called "Beautiful Writer who Killed", arrested for murders of four people nearly 22 years ago.
Keith Moon trashes a hotel room - no surprise there. But this time The Who drummer is hospitalized after beating up his room at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami.
Keith Moon has exhibited destructive tendencies since the early days of The Who, when in response to Pete Townshend smashing a guitar, he kicked over his drum kit to the delight of the crowd - a stunt that has become a signature of the band's raucous sets that they end with what they call "auto-destructive art."
He even went so far in 1967 as to load his bass drum with gunpowder for a TV appearance - an event later featured as the opening to the 1979 movie The Kids Are Alright. That particular stunt was not repeated after it ended with Pete Townshend's hair on fire and Moon with a piece of cymbal protruding from his arm.
The carnage is not restricted to stage shows, and Moon has also become (in)famous for destroying hotel rooms. His first time was in Germany in 1966, and the bills have racked up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last decade. This time the errant drummer comes off the worse and ends up in the Hollywood Memorial Hospital, Florida, taken away by ambulance after drunkenly destroying his room and then collapsing for the second time in five months.
Moon is released from the hospital a week later and flies to Malibu to recuperate in the new house he is building. Before doing so, he tells local DJ Dave Ryder, "I don't really remember much about it. I felt dizzy... and I just blacked out." Medical staff describe his condition as a breakdown caused by overwork and pressure.
The hard-living star has long suffered from alcohol addiction, resulting in increasingly erratic behaviour both on and off stage. The only reason he has not been fired from The Who is because his bandmates are concerned that doing so may finally tip him over the edge. Despite repeated attempts to sober up, his h ell raising continues until 1978 when he dies after overdosing on the very drugs he is prescribed to wean him off drink.
The Glorious Twelfth - 12th August marks the start of the grouse shooting season and is traditionally known as the Glorious Twelfth.
The Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) is a medium-sized game bird found only in the British Isles. It breeds on the heather moors of northern Britain.
The season lasts from 12 August to 10 December. Throughout this period shooters from all over the world head for the moors of Scotland and northern England.
1851 The Hundred Guinea Cup was offered to the winner of a yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It was won by the US schooner 'America', and the trophy became 'the America's Cup'.
1865 Joseph Lister became the first doctor to use disinfectant during surgery.
1886 W. G. Grace makes his highest Test Cricket score, scoring 170 vs Australia at The Oval.
1908 Henry Ford's company builds the first Model T car.
1914 France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.
1930 Clarence Birdseye is granted a patent for method for quick freezing food.
1944 The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) supplying fuel across the English Channel to the Allied forces in France, went into operation from the Isle of Wight. It could transfer up to 700 tons of fuel a day.
1949 Big Ben ran at its slowest for 90 years as flocks of starlings took roost on the minute hands, slowing it by four and a half minutes.
1960 Pete Best becomes the drummer of the Silver Beetles, who are renamed The Beatles.
1964 A massive manhunt got under way across Britain after Charlie Wilson, one of the gang involved in the Great Train Robbery, broke out of the high-security Winson Green prison in Birmingham. He was on the run for four years, before being finally re-captured in Canada and returned to jail in Britain, where he served out the rest of his sentence. Wilson then moved to the Costa del Sol in Spain, was alleged to have become involved in drugs dealing and was shot dead by a hitman on 23rd April 1990 as he relaxed by his swimming pool.
1964 The death of Ian Fleming, the English novelist best known for his James Bond series of spy novels.
1976 Fulham announced that they had signed George Best and Rodney Marsh. With Bobby Moore already at Craven Cottage the dream was surely one of promotion. The reality – they were almost relegated, finishing just one point outside the Second Division relegation zone.
1981 IBM introduces its first Personal Computer (PC & PC-DOS version 1.0).
1991 England defeated the West Indies in the fifth Test Match at the Oval, to draw the summer series 2 - 2.
1996 After the shortest reign of any Highbury boss – just 47 matches – Arsenal sacked manager Bruce Rioch. Johan Cruyff was the favourite to replace him but instead in September Arsenal would appoint an unknown Frenchman, Arsène Wenger.
