ON THIS DAY
1504:
Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born. He had an extremely long nose and was extremely inquisitive, hence the expression “Nosey Parker”.
The first Poet Laureate, Ben Jonson, died in poverty.
The first press telegram in Britain was sent to
The Times, announcing the birth of Prince Alfred to Queen Victoria.
“Worth a guinea a box” appeared on Beecham’s Powders packets – the first known advertising slogan.
Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist who discovered penicillin, was born.
1637: 1844: 1859: 1881: 1889:
The Savoy Hotel in London opened.
Murderer Walter Kemmler was the first man to die in the electric chair, at Auburn Prison, New York.
Bix Beiderbecke, legendary jazz trumpeter, died aged 28 from a combination of pneumonia and alcoholism.
The first film festival was held in the Hotel Excelsior, Venice.
The first atomic bomb was dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan, from a B29 bomber Enola Gay.
Jamaica gained independence after being a British colony for more than 300 years.
A march in protest of the
1890: 1931: 1932: 1945: 1962: 2011:
death of Mark Duggan in Tottenham, sparked a wave of rioting throughout the country over the following few days.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Tiny flecks of gold could be used in the fight against cancer, new research suggested.
BIRTHDAYS:
Sir Chris Bonington, mountaineer, 84; Barbara Windsor, actress, 81; Ron Davies, Welsh politician, 72; Oliver Tobias, actor, 71; Reece Dinsdale, actor, 59; Michelle Yeoh, actress, 56; Geri Halliwell, singer-songwriter/ actress, 46; Robin van Persie, footballer, 35.