ON THIS DAY
1718:
William Penn, founder of The Quakers, died in Pennsylvania.
Novelist Emily Bronte, novelist, was born. One of the three famous sisters, she wrote her single masterpiece Wuthering Heights under the name of Ellis Bell in 1846.
Henry Ford, father of the mass-produced car, was born in Dearborn, Michigan. He built his first car in his spare time in a shed behind his house in Detroit.
London Underground’s Central Line was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) with a flat rate of tuppence for all destinations.
Uruguay won football’s first World Cup.
Ariel, a life of Shelley by Andre Maurois, was the first Penguin paperback book to be published, price sixpence.
Third Man Kim Philby turned up in Moscow after escaping arrest in Britain for spying.
England beat West Germany 4-2 in extra time - with a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst - to win the World Cup.
1818: 1863: 1900: 1930: 1935: 1963: 1966: 1973:
The Thalidomide Case, taken up by the Sunday Times on behalf of the victims, ended after 11 years, with compensation of £20m.
Ian Gow, Conservative MP for Eastbourne, was murdered by an IRA bomb at his home in the Sussex village of Hankham.
The Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips married England rugby star Mike Tindall in a simple private ceremony.
1990: 2011: ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Thousands more people fled their homes after wildfires surged near a small lake town in northern California, as fire crews across the state fought flames that had claimed the lives of firefighters and civilians.
BIRTHDAYS:
Buddy Guy, blues guitarist, 83; Peter Bogdanovich, film director, 80; Sir Clive Sinclair, inventor, 79; Paul Anka, singer, 78; Frances de la Tour, actress, 75; Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and former governor of California, 72; Jean Reno, actor, 71; Harriet Harman, MP, 69; Kate Bush, singer, 61; Daley Thompson, former athlete, 61; Laurence Fishburne, actor, 58; Lisa Kudrow, actress, 56; Sean Moore, rock drummer (Manic Street Preachers), 51; Jason Robinson, former rugby player, 45.