DATELINE

July 11

1274: Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland who defeated the English at Bannockburn, was born.

1690: William of Orange defeated the deposed Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland.

1754: Shakespearean censor Thomas Bowdler was born. He cut lumps wholesale – and from this came the verb “to bowdlerise”.

1776: Explorer Captain James Cook set sail from Plymouth on his third voyage of discovery,

1937: George Gershwin, composer of Rhapsody In Blue and Porgy And Bess, died aged 38 of a brain tumour. 1949: The first film made specially for British television, A Dinner Date With Death, was shot.

1950: Puppets Andy Pandy, Teddy and Looby Loo first appeared on BBC Television.

1989: Theatre lights were dimmed around Britain after Lord Olivier, died in his sleep, aged 82.