ON THIS DAY
1530: Ivan IV (the Terrible) was born. He was crowned first Tsar of Russia in 1547 and expanded the Russian state with campaigns against the Tartars. He earned his description from his oppression, in which more than 3,000 were executed.
1900: Writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, playing for MCC in his first first-class match, bowled out the great WG Grace, batting for London County. 1919: The world’s first scheduled air flights began, between London and Paris.
1928: Anfield’s famous Kop terracing was opened. It was named after the Battle of Spion Kop in the Boer War.
1960: The 17th Olympic Games opened in Rome, at which Briton Anita Lonsbrough won gold in the 200m breaststroke. The lightheavyweight boxing gold medal was won by an American youth named Cassius Clay.
1978: The Shroud of Turin went on show for the first time on the high altar at St John’s Cathedral in Turin.
2008: GB’s triumphant Olympians flew home from Beijing with 19 golds and the nation’s best medal haul for 100 years.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A Swiss team working to take a solar-powered plane to the edge of space said it had performed the first jump and freefall from an electric aircraft.