ITHAPPENED TODAY
1667:
Author Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) was born in Dublin.
1835:
Mark Twain, (above) author of The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, was born in Missouri.
1874:
Sir Winston Churchill, a descendant of the great Duke of Marlborough, was born in Blenheim Palace.
1900:
Oscar Wilde, Irish-born playwright, died in Paris aged 46.
1936:
The Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire.
1955:
The first floodlit football match at Wembley was played, between England and Spain.
1957:
The great Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli (below)died.
1968:
The Trades Description Act came into force.
2009:
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research announced that the Large Hadron Collider set a new world record for energy making it the world’s highest energy particle accelerator.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
A study found Britain could become a major wine producer and exporter by 2100, with Essex and even Edinburgh becoming the site of leading vineyards.
BIRTHDAYS:
Frank Ifield, singer, 80; Ridley Scott, film director, 80; George Graham, former footballer and manager, 73; Billy Idol, rock singer, 62; Lorraine Kelly, (below) TV presenter, 58; Gary Lineker, broadcaster and former footballer, 57; Ben Stiller, actor, 52; Phil Babb, former footballer, 47; Dougie Poynter, musician (McFly), 30.