ON THIS DAY
1602: The Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public. 1674: The blind English poet John Milton died at the age of 65. 1847: Dracula creator Bram Stoker was born in Dublin. 1886: Fred Archer, English champion jockey who won the Derby five times, shot himself, aged only 29. 1895: Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays during an experiment at the University of Wurzburg with the flow of electricity through a partially evacuated glass tube. 1920: The first Rupert Bear cartoon appeared in the Daily Express. 1923: The Munich Beer Hall Putsch marked the start of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. 1932: Franklin D Roosevelt – promising a “New Deal” for America – swept into the White House on a landslide in the presidential election. 1960: John F Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon to become US president. 1966: Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke became the first African American elected to the United States Senate. 1967: Radio Leicester, the first BBC local radio station, was opened. 1974: The famous fruit and vegetable market at Covent Garden in London closed after more than 300 years. 1987: An IRA bomb exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 11 people. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Prince Harry attacked the media over its “abuse and harassment” of his girlfriend, US actress Meghan Markle, warning: “This is not a game – it is her life.” BIRTHDAYS: Ken Dodd, comedian, 90; Nerys Hughes, actress, 76; Roy Wood, rock musician, 70; Bonnie Raitt, singer/guitarist, 68; Rupert Allason (espionage writer Nigel West), 66; Rickie Lee Jones, singer/ songwriter, 63; Parker Posey, actress, 49; Tara Reid, actress, 42; Brett Lee, former cricketer, 41; Jane Danson, actress, 39; Joe Cole, footballer, 36; Jack Osbourne, TV personality, 32.