NOW & THEN

0 Pedestrians pass beneath the River Thames by means of the Tower Subway, which opened on this day in 1870 ten children, died when Summerland, a family fun centre on the Isle of Man, caught fire.

1989: A pike weighing 35lb killed a dog by biting off three of its legs in a park lake in Tyne and Wear.

1989: NASA confirmed Voyager 2’s discovery of three more moons of Neptune.

1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait and took control after eight hours, with nearly 600 Kuwaitis reported killed. 1993: On the day that Britain ratified the Maastricht Treaty, one of its main planks, the Exchange Rate Mechanism, was effectively suspended.

2009: Catriona Matthew became the first Scottish woman to clinch a major title when she won the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes.