ON THIS DAY

JULY 27

1694: The Bank of England was founded with government backing.

1921: The first insulin was isolated by Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best, providing an effective treatment for diabetes.

1949: The de Havilland Comet, the world’s first jet airliner, made its maiden flight.

1989: The Common Cold Research Centre in Salisbury closed after giving colds to 30,000 people over 43 years.

JULY 28

1586: The first potatoes arrived in Britain in Plymouth, brought from Colombia by Sir Thomas Harriott.

1794: Maximilien Robespierre, one of the leaders of the French Revolution, was guillotined in Paris.

1865: Doctor Edward Pritchard was hanged in Glasgow for poisoning his mother-in-law and his wife. It was the last public hanging in Scotland.

1945: A US bomber crashed into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building, killing three crew.

1976: One of the greatest natural disasters of recent centuries occurred when an earthquake hit Tangshan in China, killing three-quarters of a million people. 1987: Laura Davies became the first Briton to win the US Women’s Open.

JULY 29

1588: The Spanish Armada, sent by Philip II in an attempt to invade England, was sighted off Cornwall. It was defeated by the English fleet under Howard and Drake, the battle beginning off Plymouth.

1938: First edition of the Beano comic was published.

1966: Bob Dylan was badly hurt in a motorbike crash near Woodstock.

JULY 30

1900: London Underground’s Central Line was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) with a flat rate of tuppence for all destinations.

1930: Uruguay won football’s first World Cup.

1963: Third Man Kim Philby turned up in Moscow after escaping arrest in Britain for spying.

1966: England beat West Germany 4-2 in extra time – with a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst – to win the World Cup.

JULY 31

1635: British public inland postal services were established, with charges of two to eight pence.

1950: Britain’s first self-service store, Sainsbury’s, opened in Croydon.

1956: At Old Trafford, England bowler Jim Laker took all 10 Australian wickets in the second innings for 53 runs, after a first innings haul of 9 for 37.

1965: Cigarette advertising on British TV was banned.

1975: Irish pop group the Miami Showband were ambushed and murdered by Protestant gunmen near Newry in Northern Ireland.