1274 The coronation of Edward I, known as 'Longshanks', as he was 6 feet 2 inches tall.
1612 Three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury were put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft. It was one of the most famous witch trials in English history as all three - Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley, and Ellen Bierley were acquitted. The charges against the women included child murder and cannibalism.
1685 The beginning of the 'Blood y Assizes' in England with Judge Jeffreys regularly sentencing people to death.
1692 Five more people hanged for witchcraft (19 in all) in Salem, Massachusetts.
1897 The London Electric Cab Company began operating the electric-powered taxi cabs in London's West End and the City. They had a range of up to 30 miles, and a top speed of 9 miles an hour. The cabs prove uneconomical and were withdrawn in 1900.
1919 After nearly 100 years of British control Afghanistan gained full independence from Britain.
1953 The England cricket team, under captain Len Hutton, won The Ashes against Australia for the first time since the tour of 1932-1933.
1960 Penguin Books received a summons in response to their plans to publish Lady Chatterley's Lover.
1975 Campaigners calling for the release of robber George Davis from prison vandalised the pitch at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds.
1975 In the second League match of the season Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney became so animated when shouting at his own defenders that he dislocated his jaw and had to be taken to hospital.
1982 Newcastle United signed 31-year-old Kevin Keegan from Southampton for £100,000 and a reported £5000 a week wages.
1987 27 year old gunman Michael Ryan shot dead 16 people during a rampage through Hungerford, Berkshire. 14 people were wounded, and one of the dead was Ryan’s own mother. He proceeded to set fire to his mother’s house, and the worst civil massacre in modern British history ended when he shot himself.
1989 The offshore, North Sea pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, was raided and silenced by the British and Dutch governments. However broadcasts resumed on 1st October of that year and continued on low/moderate power until fuel for the generator ran out on 6th November 1990.
1995 Mike Tyson returns to the ring after serving 3 years in prison and stops Peter McNeeley in 89 seconds.
1995 After watching Manchester United lose their opening-day Premier League fixture 3-1 at Aston Villa Match of the Day commentator Alan Hansen was critical of United and famously said ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’. The kids included David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville and they went on to win a League and Cup double that season.
2001 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Hungarian Grand prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship and equal Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix victories.
2016 Great Britain upsets the heavily favoured Netherlands to win the women's field hockey gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after drawing 3-3 in regulation time; win dramatic penalty shootout, 2-0.
1612 9 Pendle witches hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster, England.
1924 Although considered the likely winner, British sprinter Eric Liddel refused to run in the 100m heats at the Paris Olympics because it took place on a Sunday. He went on to set a new record when he won the 400 metres on a weekday.
1940 As the aerial Battle of Britain raged, Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Parliament: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." With the Battle of Britain won a few months later and German plans postponed, the Allied airmen of the battle ultimately became known as 'The Few'.
1940 In exile in Mexico, Leon Trotsky is attacked with an ice pick by Stalinist agent Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río. Trotsky dies of brain injuries the next day in a Mexican hospital. His assassination is immortalized in The Stranglers' song "No More Heroes."
1961 East Germany begins erecting 5' high wall along the border with the west to replace the barbed wire put up Aug 13.
1965 Rolling Stones release their single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in the UK.
1970 England's soccer captain, Bobby Moore, was cleared of charges of stealing, in a trial in Colombia.
1977 The Voyager 2 space probe is launched, carrying with it a "Golden Record" of sounds and images representing Earth.
1978 Mark Vinchesi keeps a frisbee aloft 15.2 seconds.
1990 Iraq moves Western hostages to military installations (human shields).
1989 In London, the pleasure cruiser Marchioness was hit by a dredger, the Bowbelle, on the River Thames - 51 people attending a party on the boat were killed. The formal investigation put the time elapsed from the instant of collision at 1.46 a.m. to complete immersion of the Marchioness at a mere 30 seconds.
1993 Colin Jackson runs world record 110m hurdles (12.91).
1995 After a lengthy press-fueled feud culminates in simultaneous singles releases, Blur's "Country House" beats Oasis' track "Roll With It" to the #1 spot in the UK.
1998 US military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in retaliation for August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
2000 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Valhalla GC: Tiger Woods becomes first since Ben Hogan (1953) to win 3 majors in a calendar year.
2016 Star British runner Mo Farah wins the men's 5,000m in 13:03.30 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; wraps up 5k/10k double which he also completed in London 2012.
1770 James Cook formally claimed eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
1911 "Mona Lisa" stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Perugia; recovered in 1913.
1914 Private John Parr became the first British man to be shot and killed during World War 1. Official registers showed that he was 20 years old but, like many young soldiers, he had lied about his age and he was just 16.
1920 Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne author of "Winnie the Pooh", was born in Chelsea, London. A.A. Milne got his inspiration for "Winnie the Pooh" from his son Christopher's toys. Christopher received a teddy bear for his first birthday called Edward Bear. It was renamed Winnie-the-Pooh after a Canadian black bear at London Zoo called Winnipeg and a swan in West Sussex called Pooh. Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo were also stuffed toys of Christopher's.
1936 The BBC made its first television broadcast from Alexandra Palace.
1942 Walt Disney's animated movie "Bambi" is released.
1959 Hawaii becomes the 50th US state.
1976 Mary Langdon became Britain's first female firefighter when she joined the East Sussex Brigade.
1987 "Dirty Dancing" film starring Patrick Swayze opens in the US.
1988 More flexible licensing laws allowed public houses to stay open 12 hours in the day, except on Sunday.
1990 British conservationist George Adamson, whose work featured in the film Born Free, was murdered by bandits in Kenya.
1996 Alan Shearer made his home Premier League debut for Newcastle against Wimbledon on this day in 1996 – and of course scored.
2001 Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel began legal action to shut the Sangatte camp in France which was used by asylum seekers.
2015 After 108 years a "message in a bottle" put in the sea by UK Marine Biological Association is announced found on a beach in Amrum, Germany.
2017 Restoration work halted the chimes of Big Ben from noon, for four years of conservation work on the Elizabeth Tower. The Tower is 96 metres high and home to the bells that make up the Great Clock, the most photographed building in Britain. The Great Bell, popularly called Big Ben, weighs 13.7 tonnes and has struck every hour with almost unbroken service for 157 years. It is accompanied by four quarter bells, which weigh between 1 and 4 tonnes each and chime every 15 minutes.
565 St. Columba reported seeing a monster in Loch Ness. It was the first reported sighting of the monster.
1485 Richard III of England was defeated and killed at The Battle of Bosworth Field, in the last of the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York. He was the last English king to die in battle. He was reinterred in Leicester Cathedral on 26th March 2015 after his body was discovered under what had become a car park.
1642 The English Civil War began, between the supporters of Charles I (Cavaliers) and of Parliament (Roundheads), when the king called the English Parliament traitors and raised his standard at Nottingham.
1780 James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returned to England; Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage.
1788 The British settlement in Sierra Leone was founded, the purpose of which was to secure a home in Africa for freed slaves.
1932 The BBC began its first experiments with television broadcasting.
1962 The first live TV appearance of the Beatles was recorded by Granada, in a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club, Liverpool.
1964 Match of the Day made its debut on the TV screens. Only the highlights of one match was shown in those days and the BBC 2 audience for the first of those – Liverpool v Arsenal – was believed to be little more than the attendance at the match itself.
1981 "Girls On Film" hits #5 in the UK, giving Duran Duran their breakthrough hit in Britain.
1989 British Telecom launched the world's first mobile phones.They had a very limited operating range that restricted their use to 100 yards from a public base station.
2004 "The Scream" and "Madonna", two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
2007 Germany were the last side to defeat England at the old Wembley stadium and on this day in 2007 they became the first country to defeat England at the new Wembley. Frank Lampard scored England’s goal.
2015 A vintage Hawker Hunter jet aircraft crashed during a display at the Shoreham Airshow (West Sussex) killing 11 people and injuring 16 others.
1305 Scottish patriot William Wallace was hanged, beheaded, and quartered in London, and his body parts were later displayed in different cities. His barbaric murder came as a result of Wallace's efforts to free Scotland from the occupying English forces.
