IT HAPPENED TODAY
1154:
Henry II became King of England.
1848:
Emily Bronte (above), English novelist who wrote Wuthering Heights, died aged 30 from tuberculosis.
1851:
Painter Joseph Turner died in his Chelsea house under the assumed name of Admiral Booth, where his demand for privacy was strictly enforced by his housekeeper.
1863:
Frederick Walton of London applied for a patent for Linoleum.
1905:
London County Council set up the first motorised ambulance service for traffic accident victims.
1906:
Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet president from 1977 to 1982, was born in the Ukraine.
1915:
Legendary singer Edith Piaf (below), “the little sparrow who began singing in the streets when she was a teenager and lived a life of lovers, alcohol and drugs”, was born in Paris. Her song Je Ne Regrette Rien summed up her outlook on life.
1981:
The Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne was lost with her crew of eight, attempting to rescue the crew of the coaster Union Star, wrecked in violent seas off the Cornish coast.
1984:
Britain and China signed an agreement for the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
1984:
Ted Hughes was named Poet Laureate in succession to Sir John Betjeman.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Atlantic grey seal pup numbers at one of the largest colonies in England had reached record highs, the National Trust said.
BIRTHDAYS:
Syd Little, comedian (Little and Large), 77; Limahl, singer, 61; Jennifer Beals, actress, 56; Beatrice Dalle, actress, 55; Richard Hammond, presenter, 50; Ricky Ponting, cricketer, 45; Jake Gyllenhaal (above), actor, 39; Gary Cahill, footballer, 34.