NOW & THEN
24 JUNE
1314: King Robert the Bruce inflicted a crushing defeat on Edward II of England at the Battle of Bannockburn.
1497: John Cabot, explorer and navigator, landed at Cape Breton Island.
1509: The coronation of King Henry VIII took place.
1717: The first Freemason Lodge in England was inaugurated, in London.
1722: Queen Anne ordered French people in Nova Scotia to take oath of allegiance to her government within one year or leave.
1840: The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway between Cheltenham and Bromsgrove was opened, a stretch that includes the Lickey incline, severest gradient on a British main line.
1859: Henri Dunant, a Swiss businessman travelling through Italy, saw the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino and was inspired to found the International Red Cross.
1887: The St John Ambulance Brigade was established by bringing under central control several local corps which had been formed by people qualified in first aid under the St John Ambulance Association (formed ten years earlier).
1917: Russian Black Sea fleet mutinied at Sebastopol.
1947: A series of flying saucer stories started when a pilot reported seeing nine discshaped objects over Mount Rainier, Washington.
1948: Russia began blockade of Berlin, stopping all land traffic between the capital and the west.
1952: US Air Force bombed hydro-electric plants in North Korea.
1953: The Honours of Scotland, Crown, Sword of State, and Sceptre, were carried in procession before the Queen on her first state visit to Scotland after her accession.
1970: Japanese students clashed with police in Tokyo in a huge demonstration against continuing United States-japan security pact.
1971: The first tube of the second Mersey road tunnel, linking Liverpool to Birkenhead, was opened.
1990: Irene Templeton and Kathleen Young became the first women to be ordained Anglican priests, at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
1995: South Africa won the
Rugby Union World Cup, beating New Zealand 15-12 in extra time.
2002: The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania killed 281, the worst train accident in African history.
2004: In New York state, capital punishment was declared unconstitutional.
2007: Gordon Brown vowed to deliver “power to the people” when he was confirmed as Labour Party leader at a party conference in Manchester, three days before taking over from Tony Blair as prime minister.
2010: John Isner of the United States defeated Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history.
2016: David Cameron announced that he would step down as Prime Minister, following the referendum in which a majority of the voting public elected to leave European Union.
BIRTHDAYS
Dame Elish Angiolini DBE, Glasgow-born former Lord Advocate 2006-11, 61; Jeff Beck, rock guitarist and composer, 77; Colin Blunstone, British singer, 76; Lucinda Russell OBE, Edinburghborn racehorse trainer, 55; Stuart Broad MBE, English cricketer, 35; Anita Desai, Indian novelist, 84; Mick Fleetwood, British rock drummer (Fleetwood Mac), 74; Professor Betty Jackson CBE, British fashion designer, 72; Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer, 34; Curt Smith, pop musician (Tears For Fears), 60; Betty Stöve, Dutch tennis player, 76; Levi Roots, British-jamaican reggae singer and celebrity chef, 63
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1850 Earl Kitchener, army commander, administrator and statesman; 1895 Jack Dempsey, world heavyweight boxing champion 1919-26; 1912 Brian Johnston, broadcaster; 1912 Mary Wesley, novelist; 1915 Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer; 1930 Claude Chabrol, French film director; 1947 Clarissa Dickson Wright, barrister, cook and broadcaster.
Deaths: 1908 Grover Cleveland, United States Democrat president; 1964 Stuart Davis, abstract artist; 1985 Valentine Dyall, actor; 2014 Eli Wallach, actor.