ON THIS DAY
1789: The Bastille, the state prison in Paris, was stormed by the citizens of Paris and burned to the ground at the start of the French Revolution. 1858: Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Manchester. 1867: Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel first demonstrated the use of dynamite. 1888: The first record company, the North American Phonograph Company, was founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by businessman Jesse L Lippincott. 1902: The Campanile of St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice collapsed during a safety inspection. 1940: The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1946: Dr Benjamin Spock’s famous baby bible - Baby And Child Care - was published, and became a bestseller. Twenty-eight years later he said he no longer supported his own theories. 1958: King Faisal of Iraq was assassinated in a military coup led by General Kassem, and a Republic was established. 1959: Grock, described as the “greatest clown on earth”, died in Italy. 1967: Parliament voted to legalise abortion.