ON THIS DAY
English forces under The Black Prince defeat the French at the Battle of Poitiers and capture the French king during the Hundred Years War.
The French take possession of Mauritius and rename it l’Ile de France (The Island of France).
One of first known modern beauty contests is held in Spa, Belgium.
The Turkish frigate Ertogrul burns off Japan, with the loss of 540 ratings.
New Zealand becomes the first country to grant all women – including indigenous Maori – the vote, decades before other countries do.
Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, on a virtual suicide mission, allows himself to be caught and sent to the Auschwitz death camp to smuggle out information about the Holocaust. Three years later he makes a daring escape, rejoins the Polish Home Army and takes part in the Warsaw Uprising.
Lord Haw Haw is sentenced to death for high treason almost six years to the day after his first Nazi propaganda broadcast.
Fawlty Towers, starring John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs, premières on BBC2 in the UK.
Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board.
A bomb destroys UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing 171 people.
Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy from 3 300BC, is discovered by German tourists in the Italian alps.
Pretoria schoolboy sprinter Oscar Pistorius falls coming out of the start of his 200m heat for leg amputees, then shows mind-blowing speed and tenacity to surge from last to victory in a world record 23.42sec for double-amputees at the Athens Paralympic Games.
Swimmer Natalie du Toit, South Africa’s star performer at the Athens Paralympics, wins her second gold medal with a record victory in the 100m freestyle.
The Deepwater Horizon well is sealed after an 87-day spill that leaked more than 200 million gallons of oil.
Japan’s Brave Blossoms beat the Springboks in the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history.
The Puebla earthquake strikes Mexico, causing 370 deaths and over 6 000 injuries, as well as extensive damage. | The Historian