1617 The first one-way streets were introduced in London.
1650 Colonel George Monck of the English Army formed Monck's Regiment of Foot, which later became the Coldstream Guards.
1839 Britain captured Hong Kong as a base as it prepared for war with China. The ensuing 3 year conflict was later to be known as the First Opium War.
1858 The Round Oak rail accident occurred in Brierley Hill in the Black Country. At the time, the Board of Trade inspector said 'It is decidedly the worst railway accident that has ever occurred in this country.' 14 were killed and 50 injured and the guard, who had six passengers drinking and smoking with him in the rear van was convicted of manslaughter as they had broken the train couplings whilst playing around with the train's brakes.
1938 England's Test cricketer Len Hutton scored what was then a new world record test score of 364 against Australia at the Oval.
1940 The German Luftwaffe began night bombing London.
1961 Police launched a murder hunt after a man was found shot dead and his companion seriously wounded in a lay-by in Bedfordshire. Valerie Storie, who survived the shooting, identified James Hanratty as her attacker. Hanratty was convicted of the murder in 1962 and sentenced to death, becoming one of the last people to be hanged in Britain before capital punishment was abolished.
1962 John Lennon, founder-member of The Beatles, married his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.
1963 Beatles release single "She Loves You" in the UK.
1965 Security guards at a Manchester TV Studio hosed down 200 Rolling Stones fans who broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive for a performance.
1974 John Lennon claims to see a UFO from his New York apartment. He describes it as an archetypal flying saucer, surrounded by lights with a red one on top.
1977 New, smaller pound notes, were introduced into the UK.
1978 The summer signings by Tottenham of Argentine World Cup stars Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa meant an eagerly-awaited home League debut for the duo. A ticker-tape welcome and 47,892 fans were at White Hart Lane to give them that welcome. But visitors Aston Villa hadn’t read the script as they beat newly-promoted Spurs 4-1.
1990 East & West Germany announced that they would unite on Oct 3.
1994 For no apparent reason the British duo The KLF burn £1 million on the Isle of Jura in Scotland.
2007 Hashtag invented and first used in a tweet by US product designer Chris Messina.
2010 Publisher Harper Collins and the BBC began a court battle over a book that revealed the identity of Top Gear's The Stig to be the former Formula Three driver Ben Collins. Henceforth Collins was always referred to by the Top Gear presenters as 'Sacked Stig'.
1482 The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.
1680 The death of Colonel Blood, an Irish adventurer who stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. He had been captured after the theft, but insisted on seeing King Charles II, who pardoned him.
1814 British forces captured Washington DC and set the White House on fire.
1875 Matthew Webb (Captain Webb) started his attempt from Dover England to become the first person to swim the English Channel. He reached Calais, France at 10.40 am the following morning, having been in the water for 22 hours.
1947 The first Edinburgh Festival was held.
1957 Aged 17, Jimmy Greaves scored on his First Division debut for Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur in a 1–1 draw at White Hart Lane.
1967 Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, drives his Lincoln Continental (not a Rolls Royce, as is often thought), into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan, to celebrate his 21st birthday, earning the entire band a lifetime ban from the chain.
1981 American Mark Chapman was given a 20 year sentence for shooting John Lennon. Chapman has applied for parole every two years since 2000. All the applications have been rejected.
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing becomes the most watched event on TV ever - nearly 5 billion, 70% of world's population.
1537 The Honourable Artillery Company was formed. It is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior.
1804 Alicia Meynell rode Vingarillo over a four-mile racecourse at York to become the first recorded woman jockey. She was in the lead most of the way against only one other contestant, but lost.
1917 The Order of the British Empire (OBE), and the Companion of Honour (CH), were awarded for the first time
1919 The world's first international daily air service began between London and Paris.
1928 The opening of the famous Kop End at Liverpool Football Club's ground at Anfield. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War, the word 'Kopje' meaning 'small hill'.
1939 Britain and Poland formed a military alliance in which the UK promised to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.
1940 The RAF made the first air raid on Berlin.
1942 The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, was killed in a plane crash during a war mission to Iceland. He was the first member of the Royal family to be killed on active service.
1944 World War II - The Allies liberated Paris.
1968 Arthur Ashe becomes 1st African American to win the US singles championship.
1975 Bruce Springsteen's landmark third album "Born To Run" released.
1986 Britain staged its first street motor race - along roads around the centre of Birmingham.
1988 The first GCSE results were published.
2006 Hyperion, the world's tallest living tree, a Redwood standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft), discovered by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood National and State Parks, California. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8-UK3kDdQQ
2009 The British Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, broke the existing land speed record by a steam powered vehicle with an average speed of 139.843 mph over two consecutive runs over a measured mile at the Edward's Air Force Base in California, USA.
2009 A man was stabbed in the chest during "large-scale trouble" involving hundreds of fans at West Ham's Carling Cup match against Millwall. Fights were still raging five hours later.
2019 Ben Stokes with an unbeaten 135 leads England to a record run chase of 362-9 and victory over Australia in the 3rd cricket Test at Headingley, Leeds; keeps Ashes Series alive at 1-1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrIew7-4isI
2020 The 38 year old English cricketer James Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets, (during day five of the third Test with Pakistan at Southampton). Three spin bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, are the only other bowlers to have attained the landmark.
Arsenal (Division 1 at Sheffield Wednesday) and Chelsea (Division 2 v Swansea) became the first Football League sides to have numbers on their shirts to help identify players.
Football On This Day – 25th August 1992.
Just 10 days after the Premier League had kicked off Eric Cantona became the first player to score a hat-trick in the competition. The Frenchman - then a Leeds United player - scored three times in the 5-0 defeat of Tottenham at Elland Road. Earlier in the month Cantona had scored a hat-trick for Leeds in their 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the Charity Shield at Wembley.
Football On This Day – 25th August 1996.
The big transfer story at the start of the 1996/97 season was would Alan Shearer join Manchester United? He didn't - he moved from Blackburn to Newcastle - but United did sign an almost unknown 23-year-old forward from Molde in Norway, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian scored twice in his first match for United reserves at Oldham reserves and four days later - on Sunday 25th August 1996 - he made his first team debut for the Reds. He scored the equaliser just six minutes after coming on as a sub, replacing David May, in the 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. He became something of a 'super-sub' in his 11 years at Old Trafford and scored 91 goals in his 235 Premier League appearances for United. Spells as manager at Cardiff City and back at Molde preceded his return to Old Trafford as manager when taking over from Jose Mourinho in 2018.
55BC Julius Caesar crossed the English Channel for his invasion of Britain.
1346 The English, led by Edward III and his son Edward the Black Prince, won the Battle of Crécy against Philip VI of France. Legend has it, that it was at this battle that the English first used the gesture of holding up two fingers as an insult, as this was how they held their new, and far superior weapon, the longbow.
1682 English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him.
1936 Over 7,000 people queued to see the first high definition television pictures on sets at the Olympia Radio Show, west London. The pictures were transmitted by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, introduced by Leslie Mitchell, their first announcer.
1942 World War II: The beginning of the Holocaust in western Ukraine. At 2.30 am the German security police evicted Jews from their houses, divided them into groups of 120, packed them in freight cars and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick, along with children, were murdered on the spot.
1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launched a small family car - the 'Mini'.
1959 The Radio Show opened at Earls Court in London, with the appearance of some of the first 'transistor' radios.
1970 The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, boasting a very impressive lineup, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Spirit, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free, and in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix.
1972 XX Summer Olympic Games open in Munich, West Germany.
1981 Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett's new world record time was 3:48.40.
1993 Despite guiding his side to a top ten place in each of his three seasons in charge Manchester City player-manager Peter Reid is sacked after City managed just a single point from their first four Premier League matches of the season.
1994 A man was given the world's first battery-operated heart in a pioneering operation in Britain.
2014 On the same day they lost 4-0 at MK Dons in the League Cup Manchester United opened their cheque book to pay out a British transfer fee record of £59.7m for Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria. United had made an abysmal start to the season under new manager Louis van Gaal.
2017 Manchester City scores a 2-1 win at Bournemouth to start EPL record 18 game winning streak; Raheem Sterling scores for City but is sent off with 2 yellow cards in injury time.
