IT HAPPENED TODAY
1035:
Death of Canute, Danish King of England.
1660:
John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, was jailed for preaching without a licence.
1840:
Sculptor Auguste Rodin was born in Paris.
1859:
The man who invented the leotard, Jules Leotard, gave the world’s first flying trapeze display in Paris.
1911:
The Rev Chad Varah (above), founder of the Samaritans, was born.
1919:
The first flight from England to Australia began from Hounslow with Ross and Keith Smith in a Vickers Vimy. They landed safely on December 10.
1931:
Abbey Road recording studio in London was opened by Sir Edward Elgar.
1944:
Tirpitz, last of Hitler’s fleet of “unsinkable battleships”, was sunk off the Norwegian coast by Lancaster bombers.
1979:
In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter (above) ordered a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
1990:
Crown Prince Akihito was formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.
1997:
Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
The Duke of Cambridge met with internet and technology bosses in his campaign against cyberbullying.
Booker T Jones, soul musician, 74; Neil Young, singer/ songwriter, 73; Kevin Ratcliffe, former footballer, 58; Nadia Comaneci, former gymnast, 57; Mariella Frostrup (above), TV presenter, 56; Tonya Harding, former figure skater, 48; Anne Hathaway, actress, 36.