ON THIS DAY

The French defeat the English at the battle of Castillon, ending the Hundred Years War. Peter III, Tsar of Russia, is assassinated a week after he abdicates the throne.

The humorous magazine Punch is first published in London.

The British royal family drops its previous name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and adopts the name Windsor.

Disneyland, the first Disney amusement park, opens its gates in Anaheim, California. Briton Donald Campbell breaks world land speed record, recording 648kmkm/h in Bluebird. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, carrying 295 people is shot down over war-torn Ukraine. James Cagney, US actor (1899-1986); Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor (1935-); David Hasselhoff, US actor (1952-); Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (1954-).