IT HAPPENED TODAY
1889: Poet Robert Browning (above) died — his tomb is in Westminster Abbey.
1901: The first transatlantic wireless message was sent 1,800 miles from Cornwall to St John’s, Newfoundland, where it was received by Marconi.
1911: Delhi replaced Calcutta as the capital of India; King George V and Queen Mary were at the celebration.
1913: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre in Paris, was found in a bedroom of a small hotel in Florence.
1915: The German Junkers J1, the first all-metal aeroplane, was test flown at Dessau.
1925: The world’s first motel opened in California, starting the trend for overnight stops for motorists in individual accommodation.
1955: The hovercraft was patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell.
1955: Bill Haley and the Comets (above) recorded See You Later, Alligator at Decca Recording Studios, New York.
1988: A train crash at Clapham Junction killed 35 people and injured more than 100.
1963: Kenya became independent.
2001: Winona Ryder is arrested on shoplifting charges in Beverly Hills, California.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Harry Potter author JK Rowling spoke of her pride at being made a Companion of Honour at Buckingham Palace.
BIRTHDAYS: Connie Francis, singer, 81; Dionne Warwick, singer, 78; Kenneth Cranham, actor, 74; Emerson Fittipaldi, former racing driver, 72; Jasper Conran, fashion designer, 59; Tracy Austin, former tennis player, 56; Will Carling, former rugby player, 53; Jennifer Connelly (above), actress, 48.