1784 The first balloon ascent was made in Britain, by James Tytler at Edinburgh.
1883 Krakatoa volcano, west of Java in Indonesia, erupts with a force of 1,300 megatons and kills approximately 40,000 people.
1896 Britain defeats Zanzibar in a 38-minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM).The start (and end) of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was the shortest war in world history and lasted for just 38 minutes.
1900 Britain's first long distance bus service began between London and Leeds. The journey took 2 days.
1950 The BBC transmitted the first ever live television pictures across the Channel.
1964 Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" premieres in Los Angeles.
1967 The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein dies of an accidental overdose of brandy and barbiturates. in London, England, at age 32.
1979 The death of Lord Louis Mountbatten. The IRA exploded a 50lb, remote-controlled bomb on his boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland.
1988 Unfinished building work on the East Stand saw Tottenham’s first home League match of the season – against Coventry – postponed and delayed the League debut of a major Spurs summer signing – Paul Gascoigne.
1988 Tony Cottee needed to impress on his debut for Everton - his £2.2 million summer move from West Ham to Goodison made him the most expensive purchase ever by a British club. He did impress - scoring after 34 seconds and completing a hat-trick in the 4-0 defeat of Newcastle United.
1988 20-year-old Kylie Minogue becomes the youngest female artist to land a #1 album in the UK when her debut, Kylie, claims the top spot.
2017 Former five-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his debut match in the 10th round in Las Vegas.
1640 The Scots, under Sir Alexander Leslie, defeated royalist English forces under Lord Conway at the battle of Newburn near Newcastle. Newcastle was then occupied by the Scots in the English-Scottish wars.
1833 The House of Commons approved the Abolition Act, introduced earlier by Thomas Buxton, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire.
1837 Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce.
1884 First known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard, South Dakota.
1898 Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".
1933 For the first time, a BBC-broadcasted appeal was used by the police in tracking down a wanted man (murder suspect Stanley Hobday).
1939 Journalist Care Hollingworth observes the “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” Germany had aligned along the Polish border. Three days later, Hitler invades Poland and WWII begins.
1960 A 17-year-old Barry White completes his four-month prison term for stealing 300 tyres from a Cadillac dealership. Having heard Elvis sing "It's Now Or Never" in prison, he leaves determined to make music his life.
1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
1965 1st Subway sandwich shop opens in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1973 "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple goes gold.
1980 First use of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to scan the human body at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland.
1981 For the third time in 10 days, a world record in the mile run was set. Sebastian Coe, who broke Steve Ovett's record on August 19th and lost it to Ovett on August 26th , broke it again - by a full second - in Brussels, Belgium. Coe's new record time was 3:47.33.
1982 David Seaman, one of England’s greatest goalkeepers, made his debut in the Football League. Released by the club he had supported as a boy, Leeds United, without playing for them in the League he had joined Fourth Division Peterborough United in August 1982. He first League match was at Stockport’s Edgeley Park on the opening day of the 1982/83 League season – 2,003 saw Stockport and Posh draw 1-1.
1988 Kylie Minogue set a new UK record when her debut album Kylie, became the biggest selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost 2 million.
1994 Robbie Fowler scored what was then the quickest hat-trick scored in the Premier League, his three goals in the Liverpool v Arsenal match at Anfield being scored in just 4 minutes 33 seconds.
1994 94th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods.
1994 Thousands of shops throughout England and Wales opened legally for the first time on a Sunday, following a change in the Sunday trading laws.
2004 British athlete Kelly Holmes secured a place in Olympic history by winning the 1500m gold in Athens. The runner won the 800m earlier and thus became the first Olympic Briton in 84 years to achieve the middle-distance double.
2004 A huge upset at the Athens Olympic Stadium in the men's 4×100m relay; Great Britain 38.07 edges the United States 38.08 to take the gold medal.
2009 After the latest in a series of incidents between feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, Oasis finally split, with Noel walking out for good. "It is with some sadness and great relief... I quit Oasis tonight," he says. "People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."
2011 Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2 in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, the first time Arsenal had conceded 8 goals in a League match since 1896.
2013 Leeds businessman Lee Beaumont who became tired of 'cold calls' offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPI), or install solar panels set up his home phone as a premium rate 0871 number. Companies who phone him now spend 10p per minute on calls, from which he receives 7p. The number of 'cold calls' to his 0871 number fell by 66% in one month.
2017 Kenya brings in world's toughest ban on plastic bags with possible US$38,000 fine and four years in jail.
2019 British PM Boris Johnson prorogues parliament, suspending it for 5 weeks to limit opposition to a no deal Brexit, prompting a furious backlash.
1882 The England cricket team lost to Australia, in England, for the first time. An 'obituary' printed in the Sporting Times, talked of 'the Ashes' of English Cricket being taken back to Australia. Test Series between the two countries are now played for 'The Ashes'.
1885 Boxing's 1st heavyweight title fight with 3-oz gloves & 3-minute rounds fought between John L. Sullivan & Dominick McCaffrey.
1895 At the George Hotel, Huddersfield twenty-one rugby clubs met to form the Northern Union. In 1922 the Union was renamed the Rugby League.
1896 Chop suey invented in New York by chef of visiting Chinese Ambassador.
1958 Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana.
1958 George Harrison joins The Quarrymen, who later become The Beatles.
1958 Cliff Richard and the Drifters (Shadows) release single "Move It", Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.
1966 British group The Beatles gave their last live concert performance to a crowd of around 25,000 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, USA.
1977 Iggy Pop releases his second album "**** for Life", a collaboration with David Bowie.
1980 UB40 release their seminal debut, Signing Off. The album would climb to #2 on the UK Albums Chart, spending a total of 71 weeks on the charts.
1994 British band Oasis release their debut album "Definitely Maybe", becomes fastest-selling album ever in UK
1997 Netflix is founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hasting in Scotts Valley, California as an online DVD rental business.
2004 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher clinches his 5th straight F1 World Drivers Championship with a 2nd place in the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
2005 Hurricane Katrina makes 2nd and 3rd landfall as a category 3 hurricane, devastating much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida Panhandle. Kills more than 1,836, causes over $115 billion in damage.
2009 Cristiano Ronaldo makes his debut for Real Madrid, scoring a penalty in their 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruña.
2011 Private security firm G4S sacked two members of staff who tagged the false leg of 29 year old Rochdale offender Christopher Lowcock, allowing him to remove it and flout a court-imposed curfew for driving and drug offences, as well as possession of an offensive weapon.
1146 A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that by banning the weapon, wars would eventually end. Despite the prohibition, crossbows continued to be used until the 16th century, when they were replaced by firearms.
1791 The British Ordnance Survey (mapping agency) was founded.
1860 The first British tramway, operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway.
1901 Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner.
1926 Jack Hobbs scored 316 at Lords, the highest individual score recorded at the ground.
1930 Morris Cars announced the arrival of the Morris Major costing £215.
1939 In anticipation of German bombing, the great evacuation of children from British cities began, four days before the outbreak of World War II.
1963 Hotline communication link between the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the Kremlin in Moscow installed. Often known as the "red telephone" no phones were ever used, relying instead on Teletype equipment, fax machines and most recently secure email.
A non-dial "Red Phone" which is on display in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.
1968 1st record released on Apple label in UK is The Beatles single "Hey Jude".
1969 The Birmingham band Earth changes its name when lead singer Ozzy Osbourne announces on stage that the band's new name is Black Sabbath.
1976 The Notting Hill riots take place as black youth clash with police at the Notting Hill Carnival in England. Members of The Clash are present, and the event inspires them to write "White Riot" as a call for white people to protest with the same furor. More than 100 police officers were taken to hospital.
1979 Ian Botham makes 1000 runs/100 wkts in Tests in his 21st match.
1996 Former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno announced his retirement.
2004 Despite Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd not wishing to be known as ‘the man who shot Bambi’ on this day in 2004 he sacked manager Sir Bobby Robson. The Magpies hadn’t won any of their first four Premier League matches of the new season.
2013 "12 Years a Slave" premieres at the Telluride Film Festival.
1422 King Henry V of England died of dysentery whilst in France. His son, Henry VI, became King of England at the age of 9 months.
