On this day

1296: The English beat the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar.

1521: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines at the Battle Mactan.

1737: Edward Gibbon, the English historian who wrote The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, was born in London.

1791: Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse Code, was born in Massachusetts. He made his living as a portrait painter.

1810: Beethoven’s piano piece Fur Elise was published.

1828: London Zoological Gardens opened in Regent’s Park. of 1937: Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, pictured, was completed. At 4,200ft, it was the longest in the world at the time.

1939: In Britain, conscription was introduced for the first time since First World War.

1950: Apartheid in South Africa (the Group Areas Act) was passed, formally segregating races.

1968: Abortion was in Britain. the legalised 1992: Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.

1994: The first democratic general election was held in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:

A man armed with several knives was arrested in Whitehall on suspicion of planning a terror attack.

BIRTHDAYS: Anouk Aimee, actress, 86; Michael Fish, former TV weatherman, 74; Ann Peebles, singer, 71; Sheena Easton, singer, 59; Darcey Bussell, retired ballet dancer, 49; Mica Paris, singer/TV presenter, 49; Jenna-Louise Coleman, actress, 32.