ON THIS DAY

1579: Sir Francis Drake anchored the Golden Hind just north of what would one day be San Francisco Bay, naming the area New Albion. 1703: The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was born, the 15th of 19 children of a clergyman. 1775: The Battle of Bunker Hill, the second major clash of the American War of Independence, was fought just north of Boston, Massachusetts. 1823: Charles Macintosh patented the waterproof cloth he was to use to make raincoats. 1867: Joseph Lister performed a mastectomy on his sister Isabella using carbolic acid as an antiseptic. It was the first operation using antiseptic. 1929: Hitchcock’s Blackmail was premiered in London. The first reel was shot before the studio was equipped for sound and has only sound effects and music: the dialogue begins in reel two. 1970: Edwin Land patented his Polaroid camera. 1972: Five burglars were caught in the Watergate office complex in Washington, election headquarters of the Democratic Party, sparking a major political scandal. 1982: Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as ‘God’s banker’ due to his close ties with the Vatican, was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London. 1991: In South Africa, the repeal of the Population Registration Act of 1950 officially ended apartheid. BIRTHDAYS: Ken Loach, TV and film director, 79; Barry Manilow, singer, 72; Ken Livingstone, former London mayor, 70; Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, Labour politician, 63; Greg Kinnear, actor, 52; Diane Modahl, former athlete, 49; Jason Patric, actor, 49; Venus Williams, tennis player, 35. QUOTES OF THE DAY: “I’ve been asked to do I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! but I wouldn’t inflict myself on the public. Whinging is something I ought to do quietly on my own, not in front of an audience” - TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh. “If you don’t marry him, I will” - What TV’s Judy Finnigan whispered to her daughter, Chloe Madeley, about Chloe’s boyfriend, England rugby star James Haskell. “I don’t have a character, I’m just me. I get dolled up for the Saturday night shows, but I don’t mind looking like a bag of spanners on DIY SOS” - TV’s Nick Knowles. “I wouldn’t take it on for all the eclairs in Paris” - Broadcaster Jeremy Paxman on the prospect of becoming a Tory candidate for Mayor of London. “A gentleman wielding an oven glove is, to most harassed multi-tasking women, a more invigorating and erotic sight than Mr Darcy emerging, shirt soaking, from a duckpond” - Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz.