ON THIS DAY

1191: Richard I (the Lionheart) married Berengaria, reputed to be extremely ugly. Although Queen, she never set foot on English soil.

1540: Henry VIII, above, divorced his fourth wife Anne of Cleves after six months of marriage.

1819: Elias Howe, inventor of the domestic sewing machine, was born in Massachusetts.

1872: The first doughnut cutter was patented in America by John Blondel. A sea captain, he is said to have invented the hole so he could slip the doughnut over the handle of the ship’s wheel and enjoy his snack while steering.

1877: Wimbledon staged its first lawn tennis championship, at its original site in Worple Road.

1938: Gas masks were issued to Britain’s civilian population in anticipation of the war with Germany. Some 35 million went into the shops.

1951: As the McCarthy witchhunts gathered pace in the USA, crime novelist Dashiell Hammett was jailed for contempt when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The first fully electric Mini car was unveiled at the car-maker’s Oxford factory.