IT HAPPENED TODAY
1765:
English wig-makers petitioned George III for financial relief as the male fashion of wearing wigs came to an end.
1847:
Inventor Thomas Edison (above) was born in Ohio.
1852:
The first flushing lavatory for women opened in Bedford Street, London.
1858:
The ‘Miracle of Lourdes’ took place when St Bernadette (peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous) had her first vision of the Virgin Mary.
1929:
The 109 acres of the Vatican in Rome was made an independent sovereign state under the Lateran Treaty.
1940:
John Buchan, Scottish novelist who became Lord Tweedsmuir, died. He is best known for his creation Richard Hannay and the novel The Thirty-Nine Steps.
Margaret Thatcher (above) became the first woman leader of a British political party, the Conservatives, at the age of 49.
1990:
South Africa’s black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years.
2010:
The fashion world mourned the loss of a “modern-day genius” following the death of Alexander McQueen.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
The Royal Horticultural Society announced that snowdrops, that signal the end of winter, had appeared across the UK around a week earlier than usual.
BIRTHDAYS:
Dennis Skinner, Labour politician, 87; Sheryl Crow (below) singer/songwriter, 57; Jennifer Aniston, actress, 50; Steve McManaman, former footballer, 47; Nick Barmby, former footballer/manager, 45; Kelly Rowland, singer, 38; Taylor Lautner, actor, 27.