2012 XXX Summer Olympic Games close in London, England.
2016 Italian jockey Frankie Dettori aboard Predilection rides his 3,000th British winner at Newmarket.
2018 US man steals a plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, flies for an hour chased by military jets before crashing on Ketron Island.
1814 The Cape of Good Hope Province became a British colony when it was given over to the British by the Dutch for £6 million.
1899 The birth of Alfred Hitchcock, English film director of suspense and psychological thriller films.
1908 The tenor Enrico Caruso was fond of posing in his many motor cars but never learned to drive. On 13th August 1908, in London, his wife Ada Giachetti eloped with their chauffeur.
1910 The death of Florence Nightingale, English nurse who came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed 'The Lady with the Lamp' after her habit of making rounds at night.
1913 The first production in the UK of stainless steel by Sheffield born Harry Brearley.
1915 The 'Brides In The Bath' murderer George Joseph Smith, who drowned his brides in a zinc bath after ensuring their finances were in his favour, was hanged.
1942 The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb.
1946 The death of the writer Herbert George Wells (often referred to as H.G. Wells). He is now best remembered for his science fiction novels including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898).
1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany.
1964 The last hangings in Britain took place when two men,Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, a laundry van driver from Seaton, Cumbria. Evans was hanged at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8:00 a.m. and at exactly the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison.
1976 The first observation, by Dean R. Campbell, of the day marked as ‘International Left Handers Day’ which has been celebrated every year since. Around 10 per cent of the world’s population is left-handed, including scientist Sir Isaac Newton, former prime minister David Cameron, the wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and also Prince William, the future king. Left-handed people have been considered unlucky and even evil - the word "sinister" comes from the Latin word for left. In Britain in the Middle Ages, "lefties" were associated with the devil and often accused of the crime of witchcraft, meaning they would get burned at the stake.
1991 Britain introduced the Dangerous Dog Act in which aggressive dogs must be muzzled and held on a leash in public.
1996 Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0.
1997 South Park's first episode is aired.
1997 It was a proud day for Derby County when they staged the first Premier League match at their new Pride Park ground. The match against Wimbledon was abandoned in the second half when the floodlights failed.
2001 A Government announcement paved the way for more speed cameras, that would also be harder to evade.
2004 Anfield legend Michael Owen moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid. He had a poor time in Madrid while, ironically, Liverpool won the Champions League for the first time at the end of the first season without him.
2004 28th Olympic Games opens at Athens, Greece.
2012 If Yorkshire was regarded as an independent country, it was calculated that it would have finished 12th out of the 204 competing countries in the medals table at the Olympics! The county won seven gold medals, two silver and three bronze.
2016 American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his career at the Rio Olympics as part of the winning 4x100 medley relay, his record 23rd gold medal.
2016 British super-star Mo Farah wins 1st leg of 5,000/10,000m double (repeat of London 2012) in 27:05.17 in the 10k at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
1852 The first public lavatory was opened, on London's Fleet Street.
1885 Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
1908 The world's first international beauty contest was held at Folkestone, Kent.
1920 VII Summer Olympic Games open in Antwerp, Belgium; first time Olympic Oath voiced, doves released to symbolise peace, and Olympic Flag flown.
1945 World War II: Following the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II.
1947 Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947 when British India was partitioned into two independent states: India, which was mainly Hindu, and Pakistan, which was mainly Muslim.
1948 Australian cricketer Don Bradman played his last Test match innings at the Oval Cricket Ground in London. After receiving a standing ovation, he was bowled out for nought - blinded, it's claimed, by the tears in his eyes.
1967 All UK offshore pirate radio stations were declared illegal when the UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act became law at midnight On This Day, but Radio Caroline continued to broadcast until March 1968.