1848 Accurate and scientific ' state of the weather' reports were first published by Charles Dickens's newspaper - The Daily News.
1888 The body of Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, the first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found mutilated in Buck's Row, London. The unidentified serial killer's attacks involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. In 2006, Jack the Ripper was selected by the BBC History magazine and its readers as the worst Briton in history.
1900 Coca Cola first went on sale in Britain, fourteen years after it was first sold in the U.S.A. Charles Chandler, the eldest son of the founder came to Britain with a jug of cola syrup. It proved so popular that five more gallons were ordered immediately from America.
1908 At the age of 60, and after a career spanning 43 years , the legendary English cricketer W.G. Grace retired from first class cricket. He had scored a total of 54,896 runs (including 126 centuries), taken 2,879 wickets and held 871 catches.
1939 Nazi forces, posing as Poles, mounted a staged attack on the German radio station at Gleiwitz, in Poland, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
1962 Mountaineers Chris Bonington and Ian Clough become first Britons to conquer the north face of the Eiger. The 13,040 ft. climb took them two days and was one of the fastest ever. Within three hours of reaching the summit they were back in their hotel room.
1968 West Indian cricketer Gary Sobers becomes the first batsman to score six 'sixes' in one over while playing for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan at Swansea. The unfortunate bowler was Malcolm Nash.
A judge rules that Harrison's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord" is musically similar to "He's So Fine," a 1963 hit for the girl group The Chiffons, and orders him to pay nearly $1.6 million in damages.
1984 Pinklon Thomas beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title.
1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their driver were killed in a car crash in the Place de l'Alma underpass in Paris, France. Tests conducted by French police indicated that the driver was intoxicated, may have been travelling at over 100 mph and likely caused the accident while trying to escape the paparazzi photographers.
2013 BT turned off its dial-up internet (DUN) access service.
With the transfer window closing at midnight August 31st is always going to be a busy time for completing transfers and that was certainly the case in 2006. Argentine World Cup players Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez were on the wants list of many clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan. It came as a bit of a surprise then when they both moved from their club side, Corinthians of Brazil, to mid-ranking Premier League side West Ham United on 31st August 2006. It proved to be a disaster. Between them they only made 31 Premier League outings for the Hammers before Tevez moved to Manchester United and Mascherano to Liverpool. A dispute then arose regarding third party ownership of the two players - had they been owned by West Ham or still owned by those in charge of Corinthians - Media Sports Investments. The FA later fined West Ham £5.5 million for discrepancies with that transfer. West Ham escaped a points deduction for that offence which would have seen them relegated and Sheffield United saved from relegation. Sheffield United then claimed for the lost revenue suffered from that relegation which cost the Londoners another £18 million.
Just to prove good old Pardew was a bit clueless Mascherano couldn't get in team when we had the world class Hayden Mullins as midfield general lmao,and it took Tevez months to get a regular start over Marlon Harewood,but then again wtf do I no.
1532 Lady Anne Boleyn was made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII. Less than 4 years later Henry had her investigated for high treason. She was found guilty of adultery and incest and was executed on 19th May 1536.
1865 Joseph Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery.
1886 The Severn Tunnel, (railway tunnel) between England and Wales, was opened for goods traffic.
1939 At dawn on 1st September, Germany made a massive invasion of Poland and bombed Warsaw at 6am, beginning World War II in Europe. The service to 2,000 televisions also ceased in Britain. There would be no more TV for seven years.
1951 The Premier supermarket opened in Earl’s Court, London; the first supermarket in Britain.
1958 Iceland expanded its fishing zone, putting it into conflict with the United Kingdom and the beginning the Cod Wars.
1960 The Government announced that Britain's first betting shops would be allowed to open for business from May 1961.
1971 The British penny and the threepenny piece coins ceased to be legal tender as decimalization continued.
1976 The first of 11,500 standpipes were connected in Yorkshire as local reservoirs reached their lowest levels in years.
1981 Garages in Britain began selling petrol in litres.
1982 Former Ipswich manager Bobby Robson was appointed England football manager.
1985 After 73 years the wreck of the liner 'Titanic' was found, by Dr. Robert Ballard.
2001 England beat bitter rivals Germany 5-1 in the World Cup qualifying tie, with Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick.
2001 The death of Brian Moore, sports commentator and television presenter who covered nine World Cups, six European Championships and every FA Cup Final on ITV from 1969 to 1988 and again in 1998.
2013 Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign Tottenham forward Gareth Bale for £85.3m. It eclipsed the £80m Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
2018 Aretha Franklin's funeral held in Detroit attended by Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande and Bill Clinton with procession of 140 pink Cadillacs.
2018 Bishop Charles H. Ellis III apologises for groping Ariana Grande during Aretha Franklin's funeral service.
After Everton had left Anfield for Goodison Park because of a rent increase a new club needed to be found to play at Anfield. That newly formed club – Liverpool FC – played its first-ever match on this day in 1892, beating Midland League champions Rotherham Town 7-1 in a friendly at Anfield. Around 100 turned up for that match but when Liverpool played its first competitive match – just two days later against Higher Walton in the Lancashire League – the Anfield crowd had swelled to around 200 to witness an 8-0 victory.
Football On This Day – 1st September 1908.
Tottenham Hotspur played their first match in the Football League, beating FA Cup holders Wolves 3-0 in front of 20,000 at White Hart Lane with Vivian Woodward scoring their first League goal.
Football On This Day – 1st September 1996.
David Beckham made his England debut in Glenn Hoddle’s first match as England manager as England defeat Moldova 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Chişinău.
Football On This Day – 1st September 2001.
Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as England beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Munich.
Football On This Day – 1st September 2008.
Manchester City made their best-ever signing - Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. Better known as Sheikh Mansour he bought the club from the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, for around £200 million. And didn't things change. Later in the day that Sheikh Mansour took over - transfer deadline day - City showed how the new money would change things by paying a then British transfer record fee of £32.5 million to Real Madrid for Brazilian forward Robinho. In the years to come Sheikh Mansour's leadership - and money - turned City from regular Premier Division mid-tablers to a club who were dominant in the English game.
1666 The Great Fire of London began in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane, and rapidly spread throughout the city, destroying most of London's buildings and houses. Although 13,000 buildings were destroyed in the four-day blaze only six people died.
1685 The beheading of Lady Alice Lisle, the last woman to have been executed by a judicial sentence of beheading in England. She was tried by Judge Jeffreys at the opening of the **** Assizes at Winchester and was executed for harbouring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion at the Battle of Sedgemoor.
1752 The Julian calendar was used in Britain and the Colonies 'officially' for the last time, almost two centuries after most of Western Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar. As in the rest of Europe, the following day in Britain became 14th September.
1807 The Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
1902 "A Trip To The Moon", the first sci-fi film, released.
1934 Russ Columbo dies when his friend's antique gun accidentally fires and strikes him in the eye. The 26-year-old singer's friends and family hide the news from his ailing mother, fearing the shock will kill her. Through an elaborate scheme of writing fake letters and using old recordings to simulate live broadcasts, it appears that Columbo is alive and well, but busy. The subterfuge lasts until her death a decade later.
1939 Under the National Service Bill, men aged 19 - 41 were conscripted in Britain.
1944 Holocaust diarist Anne Frank sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.
1945 World War II officially ended when Japanese officials, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, surrendered on behalf of their country.
1972 Rod Stewart's 1st #1 hit single in the UK, "You Wear it Well".
1974 Edward Heath's Morning Cloud III was sunk in a Force 9 gale in the English Channel. Two people were killed - including Mr Heath's godson.
1979 Police discovered the body of a young woman - thought to be the twelfth victim of the 'Yorkshire Ripper' - in an alleyway near the centre of Bradford.
1995 British boxer Frank Bruno achieved his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion when he outpointed Oliver McCall to win the WBC title at Wembley Stadium in London.
1997 Six freelance photographers and a dispatch rider were jointly charged with manslaughter following the car crash in Paris in which Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed were killed.
2001 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for his record 52nd F1 Grand Prix victory.
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1274 The coronation of Edward I, known as 'Longshanks', as he was 6 feet 2 inches tall.
