IT HAPPENED TODAY
1642:
Montreal in Canada was founded.
1804:
Napoleon Bonaparte (above) was proclaimed Emperor of France.
1830:
Edwin Budding of Gloucestershire signed an agreement for the manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower. The first customer was Regent’s Park Zoo.
1872:
Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, nuclear disarmer and Nobel Prize for literature winner, was born in Trelleck, Monmouthshire.
1882:
The present Eddystone Lighthouse, the fourth in existence, was opened.
1909:
Fred Perry (below), three times Wimbledon men’s singles champion, was born.
The European Convention on Human Rights came into force.
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.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Experts revealed that wounds found on three great white shark carcasses which washed up on South African beaches indicated that the formidable ocean predator was itself hunted by killer whales.
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 (below), actress/comedian/writer, 48; Danny Mills, former footballer, 41.