THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
AUGUST 17, 1939: The film The Wizard Of Oz, starring Judy Garland, opened in New York.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Duke of Sussex encouraged veterans to “offer support for one another” in the wake of the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan.
AUGUST 18, 1971: 28-year-old disabled Eamon McDevitt was shot dead by the Army in Strabane, Northern Ireland. AUGUST 19, 1953: England, under captain Len Hutton, won the Ashes for the first time since the controversial bodyline tour of 1932-33.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: UK dairy farms were monitoring cow health with Fitbit-like collars and trialling “poo power” to fuel milk tankers in efforts to cut their climate impact, a report said. AUGUST 20, 1956: Calder Hall, in Cumbria, the world’s first largescale atomic power station, began generating.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A blue plaque was unveiled for historian and broadcaster Sir Kenneth Clark. AUGUST 21, 1940: Leon Trotsky, exiled Bolshevik leader, died after being struck by several blows on the head with an ice pick wielded by Ramon Mercader, an agent for Stalin. AUGUST 22, 1933: BBC TV televised a boxing match for the first time.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A member of the London Fire Brigade was given a retirement present he was unlikely to forget – a visit from Harrison Ford.