1612 Three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury were put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft. It was one of the most famous witch trials in English history as all three - Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley, and Ellen Bierley were acquitted. The charges against the women included child murder and cannibalism.
1685 The beginning of the 'Blood y Assizes' in England with Judge Jeffreys regularly sentencing people to death.
1692 Five more people hanged for witchcraft (19 in all) in Salem, Massachusetts.
1897 The London Electric Cab Company began operating the electric-powered taxi cabs in London's West End and the City. They had a range of up to 30 miles, and a top speed of 9 miles an hour. The cabs prove uneconomical and were withdrawn in 1900.
1919 After nearly 100 years of British control Afghanistan gained full independence from Britain.
1953 The England cricket team, under captain Len Hutton, won The Ashes against Australia for the first time since the tour of 1932-1933.
1960 Penguin Books received a summons in response to their plans to publish Lady Chatterley's Lover.
1975 Campaigners calling for the release of robber George Davis from prison vandalised the pitch at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds.
1975 In the second League match of the season Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney became so animated when shouting at his own defenders that he dislocated his jaw and had to be taken to hospital.
1982 Newcastle United signed 31-year-old Kevin Keegan from Southampton for £100,000 and a reported £5000 a week wages.
1987 27 year old gunman Michael Ryan shot dead 16 people during a rampage through Hungerford, Berkshire. 14 people were wounded, and one of the dead was Ryan’s own mother. He proceeded to set fire to his mother’s house, and the worst civil massacre in modern British history ended when he shot himself.
1989 The offshore, North Sea pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, was raided and silenced by the British and Dutch governments. However broadcasts resumed on 1st October of that year and continued on low/moderate power until fuel for the generator ran out on 6th November 1990.
1995 Mike Tyson returns to the ring after serving 3 years in prison and stops Peter McNeeley in 89 seconds.
1995 After watching Manchester United lose their opening-day Premier League fixture 3-1 at Aston Villa Match of the Day commentator Alan Hansen was critical of United and famously said ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’. The kids included David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville and they went on to win a League and Cup double that season.
2001 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Hungarian Grand prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship and equal Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix victories.
2016 Great Britain upsets the heavily favoured Netherlands to win the women's field hockey gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after drawing 3-3 in regulation time; win dramatic penalty shootout, 2-0.
1612 9 Pendle witches hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster, England.
1924 Although considered the likely winner, British sprinter Eric Liddel refused to run in the 100m heats at the Paris Olympics because it took place on a Sunday. He went on to set a new record when he won the 400 metres on a weekday.
1940 As the aerial Battle of Britain raged, Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Parliament: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." With the Battle of Britain won a few months later and German plans postponed, the Allied airmen of the battle ultimately became known as 'The Few'.
1940 In exile in Mexico, Leon Trotsky is attacked with an ice pick by Stalinist agent Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río. Trotsky dies of brain injuries the next day in a Mexican hospital. His assassination is immortalized in The Stranglers' song "No More Heroes."
1961 East Germany begins erecting 5' high wall along the border with the west to replace the barbed wire put up Aug 13.
1965 Rolling Stones release their single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in the UK.
1970 England's soccer captain, Bobby Moore, was cleared of charges of stealing, in a trial in Colombia.
1977 The Voyager 2 space probe is launched, carrying with it a "Golden Record" of sounds and images representing Earth.
1978 Mark Vinchesi keeps a frisbee aloft 15.2 seconds.
1990 Iraq moves Western hostages to military installations (human shields).
1989 In London, the pleasure cruiser Marchioness was hit by a dredger, the Bowbelle, on the River Thames - 51 people attending a party on the boat were killed. The formal investigation put the time elapsed from the instant of collision at 1.46 a.m. to complete immersion of the Marchioness at a mere 30 seconds.
1993 Colin Jackson runs world record 110m hurdles (12.91).
1995 After a lengthy press-fueled feud culminates in simultaneous singles releases, Blur's "Country House" beats Oasis' track "Roll With It" to the #1 spot in the UK.
1998 US military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in retaliation for August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
2000 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Valhalla GC: Tiger Woods becomes first since Ben Hogan (1953) to win 3 majors in a calendar year.
2016 Star British runner Mo Farah wins the men's 5,000m in 13:03.30 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; wraps up 5k/10k double which he also completed in London 2012.
1770 James Cook formally claimed eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
1911 "Mona Lisa" stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Perugia; recovered in 1913.
1914 Private John Parr became the first British man to be shot and killed during World War 1. Official registers showed that he was 20 years old but, like many young soldiers, he had lied about his age and he was just 16.
1920 Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne author of "Winnie the Pooh", was born in Chelsea, London. A.A. Milne got his inspiration for "Winnie the Pooh" from his son Christopher's toys. Christopher received a teddy bear for his first birthday called Edward Bear. It was renamed Winnie-the-Pooh after a Canadian black bear at London Zoo called Winnipeg and a swan in West Sussex called Pooh. Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo were also stuffed toys of Christopher's.
1936 The BBC made its first television broadcast from Alexandra Palace.
1942 Walt Disney's animated movie "Bambi" is released.
1959 Hawaii becomes the 50th US state.
1976 Mary Langdon became Britain's first female firefighter when she joined the East Sussex Brigade.
1987 "Dirty Dancing" film starring Patrick Swayze opens in the US.
1988 More flexible licensing laws allowed public houses to stay open 12 hours in the day, except on Sunday.
1990 British conservationist George Adamson, whose work featured in the film Born Free, was murdered by bandits in Kenya.
1996 Alan Shearer made his home Premier League debut for Newcastle against Wimbledon on this day in 1996 – and of course scored.
2001 Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel began legal action to shut the Sangatte camp in France which was used by asylum seekers.
2015 After 108 years a "message in a bottle" put in the sea by UK Marine Biological Association is announced found on a beach in Amrum, Germany.
2017 Restoration work halted the chimes of Big Ben from noon, for four years of conservation work on the Elizabeth Tower. The Tower is 96 metres high and home to the bells that make up the Great Clock, the most photographed building in Britain. The Great Bell, popularly called Big Ben, weighs 13.7 tonnes and has struck every hour with almost unbroken service for 157 years. It is accompanied by four quarter bells, which weigh between 1 and 4 tonnes each and chime every 15 minutes.
565 St. Columba reported seeing a monster in Loch Ness. It was the first reported sighting of the monster.
1485 Richard III of England was defeated and killed at The Battle of Bosworth Field, in the last of the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York. He was the last English king to die in battle. He was reinterred in Leicester Cathedral on 26th March 2015 after his body was discovered under what had become a car park.
1642 The English Civil War began, between the supporters of Charles I (Cavaliers) and of Parliament (Roundheads), when the king called the English Parliament traitors and raised his standard at Nottingham.
1780 James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returned to England; Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage.
1788 The British settlement in Sierra Leone was founded, the purpose of which was to secure a home in Africa for freed slaves.
1932 The BBC began its first experiments with television broadcasting.
1962 The first live TV appearance of the Beatles was recorded by Granada, in a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club, Liverpool.
1964 Match of the Day made its debut on the TV screens. Only the highlights of one match was shown in those days and the BBC 2 audience for the first of those – Liverpool v Arsenal – was believed to be little more than the attendance at the match itself.
1981 "Girls On Film" hits #5 in the UK, giving Duran Duran their breakthrough hit in Britain.
1989 British Telecom launched the world's first mobile phones.They had a very limited operating range that restricted their use to 100 yards from a public base station.
2004 "The Scream" and "Madonna", two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
2007 Germany were the last side to defeat England at the old Wembley stadium and on this day in 2007 they became the first country to defeat England at the new Wembley. Frank Lampard scored England’s goal.
2015 A vintage Hawker Hunter jet aircraft crashed during a display at the Shoreham Airshow (West Sussex) killing 11 people and injuring 16 others.
1305 Scottish patriot William Wallace was hanged, beheaded, and quartered in London, and his body parts were later displayed in different cities. His barbaric murder came as a result of Wallace's efforts to free Scotland from the occupying English forces.
