ON THIS DAY
1644: Sir Thomas Fairfax was victorious at the Battle of Selby in the English Civil War.
1689: William III and Mary II were crowned joint monarchs.
1713: Gibraltar and Newfoundland were ceded to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht.
1814: Napoleon was forced to abdicate - but allowed to retain his title of Emperor - and banished to the island of Elba.
1914: George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion opened in London with Mrs Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle and Sir Herbert Tree as Professor Higgins.
1929: Popeye made his first appearance as a supporting character in a cartoon strip in Hearst’s New York newspapers. 1951: President Truman relieved war hero General Douglas MacArthur of his command in the Far East in a row over Korea.
1961: Bob Dylan made his first public appearance in Greenwich Village, New York.
1983: Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi won eight Oscars.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A high-volume crustacean that produces a sound louder than rock concerts was named after the band Pink Floyd. BIRTHDAYS: Joel Grey, actor, 86; Jill Gascoine, actress, 81; Peter Riegert, actor, 71; Jeremy Clarkson, TV motoring expert, 58; Lisa Stansfield, singer, 52; Cerys Matthews, singer, 49; Jennifer Esposito, actress, 45; Ian Bell, cricketer, 36; Joss Stone, singer, 31.