NOW & THEN
AUGUST 23
AD79: Mount Vesuvius erupted on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. It destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, with the loss of an estimated 16,000 lives.
1305: William Wallace was executed for high treason by order of Edward I of England. He was hung, drawn and quartered at Smithfield, London.
1482: After changing hands 12 times, Berwick-upon-tweed was retaken by England.
1617: The first one-way streets were introduced in London.
1799: Napoleon Bonaparte left Egypt, bound for France, where he seized power.
1839: Hong Kong was taken by the British in war with China.
1914: The Battle of Mons, in Belgium near the French frontier, took place.
1923: Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P Richter performed the first mid-air refuelling of a De Havilland DH-4B, enabling an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
1933: Archie Sexton fought Laurie Raiteri in London – the first boxing match to be televised.
1933: Mahatma Gandhi was released from prison in India in serious health condition following a hunger strike.
1939: Hitler and Stalin divided eastern Europe between them as Germany and Russia signed a shortlived non-aggression pact which left Hitler free to attack Poland.
1940: The German Luftwaffe began night bombing on London.
1942: 600 mounted Italian troops routed 2,000 Soviet troops at Izbushensky in the last cavalry charge in history.
1944: A US B-24 aircraft crashed into Holy Trinity school in Freckleton, Lancashire and demolished three houses and a cafe, with the loss of 61 lives, including 40 children.
1944: Paris was liberated – having been occupied by German forces since 14 June, 1940. Allied troops also captured the port of Marseilles.
1960: The world’s largest known frog, weighing 3.3kg, was caught in Equatorial Guinea.
1962: United States Telstar satellite relayed first live television programme between the United States and Europe.
1986: Leaders of nine southern African nations expressed support for international economic sanctions against South Africa.
1990: East and West Germany announced they would unite on 3 October.
1990: Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television surrounded by British hostages, smiling and patting children on the head.
1996: Osama bin Laden issued a message entitled “A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places”.
2006: Natascha Kampusch abducted at the age of ten, escaped from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil after eight years of captivity in his home outside Vienna in Austria.
2013: Four people died when a helicopter crashed off the coast of the Shetland Islands.
2013: The Syrian government stopped UN inspectors from investigating a reported site of a chemical massacre.
BIRTHDAYS
Geoff Capes, British strongman, 73; Shelley Long, US actress, 73; David Robb, Scottish actor, 75; John Rocha CBE, fashion designer, 69; Willy Russell, British playwright, 76; Shaun Ryder, rock singer, 60; Joanne Froggatt, actress, 42; Sir Roy Strong, British art historian, critic and garden designer, 87; Brett and Josh Morris, Australian twin rugby league players, 36; Ray Park, Glasgow-born actor, stuntman and martial artist, 48; Richard Illingworth, cricket umpire and former Test player, 59; Peter Lilley, Baron Lilley, former MP and cabinet minister, 79; Roger Greenaway OBE, songwriter, 84
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1908 Hannah Frank, Glasgow-born artist; 1912 Gene Kelly, dancer, actor, singer, director, choreographer; 1929 Peter Thomson CBE, golfer, five times Open champion; 1945 Bob Peck, actor; 1947 Keith Moon, rock drummer (The Who); 1970 River Phoenix, actor and musician Deaths: 1926 Rudolph Valentino, romantic film idol; 1960 Oscar Hammerstein II, musicals lyricist; 1979 Richard Hearne, actor (“Mister Pastry”), comedian, producer and writer; 1989 R D Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and writer