1617 The first one-way streets were introduced in London.
1650 Colonel George Monck of the English Army formed Monck's Regiment of Foot, which later became the Coldstream Guards.
1839 Britain captured Hong Kong as a base as it prepared for war with China. The ensuing 3 year conflict was later to be known as the First Opium War.
1858 The Round Oak rail accident occurred in Brierley Hill in the Black Country. At the time, the Board of Trade inspector said 'It is decidedly the worst railway accident that has ever occurred in this country.' 14 were killed and 50 injured and the guard, who had six passengers drinking and smoking with him in the rear van was convicted of manslaughter as they had broken the train couplings whilst playing around with the train's brakes.
1938 England's Test cricketer Len Hutton scored what was then a new world record test score of 364 against Australia at the Oval.
1940 The German Luftwaffe began night bombing London.
1961 Police launched a murder hunt after a man was found shot dead and his companion seriously wounded in a lay-by in Bedfordshire. Valerie Storie, who survived the shooting, identified James Hanratty as her attacker. Hanratty was convicted of the murder in 1962 and sentenced to death, becoming one of the last people to be hanged in Britain before capital punishment was abolished.
1962 John Lennon, founder-member of The Beatles, married his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.
1963 Beatles release single "She Loves You" in the UK.
1965 Security guards at a Manchester TV Studio hosed down 200 Rolling Stones fans who broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive for a performance.
1974 John Lennon claims to see a UFO from his New York apartment. He describes it as an archetypal flying saucer, surrounded by lights with a red one on top.
1977 New, smaller pound notes, were introduced into the UK.
1978 The summer signings by Tottenham of Argentine World Cup stars Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa meant an eagerly-awaited home League debut for the duo. A ticker-tape welcome and 47,892 fans were at White Hart Lane to give them that welcome. But visitors Aston Villa hadn’t read the script as they beat newly-promoted Spurs 4-1.
1990 East & West Germany announced that they would unite on Oct 3.
1994 For no apparent reason the British duo The KLF burn £1 million on the Isle of Jura in Scotland.
2007 Hashtag invented and first used in a tweet by US product designer Chris Messina.
2010 Publisher Harper Collins and the BBC began a court battle over a book that revealed the identity of Top Gear's The Stig to be the former Formula Three driver Ben Collins. Henceforth Collins was always referred to by the Top Gear presenters as 'Sacked Stig'.
1482 The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed were captured from Scotland by an English army. The border town has remained English ever since.
1680 The death of Colonel Blood, an Irish adventurer who stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. He had been captured after the theft, but insisted on seeing King Charles II, who pardoned him.
1814 British forces captured Washington DC and set the White House on fire.
1875 Matthew Webb (Captain Webb) started his attempt from Dover England to become the first person to swim the English Channel. He reached Calais, France at 10.40 am the following morning, having been in the water for 22 hours.
1947 The first Edinburgh Festival was held.
1957 Aged 17, Jimmy Greaves scored on his First Division debut for Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur in a 1–1 draw at White Hart Lane.
1967 Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, drives his Lincoln Continental (not a Rolls Royce, as is often thought), into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan, to celebrate his 21st birthday, earning the entire band a lifetime ban from the chain.
1981 American Mark Chapman was given a 20 year sentence for shooting John Lennon. Chapman has applied for parole every two years since 2000. All the applications have been rejected.
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing becomes the most watched event on TV ever - nearly 5 billion, 70% of world's population.
1537 The Honourable Artillery Company was formed. It is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior.
1804 Alicia Meynell rode Vingarillo over a four-mile racecourse at York to become the first recorded woman jockey. She was in the lead most of the way against only one other contestant, but lost.
1917 The Order of the British Empire (OBE), and the Companion of Honour (CH), were awarded for the first time
1919 The world's first international daily air service began between London and Paris.
1928 The opening of the famous Kop End at Liverpool Football Club's ground at Anfield. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War, the word 'Kopje' meaning 'small hill'.
1939 Britain and Poland formed a military alliance in which the UK promised to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.
1940 The RAF made the first air raid on Berlin.
1942 The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, was killed in a plane crash during a war mission to Iceland. He was the first member of the Royal family to be killed on active service.
1944 World War II - The Allies liberated Paris.
1968 Arthur Ashe becomes 1st African American to win the US singles championship.
1975 Bruce Springsteen's landmark third album "Born To Run" released.
1986 Britain staged its first street motor race - along roads around the centre of Birmingham.
1988 The first GCSE results were published.
2006 Hyperion, the world's tallest living tree, a Redwood standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft), discovered by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood National and State Parks, California.
2009 The British Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, broke the existing land speed record by a steam powered vehicle with an average speed of 139.843 mph over two consecutive runs over a measured mile at the Edward's Air Force Base in California, USA.
2009 A man was stabbed in the chest during "large-scale trouble" involving hundreds of fans at West Ham's Carling Cup match against Millwall. Fights were still raging five hours later.
2019 Double Dave, a rare two-headed timber rattlesnake found in Pine Barrens forest, New Jersey.
2019 Ben Stokes with an unbeaten 135 leads England to a record run chase of 362-9 and victory over Australia in the 3rd cricket Test at Headingley, Leeds; keeps Ashes Series alive at 1-1.
2020 The 38 year old English cricketer James Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets, (during day five of the third Test with Pakistan at Southampton). Three spin bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, are the only other bowlers to have attained the landmark.
Arsenal (Division 1 at Sheffield Wednesday) and Chelsea (Division 2 v Swansea) became the first Football League sides to have numbers on their shirts to help identify players.
Football On This Day – 25th August 1992.
Just 10 days after the Premier League had kicked off Eric Cantona became the first player to score a hat-trick in the competition. The Frenchman - then a Leeds United player - scored three times in the 5-0 defeat of Tottenham at Elland Road. Earlier in the month Cantona had scored a hat-trick for Leeds in their 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the Charity Shield at Wembley.
Football On This Day – 25th August 1996.
The big transfer story at the start of the 1996/97 season was would Alan Shearer join Manchester United? He didn't - he moved from Blackburn to Newcastle - but United did sign an almost unknown 23-year-old forward from Molde in Norway, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian scored twice in his first match for United reserves at Oldham reserves and four days later - on Sunday 25th August 1996 - he made his first team debut for the Reds. He scored the equaliser just six minutes after coming on as a sub, replacing David May, in the 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. He became something of a 'super-sub' in his 11 years at Old Trafford and scored 91 goals in his 235 Premier League appearances for United. Spells as manager at Cardiff City and back at Molde preceded his return to Old Trafford as manager when taking over from Jose Mourinho in 2018.
55BC Julius Caesar crossed the English Channel for his invasion of Britain.
1346 The English, led by Edward III and his son Edward the Black Prince, won the Battle of Crécy against Philip VI of France. Legend has it, that it was at this battle that the English first used the gesture of holding up two fingers as an insult, as this was how they held their new, and far superior weapon, the longbow.
1682 English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him.
1936 Over 7,000 people queued to see the first high definition television pictures on sets at the Olympia Radio Show, west London. The pictures were transmitted by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, introduced by Leslie Mitchell, their first announcer.
1942 World War II: The beginning of the Holocaust in western Ukraine. At 2.30 am the German security police evicted Jews from their houses, divided them into groups of 120, packed them in freight cars and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick, along with children, were murdered on the spot.
1959 British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launched a small family car - the 'Mini'.
1959 The Radio Show opened at Earls Court in London, with the appearance of some of the first 'transistor' radios.
1970 The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, boasting a very impressive lineup, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Spirit, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free, and in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix.
1972 XX Summer Olympic Games open in Munich, West Germany.
1981 Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett's new world record time was 3:48.40.
1993 Despite guiding his side to a top ten place in each of his three seasons in charge Manchester City player-manager Peter Reid is sacked after City managed just a single point from their first four Premier League matches of the season.
1994 A man was given the world's first battery-operated heart in a pioneering operation in Britain.
2014 On the same day they lost 4-0 at MK Dons in the League Cup Manchester United opened their cheque book to pay out a British transfer fee record of £59.7m for Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria. United had made an abysmal start to the season under new manager Louis van Gaal.
2017 Manchester City scores a 2-1 win at Bournemouth to start EPL record 18 game winning streak; Raheem Sterling scores for City but is sent off with 2 yellow cards in injury time.
