ON THIS DAY
1721:
Prisoners in Newgate Gaol were offered a pardon if they agreed to be inoculated against small pox – to test Dr Charles Maitland’s theories on the subject. Seven men volunteered – and all survived to live in freedom.
1870:
The Elementary Education Act was passed, giving compulsory free education to every child in England and Wales between the age of five and 13.
1902:
Edward VII was crowned. The Coronation, set for June 26, had been postponed because he had an emergency appendectomy.
1941:
RAF fighter pilot Douglas Bader was shot down and seized by German troops, who were surprised to discover his apparently fractured legs were both artificial.
1945:
The second atomic bomb of the World War II was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
1963:
Ready Steady Go! was first transmitted by ITV to rival the BBC’S Top Of The Pops – presenter Cathy Mcgowan became known as “Queen of the Mods”.
The bodies of actress Sharon Tate, eight months pregnant, and four others were found butchered at a Beverly Hills mansion. Members of a commune known as The Family led by Charles Manson were later arrested, tried and jailed.
2010:
British adventurer Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon after a gruelling 4,000-mile trek lasting nearly two-and-a-half years.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
A former RAF dog handler who lost his leg after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was reunited with the Chinook crew who saved his life.
BIRTHDAYS:
Rod Laver, former Wimbledon tennis champion, 84; Sam Elliott, actor, 78; James Naughtie, broadcaster, 71; Melanie Griffith, actress, 65; Gillian Anderson, actress, 54; Eric Bana, actor, 54; Mikael Silvestre, former footballer, 45; Daniela Denby-ashe, actress, 44.