ON THIS DAY
AD 138: Hadrian, Roman Emperor who planned the great wall across northern Britain, died. 1099: Spanish warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar – El Cid – died in Valencia, apparently of grief after defeat by the Moors. 1460: The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. 1553: Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England at the age of 16 – she lasted only nine days before being arrested and executed. 1834: American artist James McNeill Whistler, who made Chelsea his adopted home, was born in Massachusetts. 1871: Author Marcel Proust – A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (Remembrance Of Things Past) – was born in Paris. 1900: The Paris Metro opened. 1954: Gordon Richards rode his last mount – at Sandown – the 21,834th of his nearly 34-year-long career. 1958: The first parking meters in Britain were installed in London’s Mayfair. 1962: Telstar I, the world’s first television telecommunications satellite, was launched in America. 2011: The News of the World bade farewell to its readers after 168 years with the simple words “Thank you & goodbye”. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Friends star Matt LeBlanc is the “captain” that Top Gear needs going forward, Chris Evans insisted as he admitted his tenure at the wheel “was not meant to be”. BIRTHDAYS: Gavin Strang, former MP, 74; Virginia Wade, former tennis player, 72; Sunil Gavaskar, former cricketer, 68; Neil Tennant, singer (Pet Shop Boys), 63; Gina Bellman, actress, 51; John Simm, actor, 47; Jason Orange, former Take That singer, 47; Jessica Simpson, singer, 37.