1784 The first balloon ascent was made in Britain, by James Tytler at Edinburgh.
1883 Krakatoa volcano, west of Java in Indonesia, erupts with a force of 1,300 megatons and kills approximately 40,000 people.
1896 Britain defeats Zanzibar in a 38-minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM).The start (and end) of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was the shortest war in world history and lasted for just 38 minutes.
1900 Britain's first long distance bus service began between London and Leeds. The journey took 2 days.
1950 The BBC transmitted the first ever live television pictures across the Channel.
1964 Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" premieres in Los Angeles.
1967 The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein dies of an accidental overdose of brandy and barbiturates. in London, England, at age 32.
1979 The death of Lord Louis Mountbatten. The IRA exploded a 50lb, remote-controlled bomb on his boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland.
1988 Unfinished building work on the East Stand saw Tottenham’s first home League match of the season – against Coventry – postponed and delayed the League debut of a major Spurs summer signing – Paul Gascoigne.
1988 Tony Cottee needed to impress on his debut for Everton - his £2.2 million summer move from West Ham to Goodison made him the most expensive purchase ever by a British club. He did impress - scoring after 34 seconds and completing a hat-trick in the 4-0 defeat of Newcastle United.
1988 20-year-old Kylie Minogue becomes the youngest female artist to land a #1 album in the UK when her debut, Kylie, claims the top spot.
2017 Former five-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his debut match in the 10th round in Las Vegas.
1640 The Scots, under Sir Alexander Leslie, defeated royalist English forces under Lord Conway at the battle of Newburn near Newcastle. Newcastle was then occupied by the Scots in the English-Scottish wars.
1833 The House of Commons approved the Abolition Act, introduced earlier by Thomas Buxton, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire.
1837 Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce.
1884 First known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard, South Dakota.
1898 Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".
1933 For the first time, a BBC-broadcasted appeal was used by the police in tracking down a wanted man (murder suspect Stanley Hobday).
1939 Journalist Care Hollingworth observes the “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” Germany had aligned along the Polish border. Three days later, Hitler invades Poland and WWII begins.
1960 A 17-year-old Barry White completes his four-month prison term for stealing 300 tyres from a Cadillac dealership. Having heard Elvis sing "It's Now Or Never" in prison, he leaves determined to make music his life.
1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
1965 1st Subway sandwich shop opens in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1973 "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple goes gold.
1980 First use of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to scan the human body at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland.
1981 For the third time in 10 days, a world record in the mile run was set. Sebastian Coe, who broke Steve Ovett's record on August 19th and lost it to Ovett on August 26th , broke it again - by a full second - in Brussels, Belgium. Coe's new record time was 3:47.33.
1982 David Seaman, one of England’s greatest goalkeepers, made his debut in the Football League. Released by the club he had supported as a boy, Leeds United, without playing for them in the League he had joined Fourth Division Peterborough United in August 1982. He first League match was at Stockport’s Edgeley Park on the opening day of the 1982/83 League season – 2,003 saw Stockport and Posh draw 1-1.
1988 Kylie Minogue set a new UK record when her debut album Kylie, became the biggest selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost 2 million.
1994 Robbie Fowler scored what was then the quickest hat-trick scored in the Premier League, his three goals in the Liverpool v Arsenal match at Anfield being scored in just 4 minutes 33 seconds.
1994 94th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods.
1994 Thousands of shops throughout England and Wales opened legally for the first time on a Sunday, following a change in the Sunday trading laws.
2004 British athlete Kelly Holmes secured a place in Olympic history by winning the 1500m gold in Athens. The runner won the 800m earlier and thus became the first Olympic Briton in 84 years to achieve the middle-distance double.
2004 A huge upset at the Athens Olympic Stadium in the men's 4×100m relay; Great Britain 38.07 edges the United States 38.08 to take the gold medal.
2009 After the latest in a series of incidents between feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, Oasis finally split, with Noel walking out for good. "It is with some sadness and great relief... I quit Oasis tonight," he says. "People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."
2011 Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2 in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, the first time Arsenal had conceded 8 goals in a League match since 1896.
2013 Leeds businessman Lee Beaumont who became tired of 'cold calls' offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPI), or install solar panels set up his home phone as a premium rate 0871 number. Companies who phone him now spend 10p per minute on calls, from which he receives 7p. The number of 'cold calls' to his 0871 number fell by 66% in one month.
2017 Kenya brings in world's toughest ban on plastic bags with possible US$38,000 fine and four years in jail.
2019 British PM Boris Johnson prorogues parliament, suspending it for 5 weeks to limit opposition to a no deal Brexit, prompting a furious backlash.
2020 Japanese tech company SkyDrive says it has completed the first manned test flight of a flying car.
1882 The England cricket team lost to Australia, in England, for the first time. An 'obituary' printed in the Sporting Times, talked of 'the Ashes' of English Cricket being taken back to Australia. Test Series between the two countries are now played for 'The Ashes'.
1885 Boxing's 1st heavyweight title fight with 3-oz gloves & 3-minute rounds fought between John L. Sullivan & Dominick McCaffrey.
1895 At the George Hotel, Huddersfield twenty-one rugby clubs met to form the Northern Union. In 1922 the Union was renamed the Rugby League.
1896 Chop suey invented in New York by chef of visiting Chinese Ambassador.
1958 Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana.
1958 George Harrison joins The Quarrymen, who later become The Beatles.
1958 Cliff Richard and the Drifters (Shadows) release single "Move It", Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.
1966 British group The Beatles gave their last live concert performance to a crowd of around 25,000 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, USA.
1977 Iggy Pop releases his second album "**** for Life", a collaboration with David Bowie.
1980 UB40 release their seminal debut, Signing Off. The album would climb to #2 on the UK Albums Chart, spending a total of 71 weeks on the charts.
1994 British band Oasis release their debut album "Definitely Maybe", becomes fastest-selling album ever in UK
1997 Netflix is founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hasting in Scotts Valley, California as an online DVD rental business.
2004 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher clinches his 5th straight F1 World Drivers Championship with a 2nd place in the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
2005 Hurricane Katrina makes 2nd and 3rd landfall as a category 3 hurricane, devastating much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida Panhandle. Kills more than 1,836, causes over $115 billion in damage.
2009 Cristiano Ronaldo makes his debut for Real Madrid, scoring a penalty in their 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruña.
2011 Private security firm G4S sacked two members of staff who tagged the false leg of 29 year old Rochdale offender Christopher Lowcock, allowing him to remove it and flout a court-imposed curfew for driving and drug offences, as well as possession of an offensive weapon.
1146 A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that by banning the weapon, wars would eventually end. Despite the prohibition, crossbows continued to be used until the 16th century, when they were replaced by firearms.
1791 The British Ordnance Survey (mapping agency) was founded.
1860 The first British tramway, operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway.
1901 Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner.
1926 Jack Hobbs scored 316 at Lords, the highest individual score recorded at the ground.
1930 Morris Cars announced the arrival of the Morris Major costing £215.
1939 In anticipation of German bombing, the great evacuation of children from British cities began, four days before the outbreak of World War II.
1963 Hotline communication link between the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the Kremlin in Moscow installed. Often known as the "red telephone" no phones were ever used, relying instead on Teletype equipment, fax machines and most recently secure email.
A non-dial "Red Phone" which is on display in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.
1968 1st record released on Apple label in UK is The Beatles single "Hey Jude".
1969 The Birmingham band Earth changes its name when lead singer Ozzy Osbourne announces on stage that the band's new name is Black Sabbath.
1976 The Notting Hill riots take place as black youth clash with police at the Notting Hill Carnival in England. Members of The Clash are present, and the event inspires them to write "White Riot" as a call for white people to protest with the same furor. More than 100 police officers were taken to hospital.
1979 Ian Botham makes 1000 runs/100 wkts in Tests in his 21st match.
1996 Former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno announced his retirement.
2004 Despite Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd not wishing to be known as ‘the man who shot Bambi’ on this day in 2004 he sacked manager Sir Bobby Robson. The Magpies hadn’t won any of their first four Premier League matches of the new season.
