NOW & THEN
7 JULY
1534: The first known exchange between Europeans and natives in the European colonisation of the Americas took place at the Gulf of St Lawrence, New Brunswick.
1550: Chocolate, native to Mexico, central and South America, was introduced to Europe.
1548: The Treaty of Haddington, between Scotland and France, confirmed the betrothal of Mary, Queen of Scots and Dauphin of France.
1559: John Knox became the first Protestant minister appointed in Edinburgh.
1575: The Raid of the Redeswire, skirmish between Scottish and English borderers.
1753: The British Museum was founded by an Act of Parliament.
1814: Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley was published.
1850: British explorer Edward Eyre, the first man to complete the 2000-mile coast-tocoast journey across Australia, reached Albany.
1890: The first electric chair execution took place in New York.
1891: The first travellers cheques were issued by American Express.
1913: House of Commons passed Irish Home Rule Bill.
1925: Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall was destroyed by fire.
1929: The Vatican became a sovereign state.
1944: RAF Bomber Command dropped 2,572 tons of bombs on Caen, France.
1950: Farnborough staged its first air show.
1967: Civil war in Biafra began.
1974: New Zealand imposed a blanket ban on sports teams representing South Africa.
1976: David Steel was elected leader of the Liberal Party.1976: Viking 2 went into orbit around Mars.
1978: The Solomon Islands gained full independence within the Commonwealth, having been a British protectorate since 1899.
1981: Solar Challenger, piloted by Steve Ptacek, became the first solar-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel.
1990: Martina Navratilova, 33, won a record ninth Wimbledon women’s singles title, beating Zina Garrison.
1994: Unions said they would fight the government decision to close Rosyth naval base with the loss of 1,800 jobs.
2005: Fifty-six people died and more than 700 were injured when four British suicide bombers attacked three London Tube trains and a bus in the rush hour.
2007: Live Earth, a series of charity concerts to promote environmental awareness, took place in various cities around the world.
2008: The General Synod of the Church of England voted in favour of the consecration of women bishops.
2011: Britain’s biggest selling newspaper, the News of the World, announced it would close due to the ongoing damaging allegations against it relating to the phone-hacking scandal.
2013: Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to win the men's singles final at Wimbledon and become the first British male champion for 77 years.
BIRTHDAYS
Sir Ringo Starr MBE (born Richard Starkey), Beatles drummer, 81; Jeremy Guscott, rugby player and broadcaster, 56; Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, Conservative Party leader 2003-5, 80; Bill Oddie OBE, actor and ornithologist, 80; Jeremy Kyle, TV presenter, 56; Jack Whitehall, English comedian and actor, 33; Cassidy, American rapper, 39; Shelley Duvall, American actress (Popeye, The Shining), 72; David Mccullough, American author and historian (1776, The Wright Brothers), 88; Michelle Kwan, American five-time world champion figure skater, 41.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1860 Gustav Mahler, composer; 1887 Marc Chagall, painter and designer1921 Ezzard Charles, world heavyweight boxing champion; 1930 William David Mungo James Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield. Deaths: 1816 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright; 1890 Henri Nestlé, founder of Nestlé; 1899 George Cukor, US film director; 1919 Jon Pertwee, actor; 1930 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes; 1973 Veronica Lake, actress; 1984 Flora Robson, actress; 2006 Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd founder