ON THIS DAY
1471:
The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet, in the War of the Roses.
1759:
George Frideric Handel, German composer, died in London, where most of his music-making had been done.
1828:
Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language.
1865:
Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, was shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, dying the next day.
1894:
Thomas Edison publicly demonstrated his “kinetoscope” moving picture machine in New York.
1917:
Dr Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof, Polish physician who invented the international language Esperanto, died.
1929:
The Monaco Grand Prix was first run – 78 laps round the narrow streets and harbour of Monte Carlo.
1931: The Ministry of Transport issued the first Highway Code. 1983: The first cordless telephone, capable of operating up to 600ft from base, was introduced. 2003:
The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
A Spitfire pilot was posthumously added to the ranks of The Few in a rare occasion nearly 80 years after the Battle of Britain. BIRTHDAYS:
Julie Christie, actress, 81; Ritchie Blackmore, rock guitarist, 76; Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist, 70; Robert Carlyle, actor, 60; Gina McKee, actress, 57; Anthony Michael Hall, actor, 53; Adrien Brody, actor, 48; SarahMichelle Gellar, actress, 44; Abigail Breslin, actress, 25.