1969 The first British troops were deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order.' Operation Banner', as it was named, was initially to be a limited operation but it lasted for 38 years.
1971 After moving from Scunthorpe United in May Kevin Keegan made his League debut for Liverpool on the opening day of the 1971/72 First Division season, scoring after 12 minutes of the 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
1995 "Battle of Brit Pop" rival bands Oasis (Roll with It) and Blur (Country House) release singles on the same day.
2013 Mark Sutton, the 42 year old British stuntman who parachuted into the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony dressed as James Bond, was killed in a wingsuit flying accident in the Swiss Alps.
2016 Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt wins coveted 100m Olympic 100m gold medal in 9.81 at Rio de Janeiro Olympics - first man to win the event 3 times.
2018 Italy's Morandi Bridge collapses in Genoa, taking 30 vehicles with it and killing 43.
1620 Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
1842 The first regular British detective force was formed as a division of the Metropolitan Police, under the joint command of Inspector Pearce and Inspector John Haynes. In 1878 it became known as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
1872 The first voting by ballot in Great Britain took place in a by-election at Pontefract, when Hugh Childers, a Liberal MP and minister was re-elected.
1903 New Zealand's All Blacks play their first Rugby Test Match against Australia's Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground; New Zealand win 22-3.
1914 Panama Canal opens with the SS Ancon making the 1st official steamship through the canal.
1939 "The Wizard of Oz" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.
1939 The Cunard liner Queen Mary recaptured the Blue Riband from the SS Normandie, crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes.
1941 Corporal Josef Jakobs was executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 a.m. making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason.
1962 Unhappy with Pete Best's role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members decided to sack him. He played his last gig at The Cavern, Liverpool, two years and three days after he first performed with them.
1963 The execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland and the first to be hanged in Aberdeen since 1891. Burnett was tried at the high court in Aberdeen in July and found guilty of the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan.
1969 Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm.
Swami Satchidananda addressing the opening ceremony at Woodstock.
1971 Controversial horse rider Harvey Smith was stripped of his £2,000 winnings and a major show jumping title for allegedly making a rude V-sign gesture.
1971 Despite crashing out on lap 36, Scotsman Jackie Stewart clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship at the Austrian Grand Prix at Österreichring.
1974 Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours or 52 days).
1977 England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Australia.
1987 Caning was officially banned in British schools (excluding independent schools).
1988 Glasgow passport office started to issue the new EEC passports. It was the first office to be computerised to dispense the burgundy coloured documents, which replaced the traditional blue ones.
1992 Striker Brian Deane scores both goals for Sheffield United in a season-opening 2-1 home win over Manchester United at Bramall Lane; first of Deane's goals is the first in EPL's inaugural season.
1995 "Macarena" single is released by Los del Rio.
1743 The earliest prize-ring code of boxing rules was formulated in England by the champion fighter Jack Broughton.
1819 The Peterloo massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester when militia, with sabres drawn, charged on a crowd of 60,000–80,000 gathered to hear discussion on the reform of parliamentary representation. 15 people were killed and 650 injured.
1858 A telegraphed message from Britain's Queen Victoria to US President Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.
1897 Endowed by the sugar merchant Henry Tate, the Tate Gallery, in London, was opened.
1930 The first British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) were held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
1958 Madonna Louise Ciccone is born in Bay City, Michigan. Shortening her name she becomes the best-selling female singer of all time.
1960 Britain granted independence to the crown colony of Cyprus.
1962 Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles' drummer, first official concert two days later.
1966 The Monkees release their first single, "Last Train To Clarksville."
1975 Peter Gabriel quits Genesis.
1977 Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland as a result of an overdose from prescription drugs.
1980 British rock musician Jools Holland quits band Squeeze.
1984 John De Lorean was acquitted in Los Angeles of charges that he conspired to import 100 kg of cocaine, and used the proceeds to save his financially-troubled Northern Ireland sports car company.
