IT HAPPENED TODAY
1399:
The Order of the Bath was constituted.
1521:
Pope Leo X conferred the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry VIII. Twelve years later Henry broke with Rome to marry Anne Boleyn.
1844:
Baked beans magnate HJ Heinz (above) was born of German parents in Pittsburgh. Heinz set up business with two of his relations, launching the F& J Heinz Company.
1899:
The Boer War began between the British Empire and the Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
1919:
The first airline meals were served on a Handley-Page flight from London to Paris. They were prepacked lunch boxes at three shillings each (15p).
1957:
The Radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, planned by Sir Bernard Lovell, went into operation.
1958:
The BBC TV sports programme Grandstand was first transmitted. It was the first time a variety of sports were covered in one show. Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock followed shortly by the legendary David Coleman (above). Frank Bough, Des Lynam and Steve Rider were later to host the show.
1986:
Nuclear weapons negotiations between US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev opened in a summit in Reykjavik. However, they ended in failure.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Samsung was forced to discontinue one of its flagship phones — the Note7 — after a new wave of concerns over the device’s safety.
BIRTHDAYS:
Sir Bobby Charlton, former footballer, 80; John Nettles, actor, 74; Alan Pascoe, former athlete, 70; David Morse, actor, 64; Dawn French (above), actress and comedienne, 60; Joan Cusack, actress, 55; Stephen Moyer, actor, 48; Emily Deschanel, actress, 41; Michelle Wie, golfer, 28.