NOW & THEN
14 JULY
1789: The Bastille, a former state prison in Paris, was stormed by the citizens of Paris and razed – the start of the French Revolution.
1853: New Zealand held its first general election.
1853: The first World’s Fair opened at the Crystal Palace in New York.
1865: Edward Whymper, Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz and two Swiss guides, Peter Taugwalder father and son, became the first climbers to reach the summit of Matterhorn. Douglas, Hudson, Hadow and Croz were killed on the descent when Hadow slipped and pulled the other three with him down the north face.
1867: Alfred Nobel first demonstrated the use of dynamite, at Merstham Quarry, Redhill, Surrey.
1868: Alvin J Fellows patented the tape measure.
1902: The campanile in St Mark’s Square, Venice, collapsed. Remarkably, nobody was killed.
1911: Forty-six inches of rain fell in Baguio, Philippines.
1927: The Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle was formally opened.
1930: BBC transmitted the first television play, A Man with a Flower in his Mouth.
1940: The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1946: Dr Benjamin Spock’s baby bible, Common Sense Book of Baby And Child Care, was published, and became a 30-year best seller. Twenty-eight years later he said he no longer supported his own theories.
1962: The borehole for the Mont Blanc tunnel was completed.
1967: United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution asking Israel to halt action it was taking to alter Jerusalem after the Six-day War.
1967: Surveyor 4 lunar lander was launched. It exploded moments before landing on its return to earth.
1969: A 67-year-old Catholic civilian, Francis Mccloskey, died after being struck on the head by the baton of an RUC policeman during street disturbances in Dungiven, county Derry. It is believed to have been the first death of “The Troubles”.
1990: The trade and industry secretary, Nicholas Ridley, resigned after publication of interview in which he accused
Germany of trying to take over Europe and called French obedient “poodles” to the Germans.
1994: It was announced Scotland would lose about 1,500 defence jobs out of 18,700 axed across the UK.
2000: A solar flare caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth.
2002: French president Jacques Chirac escaped an assassination bid at Bastille Day celebrations.
2010: A schoolboy reeled in what was thought to be the biggest goldfish ever found in Britain – a 5lb, 1ft 6in monster from a lake in Poole, Dorset. He threw it back.
2014: The Church of England voted in favour of allowing women to become bishops.
2014: The death toll from the west African Ebola outbreak reached 500.
BIRTHDAYS
Julia Somerville OBE, Lady Dixon, television presenter and newsreader, 74; Arthur Desmond Colquhoun Gore, 9th Earl of Arran, 83; John Colquhoun, Scottish footballer and writer, 58; Sue Lawley OBE, television presenter, 75; David Mitchell, comedian and actor, 76; Jane Lynch, actress, 61; Matthew Fox, actor, 55; Howard Webb MBE, football referee, 50; Teddy Afro, Ethiopian singer, 45; Scott Rudin, film producer, 63; Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, 44; Anya Hindmarch CBE, handbag designer, 53; Dan Smith, rock singer, 35; George Smith, Australian rugby union player, 41.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1910 US William Hanna, animator; 1911 Terry-thomas, British comedian; 1912 Woody Guthrie, US folk singer; 1913 Gerald Ford, 38th US president, 1974-77; 1918 Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film director; 1923 Dale Robertson, US actor; 1928 Lord Rees-mogg, editor, The Times 1967-81.
Deaths: 1881 Billy the Kid, US outlaw; 1925 Pancho Villa, Filipino world champion boxer; 1973 Clarence White, guitarist (The Byrds);1998 Richard Mcdonald, fast food pioneer (Mcdonald’s restaurants).