ON THIS DAY

AUGUST 10

1842: The Mines Act was passed by the British Parliament, forbidding women and children to work underground. 1889: The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Barnsley.

1961: Britain first applied for membershipoftheEEC.

2003: The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.5C (101.3F) in Kent. 2010: Archaeologists announced that they had discovered Britain’s earliest house at Star Carr, near Scarborough, believed to date back to 8,500 years BC.

AUGUST 11

1492: The infamous and corrupt Roderigo Borgia bribed enough cardinals to become Pope Alexander VI.

1919: Philanthropic Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie died. Insisting he wanted to leave the world as a poor man, he gave away more than 308 million dollars. But he failed to achieve his ambition – he had 22 million dollars left. 1942: Barnes Wallis patented the bouncing bomb which was used against the German Mohne and Eder dams in 1943 by the RAF Dambusters Squadron.

AUGUST 12

1887: Thomas Edison made the first sound recording when he recited Mary Had A Little Lamb which was recorded on to a foil-wrapped cylinder on the Edisonphone.

1908: The first Model T Ford came off the production line, replacing the Model A. 1925: Norris and Ross McWhirter, British twins who founded the Guinness Book Of Records, were born. After the bible, it is the best-selling book in the world.

AUGUST 13

1889: The coin-operated phone was patented in the USA by William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut.

1910: Death of Florence Nightingale, the “Lady With The Lamp” during the Crimean War.

1961: East German border guards stopped cars passing to the east through the Brandenburg Gate, thus sealing the border and preventing an exodus to the West. Barbed wire was erected, later to be replaced by the Berlin Wall.

1997: The first episode of South Park aired on Comedy Central.

AUGUST 14

1893: The world’s first car registration plates were introduced in France.

1908: The first international beauty contest in Britain was held at the Pier Hippodrome in Folkestone.

1967: The Marine Broadcasting Act came into force after midnight, outlawing pop pirate radio stations broadcasting within British territorial waters. 1969: British troops were deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order.

1979: The longest lasting rainbow on record shone over North Wales from the coast of Gwynedd to Clwyd, remaining for more than three hours.