1986 At a soggy Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen gets a huge ovation when he takes the stage with the band. Twenty months earlier, Allen's left arm was severed in a car accident, and after extensive rehab and some warm-up gigs, he makes a triumphant return at the festival, playing barefoot behind a drum kit modified with electronic pedals.
1992 British Williams driver Nigel Mansell finishes second in Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
2003 Cristiano Ronaldo (18) makes his debut for Manchester United in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers.
2004 Flash floods devastated the north Cornwall coastal village of Boscastle after the area's average August rainfall fell in just two hours.
2006 Steve McClaren took charge of his first match as England manager, dropping David Beckham for the friendly against European champions Greece at Old Trafford which England won 4-0.
2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
2018 Aretha Franklin dies after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at age 76.
2020 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan wins his 6th world title with an 18-8 win over Kyren Wilson.
1483 The date presumed that two young princes, the uncrowned Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, were killed in the Tower of London.
1836 Under the Registration Act, the compulsory registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in Britain.
1869 The first international boat race took place on the River Thames when Oxford beat Harvard.
1896 Mrs. Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian in Britain to die after being hit by a car. It is said she froze in panic at the sight of the oncoming car, which was travelling at just four miles per hour.
1940 Adolf Hitler orders a total blockade of Great Britain.
1946 George Orwell publishes "Animal Farm" in the United Kingdom.
1964 Geoff Boycott scores his 1st Test Cricket century, 113 v Aust at the Oval.
1964 Liverpool won 5-0 away to KR Reykjavik in a European Cup Preliminary Round tie - Liverpool's first match in a European competition.
1979 "Monty Python's Life of Brian" premieres in US theatres.
1980 Azaria Chamberlain disappears, likely taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history.
1982 First Compact Discs (CDs) released to the public in Germany.
1989 Electronic tagging was used for the first time in Britain, on Richard Hart, accused of theft.
1996 On the opening day of the Premier League season a 21-year-old player by the name of David Beckham hit the headlines when he scored for Manchester United with a lob over Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan which was hit from the half-way line. Two weeks later he made his England debut.
1612 Pendle Witch trial begins with 10 people accused of witchcraft in Lancaster, England, key witness 9 year-old boy.
1941 Britain's National Fire Service was established.
1948 Jockey Lester Piggott, aged 12, rode his first winner on only his seventh ride.
1948 The Australian cricket team completed a 4–0 Ashes series win over England during their undefeated 'Invincibles' tour.
1959 The proposed route of the M1 was altered to save a forest from destruction.
1962 The Beatles perform at the 17th annual fete for the Birkenhead, England, Horticultural Society at the local Hulme Hall, a gig notable as the first time Ringo Starr will play onstage with the band.
1966 The Tay road bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
1967 The luxury liner Queen Mary was sold to the Southern Californian town of Long Beach.
1969 Jimi Hendrix closes out Woodstock with an early morning performance of "Hey Joe." The festival headliner, he was supposed to play the previous night, but when it runs long, he ends up taking the stage on a Monday morning. His set includes a scorching rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."
1969 Mick Jagger accidentally shot while filming "Ned Kelly".
1977 Elvis Presley's funeral is held at Graceland, where 150 guests are invited inside and about 75,000 fans pay their respects outside.
1977 South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is arrested at a roadblock (dies of police beating 12 September).
1982 The City of Liverpool named four Streets after the fab four, John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.
1983 Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d becomes the youngest woman to swim English Channel.
1987 Philip Rush of NZ, set record for triple crossing the English Channel his time 28:21 was 10 hours faster than 1st man to do it.
1989 Manchester United Football Club was sold for £20m in the biggest takeover deal in the history of British football.
2016 Jamaica's Usain Bolt wins the gold medal in the men's 200m for the 3rd successive Summer Olympics, recording a time of 19.78 in Rio de Janeiro.
2016 Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee records time of 1:45.01 to retain his Olympic men's triathlon title at the Rio de Janeiro Games; 0:06 in front of second-place finisher, brother Jonathan Brownlee.