DATELINE

September 24

1776: The oldest of the classic horse races, the St Leger, was first run at Doncaster.

1848: Branwell Brontë, brother of the Brontë sisters, died. He was the inspiration for the violent drunk, Hindley Earnshaw, in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights ( 1847).

1852: The first hydrogen- filled airship, powered by a 3hp steam engine built by Henri Giffard, made its maiden flight at Versailles, France. 1853: The Northern Daily Times became the first provincial newspaper in England.

1896: American writer F Scott Fitzgerald was born. He became an alcoholic in his early 20s and died aged 44 after having two heart attacks. He wrote the definitive 1920s novel The Great Gatsby in 1925. 1953: The Robe, the first film made in CinemaScope, was premiered. 1975: Everest was climbed by the south- west face for the first time by Dougal Haston and Doug Scott.