ON SEPTEMBER 3rd . . .

IN 1939, at 11.15am, British families gathered grim-faced round their wireless sets to hear Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain say that as the Germans had refused to withdraw from Poland ‘consequently this country is at war with Germany’. IN 1956, after a spate of rowdy scenes involving Teddy Boys in cinemas across Britain, during and after showings of the film Rock Around The Clock, several towns banned the rock ’n’ roll smash. IN 1967, at 5am, Sweden began ‘Dagen H’ (Day H), the very unpopular change from driving on the left to driving on the right. In the first year accidents reduced but quickly returned to previous levels.