ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 2

❑ 1 year ago… UFO shocker The Daily Star reveals a new report which shows pilots in France have had scores of encounters with unidentified flying objects.

❑ 4 years ago… Singers split Pop stars Cheryl and Liam Payne of One Direction announce they are breaking up after two years.

❑ 6 years ago… Caroline Aherne dies The comedian, famous for starring in The Royle Family and playing spoof chat show host Mrs Merton, dies from lung cancer aged 52.

❑ 17 years ago... Live 8 concert Top musicians perform at 10 concerts across the world to coincide with the G8 Summit, to highlight poverty in Africa.

❑ 20 years ago… Ballooning first American Steve Fossett becomes the first person to travel solo around the world in a hot air balloon. He would die in a plane crash in 2007.

❑ 21 years ago… Dando murder After TV presenter Jill Dando was shot dead in 1999, Barry George is convicted of her murder. But this would be quashed in 2007.

❑ 25 years ago… Jimmy Stewart dies The Hollywood star, famous for films including It’s a Wonderful Life and Vertigo, suffers a heart attack aged 89.

❑ 42 years ago… Airplane debuts The disaster movies parody, starring Leslie Nielsen, is released on the big screen.

❑ 66 years ago… Presley hit

Elvis records Hound Dog in New York. The single would go on to become one of his biggest songs, with sales of more than 10million.

❑ 85 years ago… Aviatrix disappears Pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear flying over the Pacific Ocean, attempting to fly round the world. No trace of them has ever been found.

❑ 131 years ago… US President shot James Garfield, the 20th US President, is shot at a railway station in Baltimore, by Charles J Guiteau after he’d been turned down for a government post. Garfield dies 79 days later.

❑ 378 years ago… Civil War clash The Battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire, during the Civil War, sees Parliamentarian forces inflict a heavy defeat on the Royalists.