ON THIS DAY
1883: Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, French designer, was born. She revolutionised women’s fashions during the 1920s and also manufactured the famous Chanel No 5 perfume.
1897: The London Electric Cab Co began operating the first taxi-cab in London’s West End and City. The black and yellow electric cars went at 9mph. They had a range of just up to 30 miles, but proved uneconomical and were withdrawn in 1900.
1942: Canadian and British Commandos raided the French port of Dieppe. 1953: England, under captain Len Hutton, won the Ashes for the first time since the controversial bodyline tour of 1932-33.
1977: Comic Groucho Marx died. Years earlier Irving Berlin had written the perfect epitaph for him: “The world would not be in such a snarl, If Marx had been Groucho instead of Karl.”
1991: Soviet hardliners toppled President Gorbachev in a dramatic coup. The plotters put tanks on the streets of Moscow, banned demonstrations and imposed a state of emergency. 2008: Cyclist Chris Hoy won his third gold medal of the Beijing Games – in the men’s sprint, making him Britain’s most successful Olympian at a single Olympics for 100 years.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Thousands of people in California were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area as 30 wildfires blazed across the US state.