ON THIS DAY
1660: England’s Long Parliament was dissolved after sitting for 20 years. 1802: The United States Military Academy at West Point was established. 1872: The first English FA Cup Final took place. Wanderers, a team formed by university and ex-public school players, beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at The Oval in London. 1888: The first recorded sale of a manufactured motor car was to Emile Roger of Paris, who bought a petrol-driven Benz. 1900: Sir Arthur Evans uncovered the ancient city of Knossos, Crete. 1926: The first liquid-fuelled rocket was demonstrated in the USA, by Dr Robert H Goddard. 1935: Hitler renounced the Versailles Treaty and reintroduced conscription. 1947: Almost 600,000 acres of farming land were submerged by floodwater on the Fens as the River Ouse overflowed and a million sheep died. Storm damage came to more than £20 million. 1971: Boxer Henry Cooper announced his retirement after losing his title to Joe Bugner. 1980: Alan Minter out-pointed Vito Antuofermo of the US to win boxing’s world middleweight title. 1988: A Loyalist gunman opened fire indiscriminately and hurled grenades into a crowd of mourners at an IRA funeral for three people killed by the SAS in Gibraltar 10 days before. 1998: Beef exports from Northern Ireland were to resume after a three-year ban stemming from the BSE crisis. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: George Osborne unveiled a new sugary drinks tax, but stopped short of raising fuel duty as he blamed the “dangerous” global economic situation for derailing his fiscal plans. BIRTHDAYS: Jerry Lewis, actor comedian, 91; Bernardo Bertolucci, film director, 77; Isabelle Huppert, actress, 64; Jimmy Nail, actor/singer, 63; Matthew Bannister, broadcaster and former Radio 1 controller, 60; Jenny Eclair, comedienne, 57; Theo Walcott, footballer, 28.