On this day

1296: The English beat the Scots at the battle of Dunbar.

1791: Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code, was born in Massachusetts. He made his living as a portrait painter.

1828: The London Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park were opened.

1937: Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was completed. At

4,200ft long, it was the longest in the world at the time.

1939: In Britain, conscription was introduced for the first time since the First World War.

1968: Abortion was legalised in Britain.

1992: Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons in its 700-year history.