NOW & THEN
5 JULY
1295: Scotland and France formed an alliance - the start of the “Auld Alliance” – against England.
1530: John Armstrong of Gilnockie, a Border reiver, and 50 of his men, hanged for blackmail by James V at Carlanrig.
1596: The English fleet, under the command of the Earl of Essex, plundered Cadiz during the Anglo- Spanish War.
1610: John Guy set sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists, bound for Newfoundland.
1687: Isaac Newton’s PRINCIPIA, outlining the laws of motion and universal gravitation, was published by the Royal Society in England.
1695: Scottish Parliament established a General Post Office.
1817: Sovereigns were first issued as coins in Britain.
1832: Charles Darwin departed from Rio de Janeiro aboard HMS Beagle.
1841: Thomas Cook opened his first travel agency.
1847: The Edinburgh to London horse- drawn mail coach made its last run, as railways were taking over the deliveries.
1865: The Locomotives and Highway Act stipulated that the speed limit for road vehicles in Britain should be 4mph in the country, 2mph in towns.
1937: Spam luncheon meat was introduced to the market.
1940: A convoy of ships carrying £ 1,800 million in gold bullion left the River Clyde bound for Canada as part of Operation Fish, the biggest movement of wealth in history.
1940: Diplomatic relations between Britain and the Vichy government in France broke down.
1945: The Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee, won an unexpected landslide victory in the general election.
1946: Bikini swimwear, designed by Louis Reard, debuted, named after the Bikini atoll where an atomic bomb had been exploded four days earlier.
1948: Clement Attlee’s Labour government introduced the National Health Service.
1950: The Law of Return was passed, guaranteeing all Jews the right to live in Israel.
1954: The BBC broadcast its first television news bulletin.
1955: Western European Union’s first assembly opened in Strasbourg.
1973: The Isle of Man issued its first postage stamps.
1980: Bjorn Borg defeated John Mcenroe 1- 6, 7- 5, 6- 3, 6- 7, 8- 6 to win the Wimbledon men’s singles final.
1985: A newly independent Zimbabwe held its first general election, which returned Robert Mugabe’s government with an increased majority.
1991: Nelson Mandela named president of African National Congress.
1999: US president Bill Clinton imposed trade and economic sanctions against the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.
2003: The World Health Organisation announced that the killer disease SARS had been contained.
2009: The largest hoard of Anglo- Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, was found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire.
2012: South Korea announced plans to begin “scientific” whaling of Minke whales.