ON THIS DAY

NATIONAL DAY OF GREECE

■■ 1306: Robert Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone.

■■1655: Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, was discovered by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens.

■■ 1807: The Slave Trade Act became law. The act abolished the slave trade in Britain and Ireland.

■■1843: The Thames Tunnel, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened to pedestrians between Rotherhithe and Wapping in London.

■■ 1957: Six nations (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) signed the Treaty of Rome to create the European Economic Community.

■■1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono, above, began their week-long “bed-in” peace protest at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.

■■ 1975: Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was assassinated by his nephew Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed, who was later executed for the killing.

■■1980: Robert Runcie was enthroned as the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury.

■■ 1980: The British Olympic Association announced it would defy the government and send athletes to the Olympic Games in Moscow despite the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, which caused a United States-led boycott of the Games.

■■1989: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race crews both had women coxes for the first time. Oxford won by two-and-a-half lengths.

■■ 1992: Pakistan beat England by 22 runs to win the ICC Cricket World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

■■1996: The EU’s Veterinarian Committee banned the export of British beef and its by-products due to fears over mad cow disease.

■■ ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The eight pallbearers who carried the Queen’s coffin were awarded the silver Royal Victorian Medal in recognition of the important role they played at her funeral.

■■BIRTHDAYS: Richard O’Brien, actor/ writer (Rocky Horror Show), 82; Paul Michael Glaser, actor, 81; Sir Elton John, singer-songwriter, 77; Sarah Jessica Parker, actress, 59; Cathy Dennis, singer-songwriter, 55; Melanie Blatt, singer, 49; Lee Pace, actor, 45.

■■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2021 was 65.7%