IT HAPPENED TODAY
1582:
Pope Gregory XIII announced the new Gregorian calendar, to replace the Julian calendar. It was not adopted by Britain until 1752, when a ‘loss’ of 11 days had to be made up.
1825:
Thomas Bowdler, who took out the ‘naughty bits’ in Shakespeare’s work, died. He gave the English language the word ‘bowdlerise’.
1848:
France became a republic for the second time, following the abdication of King Louis Philippe.
1887:
The first two cities to be linked by telephone were Paris and Brussels.
1905:
The Simplon Tunnel through the Alps, 12.3 miles long, was completed.
1920:
American-born Nancy Astor
became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons, following her election as an MP two months earlier.
1923:
The Flying Scotsman locomotive began hauling scheduled services between London and Scotland.
Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird beat his own land speed record at Daytona Beach by reaching 253.96 mph.
1938:
A nylon toothbrush, the first commercial nylon product, went on sale in New Jersey.
1991:
In their first parliamentary elections under a genuine multi-party system, voters in Lithuania rejected Communist rule.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
A Francis Bacon triptych once owned by the celebrated author Roald Dahl sold for $51.7m.
Birthdays:
Phil Knight, billionaire co-founder of Nike, 80; Denis Law, commentator/former footballer, 78; Paul Jones, blues singer/broadcaster, 76; John Stapleton, journalist/ TV presenter, 72; Dennis Waterman, actor, 70; Alain Prost, racing driver, 63; Billy Zane actor/director, 52; Lleyton Hewitt, former tennis player, 37.