IT HAPPENED TODAY
1704:
The Battle of Blenheim took place in Germany, in which Anglo-Austrian forces under Marlborough and Prince Eugene defeated the French and Bavarian armies.
1860:
Annie Oakley, marksman who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, was born. Nicknamed Little Sure Shot by Sitting Bull, she was said to have been able to hit the thin edge of a playing card from 30 paces.
1899:
Alfred Hitchcock (above), English film director who became a US citizen, was born. He made the first British sound film — Blackmail (1929) — although dialogue only began in reel two as the studio was not equipped in early sequences. He made many films, including Psycho.
1910:
‘Lady With The Lamp’ Florence Nightingale (below), considered the founder of modern nursing, died.
1915:
‘Brides in the Bath’ murderer George Joseph Smith, who drowned his brides in a zinc bath after ensuring their finances were set up in his favour, was hanged. It was Friday the 13th.
1961:
East German border guards stopped cars passing to the east through the Brandenburg Gate, thus sealing the border to the west. Barbed wire was erected, which later was replaced by the Berlin Wall.
1964:
The last hangings in Britain took place — Peter Allen at Walton Prison, Liverpool, and John Walby at Strangeways, Manchester.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
An endangered killer whale that drew international attention as she carried her dead calf on her head for more than two weeks, was finally back to feeding and frolicking with her pod.