ON THIS DAY

● 1675: Greenwich Observatory was established by King Charles II, who laid the foundation stone.

● 1787: Mozart completed his famous Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. On the same day in 1788, he finished his Jupiter Symphony.

● 1842: The Mines Act was passed by the British Parliament, forbidding women and children to work underground.

● 1889: The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Barnsley.

● 1949: “Acid bath” murderer John Haigh, who confessed to nine killings, was executed at Wandsworth Prison.

● 1954: Sir Gordon Richards, champion English jockey, retired after 4,869 wins.

● 1961: Britain first applied for membership of the EEC.

● 1990: The Magellan space probe reached Venus.

● 2003: The UK recorded its highest temperature – 38.5C (101.3F) – in Kent. It was beaten on July 25 2019 by 38.7C, reached in Cambridge Botanic Garden.

● 2010: Archaeologists announced that they had discovered Britain’s earliest house at Star Carr, near Scarborough, believed to date back to 8,500 years BC.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A rare tornado in Luxembourg left 19 people injured, while 15 football players were injured by a lightning strike in southern Germany as storms hit northern Europe.

● BIRTHDAYS: Ian Anderson, rock singer (Jethro Tull), 73; Rosanna Arquette, actress, 61; Antonio Banderas, actor, 60; Charlie Dimmock, TV gardening expert, 54; Roy Keane, former footballer, 49; Lawrence Dallaglio, former England rugby captain, 48.