ON THIS DAY
NATIONAL DAY OF CANADA 1804: George Sand (Amandine Aurore Lucie Dudevant), French romantic novelist who adopted her masculine pseudonym for the novel Indiana, was born. She is remembered for her long list of lovers, including Chopin. 1837: Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths came into effect in England and Wales. 1858: Charles Darwin presented his theory on evolution to the Linnean Society in London. 1868: The Dominion of Canada was established by the British North American Act. It comprised four million people and four provinces – Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 1872: Louis Bleriot, aviation pioneer, was born in Cambrai, France. He was the first person to come to Britain without arriving by sea. 1912: The British Copyright Act came into force, protecting an author’s works for 50 years after their death. 1916: First day of the battle of the Somme in the First World War. In less than 24 hours there were 60,000 British casualties. 1929: The cartoon character Popeye the Sailor was created by Elzie Segar in the USA. 1937: The 999 emergency service came into operation in Britain. 1969: Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales by the Queen at Caernarvon Castle. 1997: Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese authorities – ending more than 150 years of British control. 2007: A ban on smoking in public places came into effect across England, spelling an end to drinkers having a cigarette in pubs, bars and clubs. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Senior royals and politicians led tributes to the dead of the Battle of the Somme on the 100th anniversary of the bloodiest day in British military history. BIRTHDAYS: Leslie Caron, actress, 86; Debbie Harry, rock singer, 72; Trevor Eve, actor, 66; Dan Aykroyd, actor, 65; Pamela Anderson, model and actress, 50; Missy Elliott, singer/ rapper, 46; Ruud Van Nistelrooy, former footballer, 41; Liv Tyler, actress, 40.