On this DAY

1827: Joseph Lister, the surgeon who introduced antiseptics, was born in London.

1874: Johann Sebastian Strauss’s opera Die Fledermaus was first performed, in Vienna.

1900: Spencer Tracy, American actor who won Oscars two years in succession (1937 and 1938), was born.

1902:

A stand at Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow collapsed during a Scotland v England match, killing 26 people and injuring more than 500. 1908: Herbert von Karajan, one of the most prominent conductors of the post-war period, was born in Salzburg.

1908: American actress Bette Davis was born in Massachusetts.

1910: Kissing was banned on the French railways because it could cause delays.

1955: Sir Winston Churchill, aged 80, resigned as Prime Minister, and the following day Anthony Eden took office.

1982: A British Task Force set out to recover the Falklands from their Argentine occupiers.

1994: Kurt Cobain, the iconic singer of US grunge band Nirvana, committed suicide – his body was not discovered until three days later. 2008: Hollywood legend Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing Ben-Hur, died at the age of 84.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide exceeded one million.