ON THIS DAY
1642: Montreal in Canada was founded.
1804: Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of France.
1830: Edwin Budding of Gloucestershire signed an agreement for the manufacture of his invention, the lawnmower. The first customer was Regent’s Park Zoo. 1872: Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, nuclear disarmer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in Trelleck, Monmouthshire.
1882: The present Eddystone Lighthouse, the fourth in existence, was opened.
1909: Tennis star Fred Perry, three times Wimbledon men’s singles champion, was born.
1954: The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.
1961: The first London production of The Sound Of Music opened.
1980: Mount St Helens volcano in the American state of Washington erupted, killing 100 people. A cloud of ash 2,500 miles long and 1,000 miles wide was created.
1990: A treaty was signed in Bonn introducing economic and monetary union between East and West Germany.
BIRTHDAYS: Miriam Margolyes, actress, 77; Nobby Stiles, former footballer, 76; Rick Wakeman, rock musician, 69; Chow Yun-Fat, actor, 63; Toyah Willcox, singer/actress, 60; Holly Aird, actress, 49; Martika, singer and actress, 49; Tina Fey, actress/comedian/writer, 48; Danny Mills, former footballer, 41.