ON DAY THIS
1835: Mark Twain, author of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, was born in Missouri.
1874: Sir Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace.
1900: Oscar Wilde, Irish-born playwright, died in Paris aged 46.
1936: The Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire.
1955: The first floodlit football match at Wembley was played, between England and Spain.
1957: The great Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli died.
1968: The Trades Description Act came into force.
2009: The European Organisation for Nuclear Research announced that the Large Hadron Collider set a new world record for energy.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Queen sent the new republic of Barbados her “warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future” as it celebrated its “momentous day”.