ON THIS DAY

• 1704: The Battle of Blenheim took place in Germany, in which Anglo-Austrian forces under Marlborough and Prince Eugene defeated the French and Bavarian armies.

• 1860: Annie Oakley, marksman who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, was born. She was said to have been able to hit the thin edge of a playing card from 30 paces.

• 1888: John Logie Baird, electrical engineer who helped pioneer television, was born in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire.

• 1899: Alfred Hitchcock, English film director who became a US citizen in 1955, was born. He made the first British sound film – Blackmail (1929).

• 1910: Death of Florence Nightingale, the “Lady With The Lamp” during the Crimean War.

• 1915: “Brides in the Bath” murderer George Joseph Smith, who drowned his brides in a zinc bath after ensuring their finances were set up in his favour, was hanged. It was Friday the 13th.

• 1961: East German border guards stopped cars passing to the east through the Brandenburg Gate, thus sealing the border.

• 1964: The last hangings in Britain took place – Peter Allen at Walton Prison, Liverpool, and John Walby at Strangeways jail.

• ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:

An endangered killer whale that drew international attention as she carried her dead calf on her head for more than two weeks, was finally back to feeding and frolicking with her pod.

• AUGUST 13 BIRTHDAYS:

Madhur Jaffrey, actress and cookery writer, 86; Feargal Sharkey, singer and music industry executive, 61; James Morrison, singer/songwriter, 35.