Quotes of the day

1789: The Bastille, the state prison in Paris, was stormed by the citizens of Paris and burned to the ground at the start of the French Revolution.

1858: Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Manchester.

1867: Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel first demonstrated the use of dynamite.

1888: The first record company, the North American Phonograph Company, was founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by businessman Jesse L Lippincott. 1902: The Campanile of St

Mark’s Cathedral in Venice collapsed during a safety inspection.

1940: The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1946: Dr Benjamin Spock’s famous baby bible – Baby And Child Care – was published, and became a bestseller. Twentyeight years later he said he no longer supported his own theories.

1958: King Faisal of Iraq was assassinated in a military coup led by General Kassem, and a Republic was established.

1959: Grock, described as the

“greatest clown on earth”, died in Italy.

1967: Parliament voted to legalise abortion.

Birthdays

Susan Howatch, novelist, 80; Sue Lawley, TV presenter, 74; Julia Somerville, pictured, former newsreader, 73; Bruce Oldfield, fashion designer, 70; Matthew Fox, actor, 54; Nick Mccabe, guitarist (the Verve), 49; Howard Webb, professional football referee, 49, Lee Mead, musical theatre actor, 39.

“Far too many deaths of beautiful people in the last few weeks. The summer of 2020 has been cruel so far” – Middle England author Jonathan Coe in a tribute to Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble.

“Doing things like comedy, when you have done things like lads’ mags and have been a bit of a pin-up, it is hard to all of a sudden come out and say ‘Oh, I’m actually quite clever and quite funny, thank you very much’”– Emily Atack.