On this day

622: The traditional starting day of the Islamic Era, when a persecuted Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina.

1723: Sir Joshua Reynolds, English portrait painter who was elected first president of the Royal Academy in 1768, was born.

1821: Mary Baker Eddy, US religious leader who founded the Christian Science movement, was born.

1918: The last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, pictured above right, was murdered by the Bolsheviks along with his family in the cellar of a house in Ekaterinburg.

1935: The world’s first parking meters went into service in Oklahoma, devised by newspaper editor Carlton Magee. 1945: The first atomic bomb was detonated at an airbase in the desert of New Mexico.

1953: Hilaire Belloc, writer of many talents, died. He had written his own epitaph, which read: “When I am dead, I hope it may be said, his sins were scarlet but his books were read.”

1965: The seven-mile Mont Blanc road tunnel was opened, linking France with Italy.

1970: The first state of emergency in Britain since 1926 was called by prime minister Edward Heath, pictured above left, as dockers went on strike.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A jury concluded that the London Bridge terrorists were lawfully shot dead by police after they “ignored clear warning shouts”.