2013 "12 Years a Slave" premieres at the Telluride Film Festival.
1422 King Henry V of England died of dysentery whilst in France. His son, Henry VI, became King of England at the age of 9 months.
1848 Accurate and scientific ' state of the weather' reports were first published by Charles Dickens's newspaper - The Daily News.
1888 The body of Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, the first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found mutilated in Buck's Row, London. The unidentified serial killer's attacks involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. In 2006, Jack the Ripper was selected by the BBC History magazine and its readers as the worst Briton in history.
1900 Coca Cola first went on sale in Britain, fourteen years after it was first sold in the U.S.A. Charles Chandler, the eldest son of the founder came to Britain with a jug of cola syrup. It proved so popular that five more gallons were ordered immediately from America.
1908 At the age of 60, and after a career spanning 43 years , the legendary English cricketer W.G. Grace retired from first class cricket. He had scored a total of 54,896 runs (including 126 centuries), taken 2,879 wickets and held 871 catches.
1939 Nazi forces, posing as Poles, mounted a staged attack on the German radio station at Gleiwitz, in Poland, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
1962 Mountaineers Chris Bonington and Ian Clough become first Britons to conquer the north face of the Eiger. The 13,040 ft. climb took them two days and was one of the fastest ever. Within three hours of reaching the summit they were back in their hotel room.
1968 West Indian cricketer Gary Sobers becomes the first batsman to score six 'sixes' in one over while playing for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan at Swansea. The unfortunate bowler was Malcolm Nash.
1971 Beatle John Lennon leaves England for the final time, moving to New York City.
1976 George Harrison is found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" in a bizarre lawsuit that leaves songwriters baffled.
A judge rules that Harrison's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord" is musically similar to "He's So Fine," a 1963 hit for the girl group The Chiffons, and orders him to pay nearly $1.6 million in damages.
1984 Pinklon Thomas beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title.
1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and their driver were killed in a car crash in the Place de l'Alma underpass in Paris, France. Tests conducted by French police indicated that the driver was intoxicated, may have been travelling at over 100 mph and likely caused the accident while trying to escape the paparazzi photographers.
2013 BT turned off its dial-up internet (DUN) access service.
With the transfer window closing at midnight August 31st is always going to be a busy time for completing transfers and that was certainly the case in 2006. Argentine World Cup players Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez were on the wants list of many clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan. It came as a bit of a surprise then when they both moved from their club side, Corinthians of Brazil, to mid-ranking Premier League side West Ham United on 31st August 2006. It proved to be a disaster. Between them they only made 31 Premier League outings for the Hammers before Tevez moved to Manchester United and Mascherano to Liverpool. A dispute then arose regarding third party ownership of the two players - had they been owned by West Ham or still owned by those in charge of Corinthians - Media Sports Investments. The FA later fined West Ham £5.5 million for discrepancies with that transfer. West Ham escaped a points deduction for that offence which would have seen them relegated and Sheffield United saved from relegation. Sheffield United then claimed for the lost revenue suffered from that relegation which cost the Londoners another £18 million.
1532 Lady Anne Boleyn was made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII. Less than 4 years later Henry had her investigated for high treason. She was found guilty of adultery and incest and was executed on 19th May 1536.
1865 Joseph Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery.
1886 The Severn Tunnel, (railway tunnel) between England and Wales, was opened for goods traffic.
1939 At dawn on 1st September, Germany made a massive invasion of Poland and bombed Warsaw at 6am, beginning World War II in Europe. The service to 2,000 televisions also ceased in Britain. There would be no more TV for seven years.
1951 The Premier supermarket opened in Earl’s Court, London; the first supermarket in Britain.
1958 Iceland expanded its fishing zone, putting it into conflict with the United Kingdom and the beginning the Cod Wars.
1960 The Government announced that Britain's first betting shops would be allowed to open for business from May 1961.
1971 The British penny and the threepenny piece coins ceased to be legal tender as decimalization continued.
1976 The first of 11,500 standpipes were connected in Yorkshire as local reservoirs reached their lowest levels in years.
1981 Garages in Britain began selling petrol in litres.
1982 Former Ipswich manager Bobby Robson was appointed England football manager.
1985 After 73 years the wreck of the liner 'Titanic' was found, by Dr. Robert Ballard.
2001 England beat bitter rivals Germany 5-1 in the World Cup qualifying tie, with Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick.
2001 The death of Brian Moore, sports commentator and television presenter who covered nine World Cups, six European Championships and every FA Cup Final on ITV from 1969 to 1988 and again in 1998.
2013 Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign Tottenham forward Gareth Bale for £85.3m. It eclipsed the £80m Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
2018 Aretha Franklin's funeral held in Detroit attended by Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande and Bill Clinton with procession of 140 pink Cadillacs.
2018 Bishop Charles H. Ellis III apologises for groping Ariana Grande during Aretha Franklin's funeral service.
After Everton had left Anfield for Goodison Park because of a rent increase a new club needed to be found to play at Anfield. That newly formed club – Liverpool FC – played its first-ever match on this day in 1892, beating Midland League champions Rotherham Town 7-1 in a friendly at Anfield. Around 100 turned up for that match but when Liverpool played its first competitive match – just two days later against Higher Walton in the Lancashire League – the Anfield crowd had swelled to around 200 to witness an 8-0 victory.
Football On This Day – 1st September 1908.
Tottenham Hotspur played their first match in the Football League, beating FA Cup holders Wolves 3-0 in front of 20,000 at White Hart Lane with Vivian Woodward scoring their first League goal.
Football On This Day – 1st September 1996.
David Beckham made his England debut in Glenn Hoddle’s first match as England manager as England defeat Moldova 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Chişinău.
Football On This Day – 1st September 2001.
Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as England beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Munich.
Football On This Day – 1st September 2008.
Manchester City made their best-ever signing - Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. Better known as Sheikh Mansour he bought the club from the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, for around £200 million. And didn't things change. Later in the day that Sheikh Mansour took over - transfer deadline day - City showed how the new money would change things by paying a then British transfer record fee of £32.5 million to Real Madrid for Brazilian forward Robinho. In the years to come Sheikh Mansour's leadership - and money - turned City from regular Premier Division mid-tablers to a club who were dominant in the English game.
1666 The Great Fire of London began in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane, and rapidly spread throughout the city, destroying most of London's buildings and houses. Although 13,000 buildings were destroyed in the four-day blaze only six people died.
1685 The beheading of Lady Alice Lisle, the last woman to have been executed by a judicial sentence of beheading in England. She was tried by Judge Jeffreys at the opening of the **** Assizes at Winchester and was executed for harbouring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion at the Battle of Sedgemoor.
1752 The Julian calendar was used in Britain and the Colonies 'officially' for the last time, almost two centuries after most of Western Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar. As in the rest of Europe, the following day in Britain became 14th September.
1807 The Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
1902 "A Trip To The Moon", the first sci-fi film, released.
1934 Russ Columbo dies when his friend's antique gun accidentally fires and strikes him in the eye. The 26-year-old singer's friends and family hide the news from his ailing mother, fearing the shock will kill her. Through an elaborate scheme of writing fake letters and using old recordings to simulate live broadcasts, it appears that Columbo is alive and well, but busy. The subterfuge lasts until her death a decade later.
1939 Under the National Service Bill, men aged 19 - 41 were conscripted in Britain.
1944 Holocaust diarist Anne Frank sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.
1945 World War II officially ended when Japanese officials, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, surrendered on behalf of their country.
1972 Rod Stewart's 1st #1 hit single in the UK, "You Wear it Well".
1974 Edward Heath's Morning Cloud III was sunk in a Force 9 gale in the English Channel. Two people were killed - including Mr Heath's godson.
1979 Police discovered the body of a young woman - thought to be the twelfth victim of the 'Yorkshire Ripper' - in an alleyway near the centre of Bradford.
1995 British boxer Frank Bruno achieved his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion when he outpointed Oliver McCall to win the WBC title at Wembley Stadium in London.
1997 Six freelance photographers and a dispatch rider were jointly charged with manslaughter following the car crash in Paris in which Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed were killed.
2001 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for his record 52nd F1 Grand Prix victory.