On this day

1880: The distinctive Salvation Army ladies’ bonnets were worn for the first time in a procession in Hackney in London’s East End.

1890: Stan Laurel, of the Laurel and Hardy comedy duo, was born in Ulverston, Lancashire (now Cumbria), as Arthur Stanley Jefferson.

1904: The novel Ulysses by James Joyce is set on this day, now celebrated in Dublin – where the novel is based – as Bloomsday, after the leading character Leopold Bloom.

1930: Mixed bathing was first allowed in the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park.

1948: The Cathay Pacific Airways Catalina flying boat Miss Macao, on a flight to Hong Kong, was the first aeroplane to be hijacked, by a gang of Chinese bandits.

1958: The notorious yellow no-waiting lines were introduced to British streets. 1961: Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, pictured above with Margot Fonteyn in 1968, defected to the West at a Paris airport.

1963: The first woman astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova, pictured above, blasted off in the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 6.

1976: The people of the black township of Soweto near Johannesburg rebelled against enforced teaching of Afrikaans in their schools. More than 1,000 people died before security forces crushed the uprising.

1989: The 16th Century Rose Theatre in London was covered with protective sand in preparation for a 10-storey office block to be constructed above it.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Scientists revealed they’d developed a hair-sized probe to help measure tissue damage deep in the lung.

“The high street is going to be a different place to what it was before, with the one-way systems, with the hand sanitisers, and with people not trying clothes on in the same way. But, nonetheless, it is safe to shop. I would encourage people to be sensible, work with the people in the shop but do go out and shop, and start opening our economy gradually and carefully” - Small Business Minister Paul Scully insists it is safe to shop as non-essential stores in England reopened on Monday after a three-month shutdown.

“The government has taken a ‘whatever it takes’ approach to the economy - I’m asking you today to extend that same thinking to protecting all vulnerable children across England. Please reconsider your decision to cancel the food voucher scheme over the summer holiday period and guarantee the extension. This is England in 2020, and this is an issue that needs urgent assistance” - Footballer Marcus Rashford, pictured, writes an open letter urging the government to extend its free school meal voucher scheme through the summer holidays.

“I think, before we respond to anything or do anything, we should always step back and say ‘Is it it fair? Is it necessary? Is it kind?’ and I think people will do things differently from now on. This whole period of history through Covid and the protests has made people reflect and I’m sure many people will do things differently from now on” - Actor Anthony Head says we should look to “evolve and learn” after the row about the use of “blackface” in the Little Britain comedy show.