IT HAPPENED TODAY
1530: Ivan IV (the Terrible) was born. He was crowned first Tsar of Russia in 1547. He earned his description from his oppression, in which more than 3,000 were executed.
1919: The world’s first scheduled air flights began, between London and Paris.
1928: Anfield’s famous Kop terracing at Liverpool’s football ground was opened. It was most likely named after the Battle of Spion Kop in the Boer War.
1960: The 17th Olympic Games opened in Rome, at which Briton Anita Lonsbrough won gold in the 200m breaststroke. The light-heavyweight boxing gold medal was won by an American youth named Cassius Clay (above).
1978: The Shroud of Turin went on show for the first time on the high altar at St John’s Cathedral in Turin.
1985: Pop singer Michael Jackson (above) paid $25 million for a catalogue of music which included copyright of 5,000 songs, many by the Beatles.
2008: GB’s triumphant Olympians flew home from Beijing with 19 golds and the nation’s best medal haul for 100 years.
2012: Olympic gold medal hero Mo Farah celebrated his second double success of the summer after his wife gave birth to twin girls.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A man hiking 9,000ft up in the Sierra Nevada told how he was struck by a lightning bolt that blasted away his clothes, burned a hole in one of his shoes and left him with severe burns.
BIRTHDAYS: Sean Connery, actor, 88; Frederick Forsyth, novelist, 80; Martin Amis, author, 69; Gene Simmons, rock musician (Kiss), 69; Elvis Costello (Declan MacManus), rock musician, 64; Tim Burton, film director, 60; Billy Ray Cyrus, singer, 57; Joanne Whalley, actress, 54; Claudia Schiffer, model and actress, 48; Blake Lively (below), actress, 31; Ray Quinn, actor, singer and dancer, 30.