On this day

1889: Poet Robert Browning died – his tomb is in Westminster Abbey.

1901: The first transatlantic wireless message was sent 1,800 miles from Cornwall to St John’s, Newfoundland, where it was received by Marconi.

1911: Delhi replaced Calcutta as the capital of India and King George V and Queen Mary attended the celebration.

1913: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre in Paris, was found in a bedroom of a small hotel in Florence.

1915: The German Junkers J1, the first all-metal aeroplane, was test flown at Dessau.

1925: The world’s first motel opened in California – starting the trend for overnight stops for motorists in individual accommodation.

1955: The hovercraft was patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell.

1955: Bill Haley and the Comets recorded See You Later, Alligator at Decca Recording Studios, New York.

1963: Kenya became independent.

1988: A train crash at Clapham Junction killed 35 people and injured more than 100.

2017: Harry Potter author JK Rowling (pictured below) spoke of her pride at being made a Companion of Honour at Buckingham Palace.