ON THIS DAY
1837: Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths came into effect in England and Wales.
1858: Charles Darwin presented his theory on evolution and natural selection to the Linnean Society in London.
1868: The Dominion of Canada was established by the British North American Act. It comprised four million people and four provinces – Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
1872: Louis Bleriot, aviation pioneer, was born in Cambrai, France. He was the first person to come to Britain without arriving by sea.
1912: The British Copyright Act came into force, protecting an author’s works for 50 years after their death.
1916: First day of the battle of the Somme in the First World War. In less than 24 hours there were 60,000 British casualties.
1929: The cartoon character Popeye the Sailor was created by Elzie Segar in the USA.
1937: The 999 emergency service came into operation in Britain.
1969: Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle.
1997: Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese authorities – ending more than 150 years of British control.
2007: A ban on smoking in public places came into effect across Englands.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
The Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex attended a small event to mark the unveiling of a statue of the Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace.
BIRTHDAYS:
Leslie Caron, actress, 91; Debbie Harry, rock singer, 77; Trevor Eve, actor, 71; Dan Aykroyd, actor, 70; Pamela Anderson, model and actress, 55; Ruud van Nistelrooy, ex-footballer, 46.