ON THIS DAY
1471: The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet, in the War of the Roses.
1759: George Frideric Handel, German composer, died in London, where most of his music-making had been done.
1828: Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language.
1865: Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, was shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, dying the next day.
1894: Thomas Edison publicly demonstrated his “kinetoscope” moving picture machine in New York.
1917: Dr Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof, Polish physician who invented the international language Esperanto, died.
1929: The Monaco Grand Prix was first run - 78 laps round the narrow streets and harbour of Monte Carlo.
1931: The Ministry of Transport issued the first Highway Code. 1983: The first cordless telephone, capable of operating up to 600ft from base, was introduced.
2003: The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Hailstones the size of baseballs were falling in Texas, with local residents describing the deluge as “devasatating”.
BIRTHDAYS: Julie Christie, above, actress, 80; Ritchie Blackmore, rock guitarist, 75; Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist, 69; Robert Carlyle, actor, 59; Gina McKee, actress, 56; Anthony Michael Hall, actor, 52; Adrien Brody, actor, 47; Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress, 43; Abigail Breslin, actress, 24.
Let us know your community events
Write to What’s On, South Wales Echo, Six Park Street, Cardiff CF10 1XR or email ecletters@walesonline. co.uk including your name, address and daytime contact number. Don’t forget to tell us where and when your event is taking place and what it’s all about.