ON THIS DAY
585BC:
A timely total eclipse of the sun decided the Battle of Mesopotamia between Medes (now Iran) and Lydia (now Turkey). The blackened sky was read as a sign of God’s anger and an immediate truce was called.
1742:
The first indoor swimming pool in England opened in London. The entrance fee was one guinea.
1842:
The first public library was opened, in Frederick Street, Salford.
1907:
The first Isle of Man motorcycle TT race was held.
1934:
The first Glyndebourne Festival of opera opened with Mozart’s Figaro.
1951:
The first Goon Show was broadcast by the BBC.
1967:
Francis Chichester arrived back at Plymouth after sailing round the world single-handed in Gipsy Moth IV.
1972:
The Duke of Windsor, the abdicated King Edward VIII, died in Paris aged 77.
1982:
Colonel H Jones was killed in action at the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions as commanding officer of 2 Para during the attack in which 17 British and 250 Argentinians died.
1984:
Eric Morecambe, of the Morecambe and Wise comedy duo, died in Cheltenham aged 58.
1987:
Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German, flew his small aircraft through Soviet air space from Helsinki to Moscow, landing in Red Square.