NOW & THEN
15 AUGUST
1461: The empire of Trebizond surrendered to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. The event is acknowledged by many historians as marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.
1548: Mary Queen of Scots arrived in Paris.
1620: The Mayflower set sail from Southampton, carrying 102 pilgrims.
1824: Freed American slaves established Liberia on the west coast of Africa.
1834: South Australia Act was passed by Britain’s parliament, allowing for establishment of colony there.
1842: The first regular British detective force, a division of the Metropolitan Police, was formed. It assumed the name Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
1867: The Representation of the People Act (known informally as the Second Reform Act), gave a proportion of the male working population of England and Wales a vote for the first time.
1892: The fourth and final government of William Gladstone was formed.
1914: The Panama Canal was formally opened with the passage of the SS Ancon, carrying a cargo of cement.
1914: Japan joined the side of the Allies.
1938: The liner Queen Mary set a record for the eastbound crossing of the Atlantic. Having set a record on the westward crossing, she completed the return journey two minutes short of four days.
1939: The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
1945: Victory over Japan Day: The Japanese surrendered and the end of the Second World War was announced in Japan.
1947: India gained independence from Great Britain, with Pandit Nehru its first prime minister, though the country remained a dominion until 1950.
1964: England’s Freddie Trueman became the first bowler to take 300 Test wickets when Colin Cowdrey took a slip catch to dismiss Australia’s Neil Hawke at The Oval.
1964: Ralph Boston of USA set a new world record of 25ft 3½in for the long jump.
1965: A concert by the Beatles drew 56,000 fans to New York’s Shea Stadium.
1969: The three-day Woodstock rock festival began at Max
Yasgur’s farm in New York state.
1989: Frederick de Clerk became president of South Africa.
1991: Paul Simon’s free concert in Central Park, New York attracted 750,000 music fans.
1993: Linford Christie won the 100 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart to complete a grand slam of Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles.
1994: The world’s most wanted terrorist, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez – known as Carlos the Jackal – was arrested in Sudan and extradited to France to stand trial.
2007: Wendy Alexander was unopposed as new head of the Labour Party in Scotland, after the former first minister, Jack Mcconnell, stood down following the party’s defeat in the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
BIRTHDAYS
Jim Dale MBE, singer and actor, 85; Richard Deacon CBE, sculptor, 71; Natasha Henstridge, actress, 46; Debra Messing, actress, 52; Alex Oxlade-chamberlain, footballer, 27; Sir Oliver Popplewell, former English judge and investigator of Hillsborough football disaster, 93; Sir Anthony (Tony) Robinson, actor, writer and political activist, 74; Anne, Princess Royal, 70; Robert “Jack” Russell MBE, English cricketer and artist, 57; Jimmy Webb, songwriter, 74; Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd baronet and twin sister Carol Thatcher, journalist, 67..
ANNIVERSARIES
Birth: Napoleon Bona1769 parte; 1771 Sir Walter Scott, novelist and poet; 1785 Thomas de Quincy, author; 18221856 James Keir Hardie, Lanarkshire-born founder of the Labour Party; 1875 Samuel Coleridge-taylor, English composer; 1888 TE Lawrence, soldier, Arabist and writer, known as “Lawrence of Arabia”; 1912 Dame Wendy Hiller DBE, actress.
Deaths: 1057 Macbeth, King of Scotland; 1369 Philippa of Hainault, queen consort of Edward III; 1621 John Barclay, Scottish writer, satirist and poet; 1967 Rene Magritte, Belgian painter.