IT HAPPENED TODAY
The beginning of the Dog Days which last until mid-August. The hot, unhealthy days, so named by the Romans, were associated with madness in dogs.
1608:
French explorer Samuel Champlain founded the city of Quebec.
1728:
Robert Adam architect of the classical style, was born in Kirkcaldy.
1806:
Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibited the first edible cultivated strawberry, called Keen’s Seedling.
1863:
The Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War ended with the Confederate Army routed and more than 50,000 dead or wounded.
1954:
Food rationing ended in Britain.
1959:
The first radio broadcast of Sing Something Simple with Cliff Adams and the Adams Singers took place, providing non-stop songs for half an hour.
1982:
Brian Jones, who had just left the Rolling Stones, was found drowned in his swimming pool. On the same day in 1971, Doors singer Jim Morrison reportedly died of a heart attack in Paris.
Tennis player Martina Navratilova( beats Chris Evert 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 for the first of six straight Wimbledon singles titles. During her illustrious career she won 56 Grand Slam championships, including 18 in women’s singles and a record nine at Wimbledon.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Members of the RSPCA successfully managed to free a fox after it had got itself in a small gap between two gravestones.
BIRTHDAYS:
Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright, 81; Susan Penhaligon, actress, 69; Sir Richard Hadlee, former cricketer, 67; Sian Lloyd, weather presenter, 60; Julie Burchill, writer, 59; Vince Clarke, pop musician, 58; Tom Cruise actor, 56; Shane Lynch, singer (Boyzone), 42.