ON THIS DAY JANUARY 7

1540 Henry VIII of England marries his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The marriage will last just six months.

1649 The English Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial for treason.

1681 The first recorded boxing match, between the Duke of Albemarle’s butler and the duke’s butcher, takes place.

1714 The typewriter is patented by Englishman Henry Mill (but built years later).

1790 French Revolution: A major riot breaks out in Versailles, as people demand lower bread prices.

1890 African American inventor William Purvis receives a patent for the fountain pen.

1912 Alfred Wegener, geophysicist and meteorologist, presents his controversial theory of continental drift in Frankfurt.

1915 Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm approves the strategic bombing of Britain, but forbids the bombing of London, fearing his relatives in the royal family might be killed.

1937 The US bans the shipment of arms to war-torn Spain.

1941 US President Franklin D Roosevelt asks Congress to support the Lend-lease Bill to help supply the Allies.

1945 Boeing B-29 bombers pound Tokyo and Nanking in bombing raids.

1946 Ho Chi Minh wins the Vietnamese elections.

1958 Moscow announces a reduction in its armed forces by 300 000 personnel.

1967 More than 16 000 US and 14 000 Vietnamese troops start their biggest attack on the Iron Triangle, north-west of Saigon.

1987 Astronomers report sighting a new galaxy, 12 billion light years away.

1989 Japan’s wartime emperor, Hirohito, dies after a long illness, having ruled for 62 years. He is succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Akihito.

1991 World-class middle distance runner Mokgadi Caster Semenya is born in Polokwane.

1999 The first presidential impeachment trial in 130 years begins as members of the US Senate are sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist to decide whether President Bill Clinton should be removed from office. Clinton is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, relating to his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2018 It snows in the Sahara desert – 15 inches is reported in north-west Algeria.

2019 Amazon overtakes Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable listed company, worth $797 billion. | THE HISTORIAN