ON THIS DAY

1776: The oldest ofthe classic horse races, theSt Leger, was first run at Doncaster.

• 1848: Branwell Bronte, brotherofthe Bronte sisters, died. Hewas theinspirationfor the violent drunk, Hindley Earnshaw, in Emily Bronte’sWuthering Heights (1847).

1852: The first hydrogenfilled airship, powered by a 3hp steam engine built by Henri Giffard, madeits maiden flight at Versailles in France.

1853: The Northern Daily Times became the first provincial newspaper in England.

• 1896: American writer F Scott Fitzgeraldwas born. He became analcoholic in his early 20s and died aged 44 after having two heart attacks. He wrotethe definitive 1920s novel The Great Gatsby in 1925.

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1930: The first performance of

Private Lives by Noel Coward took place at the NewPhoenix Theatre, London.

• 1953: TheRobe, the first film made in CinemaScope, was premiered in Hollywood.

• 1960: Thefirst nuclearpowered aircraft carrier, theUSS Enterprise, was launched in Newport, Virginia.

• 1975: Everestwas climbed by thesouth-west face forthe first time by DougalHaston and Doug Scott.

• LAST YEAR: A powerful 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck north-east Pakistan.

• BIRTHDAYS: Brian Glanville, footballwriter and novelist, 89; Gerry Marsden, singer (The Pacemakers), 78; HelenLederer, actress and writer, 66; Theo Paphitis, entrepreneur (Dragons’ Den), 61; Jack Dee, comedian and actor, 59.