ON THIS DAY

1843: The News of the World was first published.

1868: The Midland Railway opened St Pancras station in London.

1880: The Edison Lamp Works began operations in New Jersey to manufacture the first electric light bulbs.

1890: Master of the monologue Stanley Holloway was born in London.

1908: Henry Ford, above, introduced the model T car at a price of 850. Within 18 years, production techniques reduced that to $ 300. He is rumoured to have told customers, “You can have any colour you want as long as it’s black”.

1918: Arab forces under Emir Faisal, and including British officer TE Lawrence, captured Damascus from the Turks.

1969: Concorde 001 broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight in France.

2005: Three bomb attacks in two tourist areas on the Indonesian resort island of Bali killed at least 26 people – among them foreign nationals.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A helicopter was brought in to help people trapped in houses on the Isle of Man, after a river burst its banks causing “horrendous conditions”.