IT HAPPENED TODAY
The Royal Society was founded in London.
1757:
William Blake, mystic and visionary English poet and painter, was born in London.
1905:
The Irish political party Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith.
1919:
Viscountess (Nancy) Astor became Britain’s first woman MP, holding a safe Plymouth seat for the Tories in a by-election caused by her husband’s elevation to the peerage.
1934:
Winston Churchill (above) warned that weak defences could mean that Britain could be “tortured into absolute subjection” in any war with Germany.
1943:
The Big Three — Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin — met in Tehran to “plan strategy” and discuss post-war policy, including treatment of a defeated Germany.
1967:
Horse racing was suspended in Britain after an outbreak of footand-mouth disease.
Enid Blyton (above), creator of Noddy and Big Ears among many other children’s favourites, died.
1983:
The government announced an end to the monopoly by opticians on the sale of glasses.
2010:
Britain shivered in record low temperatures, including a “ridiculously low” minus 17C in Wales.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were to marry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in May 2018.
BIRTHDAYS:
Berry Gordy, Tamla Motown founder, 89; Randy Newman, singer/songwriter, 75; Alistair Darling, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, 65; Kriss Akabusi, former athlete and TV presenter, 60; Stephen Roche, former cyclist, 59; Judd Nelson, actor, 59; Martin Clunes, actor, 57; Jon Stewart, television host, 56; Mary Elizabeth Winstead, actress, 34; Karen Gillan (below) , actress, 31.