ON THIS DAY

THE Forth Bridge in east Scotland was officially opened by the Prince Of Wales, the future Edward VII. He hammered in the bridge’s last rivet, which was made of gold. The 53,000-tonne bridge, designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, was one of the first cantilever bridges in Britain and the country’s first all-steel bridge. SIR David Attenborough was appointed controller of BBC2 and went on to become director of BBC programmes in 1969. He oversaw the first colour TV broadcasts on BBC 2 in 1967 – two years before BBC1 – and the first colour programme seen by viewers was coverage of Wimbledon. CANADIAN-BORN comedy actor John Candy died of a heart attack at the age of 43 while filming a movie called Wagons East in Mexico. He found fame in films such as Splash!, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Uncle Buck and once said: “I think I may have become an actor to hide from myself. You can escape into a character.” His father, Sidney, also died of a heart attack at the age of 35 when John was five years old. SILENT-FILM star Charlie Chaplin was knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The 85-year-old comedy performer attended the ceremony in a wheelchair and returned afterwards to the Savoy Hotel with members of his family. He told reporters he had been left “dumbfounded” by the honour. MONOCLE-WEARING astronomer, Sky At Night presenter and xylophone player Sir Patrick Moore was born in Middlesex. He inspired generations of astronomers with his fascinating BBC series Sky At Night which he fronted from 1957 until his death in 2012 – the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history. He once exclaimed: “I’m only a four-dimensional creature, haven’t got a clue how to visualise infinity, even Einstein hadn’t. I know because I asked him.” THE Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded by Sir William Hillary. He said: “With courage, nothing is impossible.” The inaugural public meeting was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate, and anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce and sea safety guru Captain George Manby were among those in attendance. The charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 140,000 lives over the years. THE first case of Spanish flu was recorded at Funston Army Camp in Kansas. It was the start of a worldwide pandemic which killed up to 100 million people. The amount of people killed by the virus in just one year was greater than the total number who lost their lives in World War One. Nurses in Massachusetts cared for victims outdoors in tents as part of a fresh-air cure that some medical experts believed might help sufferers.