NOW & THEN
The city of Dublin was founded on the banks of the river Liffey.
Lady Godiva rode naked on horseback through the streets of Coventry to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to reduce taxes.
Yorkist forces under the command of the Earl of Warwick defeated King Henry VI at Northampton in the Wars of the Roses.
Lady Jane Grey began her brief reign as the Queen of England.
First Bible to be printed in Scotland was published.
William of Orange was assassinated by Balthazar Gérard at instigation of Spain.
England declared war on the Netherlands.
England and Australia met on the first day of Test cricket to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester. Play was washed out by rain.
Metro, the Paris underground railway, was opened.
The Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic was formed.
Hailstones weighing up to 2lb killed 23 people and many cattle in Rostov, Russia.
Howard Hughes flew around the world in 91 hours.
Battle of Britain began following attacks on shipping convoys in the English Channel by Nazi forces.
Heinrich Himmler ordered the sterilisation of all Jewish women in Ravensbruck camp.
Eighth Army and US 7th Army began invasion of Sicily.
Soap rationing in Britain, started during the war, ended.
Armistice talks began in Kaesong to end Korean conflict.
Parking meters introduced in England, in Mayfair, London.
Telstar I, the world’s first TV telecommunications satellite, launched in America.
The US performed an atmospheric nuclear test on Christmas Island.
Golfer Lee Trevino won the 100th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
A herd of stampeding elephants killed 24 people in Chandka Forest, India.
The Bahamas declared independence from UK and adopted its constitution.
Chuck Berry was sentenced to 4 months’ imprisonment for evading 200,000 dollars in tax.
The Alexandra Palace in London burned down.
Copycat urban rioting emulating Brixton (3 April) and Toxteth (5 July), broke out in London, Birmingham, Preston, Hull and Wolverhampton.
Two explosions sank the Greenpeace campaign ship Rainbow Warrior, in Auckland, New Zealand.
Rangers manager Graeme Souness caused a major stir when he signed former Celtic player Maurice Johnson, who became the Ibrox club’s first well-known Roman Catholic player.
Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as the first elected president of the Russian Federation.
Hurricane Dennis struck Florida, causing billions of dollars in damage. Virginia Wade OBE, Wimbledon champion 1977 and commentator, 73; Winnie Ewing, MEP 1975-99 and MSP 1999-03, 89; Sir Thomas Farmer CBE, founder of Kwik-fit, 78; John Motson OBE, sports commentator, 73; John Simm, actor, 48; Doctor Gavin Strang, MP (1970-2010), 75; Neil Tennant, singer (Pet Shop Boys), 64; Perrie Edwards, singer (Little Mix), 25; Arlo Guthrie, US folk singer, 71; Jason Orange, singersongwriter (Take That), 48; Mavis Staples, R&B and gospel singer (Staple Sisters) and civil rights activist, 79; Imelda May, Irish musician singer-songwriter, 44.
1509 John Calvin, theologian; 1834 James Mcneill Whistler, painter; 1856 Nikola Tesla, inventor of alternating current electricity supply system; 1871 Marcel Proust, writer; 1917 Reg Smythe, cartoonist (Andy Capp).
138 Hadrian, Roman Emperor; 1978 Joe Davis, snooker player; 1989 Tommy Trinder, comedian; 1989
Mel Blanc voice artist; 1998 Hammond Innes, novelist; 2003 Winston Graham, author; Omar Sharif, Egyptian film actor; 2015 Jimmy Murray, Scottish footballer; 2015 Roger Rees, British actor.