The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
ON THIS DAY
1306: Robert Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone.
1807: The Slave Trade Act became law. The act abolished the slave trade in Britain and Ireland.
1843: The Thames Tunnel, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened to pedestrians between Rotherhithe and Wapping in London.
1957: Six nations (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) signed the Treaty of Rome to create the European Economic Community.
1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their week-long ‘bed-in’ peace protest at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
1975: Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was assassinated by his nephew Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed, who was later executed for the killing.
1980: Robert Runcie was enthroned as the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury.
1980: The British Olympic Association announced it would defy the government and send athletes to the Olympic Games in Moscow despite the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, which caused a United States-led boycott of the Games.
1989: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race crews both had women coxes for the first time. Oxford won by two-and-a-half lengths.
1996: The EU’S Veterinarian Committee banned the export of British beef and its by-products due to fears over mad cow disease (BSE).
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
The eight pallbearers who carried the Queen’s coffin were awarded the silver Royal Victorian Medal in recognition of the important role they played at her funeral.
BIRTHDAYS:
Richard O’brien, actor/writer (Rocky Horror Show), 82; Paul Michael Glaser, actor, 81; Sir Elton John, singer/songwriter, 77; Sarah Jessica Parker, actress, 59; Cathy Dennis, singer/songwriter, 55; Melanie Blatt, singer, 49; Lee Pace, actor, 45.