ON THIS DAY

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY

Patron saint of bee-keepers, also of leatherworkers (because Bartholomew, one of the 12 Apostles, is reported to have died by being flayed alive).

79AD:

Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 2,000 people. The thick layer of ash and lava which buried Pompeii also preserved the city.

1572:

The St Bartholomew’s Day massacre took place in Paris when thousands of French Huguenots were killed by order of the Catholic French court.

1724:

George Stubbs, portrait and animal painter (especially horses), was born in Liverpool.

1814:

British troops under General Ross invaded Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol Building. Both were rebuilt and enlarged.

1875:

Matthew Webb, British merchant navy captain, became the first person to swim the English Channel, doing the breaststroke from Dover to Cap Gris-Nez in 21 hours, 45 minutes.

1891:

1916:

1965:

The 450,000-year-old body of a man was found in a Hungarian limestone quarry.

2006:

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the term “planet” such that Pluto was then considered a dwarf planet.

2008:

Gordon Brown promised that the London Games would be “the best Olympics Ever” as the official handover to Mayor Boris Johnson took place in Beijing.

2014:

The motion picture camera was patented by Thomas Edison. Eight people died when Zeppelins raided the outskirts of London. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Napa, California, in the northern San Francisco Bay area, it was the largest earthquake to strike northern California since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.