ON THIS DAY

1554: Mary I married Philip II of Spain. 1587: Christianity was banned in Japan. 1848: Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl, prime minister from 1902-05, was born at Whittingehame House, East Lothian. He was foreign secretary from 191619 when he made his famous Balfour Declaration, promising the Zionists a homeland in Palestine. 1894: Walter Brennan, US actor who played character parts in more than 100 films and winner of three Oscars for best supporting actor, was born. 1907: Sir Robert Baden-Powell’s experimental camp, to test the feasibility of scouting, began on Brownsea Island, near Poole. Four days later, the Boy Scouts organisation was created. 1909: Louis Bleriot became the first man to fly across the Channel, flying his three-cylinder monoplane from near Calais to Northfall Meadow near Dover Castle. 1948: Bread rationing ended in Britain. 1959: The hovercraft, the SRN 1 as it was called, made its first English Channel crossing - from Dover to Calais - in a little over two hours. 1965: Former champion British boxer and nightclub owner Freddie Mills was found shot dead in his car in Soho. 1978: The first test-tube baby was born in Oldham General Hospital. It was a girl, and she was named Louise Joy Brown. 1989: Just 3.6 miles short of Dover, woman pilot Gloria Pullan had to ditch Louis Bleriot’s historic plane in the Channel while attempting to recreate his crossing in 1909. BIRTHDAYS: Annie Ross, singer/actress, 86; Sally Beauman, writer, 72; Nicole Farhi, fashion designer, 70; Sheena McDonald, broadcaster, 62; Iman, model and wife of David Bowie, 61; Matt LeBlanc, actor, 49; Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, 46; Kevin Phillips, former footballer, 43. QUOTES OF THE DAY “This rot needs to be uprooted, and right now” – The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans, accusing President Robert Mugabe of corruption. “I want to guarantee the rights of those EU citizens living in the UK, I expect to be able to do so, and the only situation in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not being protected” – Prime Minister Theresa May after talks with French President Francois Hollande. “The sooner you go the better” – Mr Hollande told Mrs May about Brexit. “Donald Trump’s rhetoric makes even me wince a little bit” – Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage. “What kind of slaughter was that? Theresa May proved how out of his depth he is” - Singer Mick Hucknall on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.