ON THIS DAY
1695: Henry Purcell, English composer, died of tuberculosis, aged 36. It is said that a friend asked him if he had made his peace with God, and he replied: “We’ve never quarrelled.” 1783: Man’s first free-flight was made by Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes in the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon. They flew above Paris and, after 25 minutes, landed a few miles south. 1787: Sir Samuel Cunard, shipowner, was born in Nova Scotia. He came to Britain in 1838 and, with two partners, established what became the Cunard Line. 1843: Thomas Hancock patented vulcanised rubber. 1918: The German battle fleet surrendered to the Allies at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. 1934: Cole Porter’s Anything Goes opened in New York and made a star of Ethel Merman. 1936: The first television gardening programme was broadcast by the BBC - In Your Garden with Mr Middleton. 1953: The discovery of The Piltdown Man skull by Charles Dawson in Sussex in 1912 was finally revealed as a hoax. 1974: IRA bombs in two Birmingham public houses killed 19 people and left a further 180 injured. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Teenagers drink the equivalent of almost a bath full of sugary drinks every year, a charity warned. BIRTHDAYS: Dr John (Mac Rebennack), R&B musician, 77; Juliet Mills, actress, 76; Goldie Hawn, actress, 72; Lorna Luft, actress, 65; Bjork, singer, 52; Andrew Caddick, former cricketer, 49; Alex James, musician (Blur) and writer, 49; Justin Langer, former cricketer, 47; Carly Rae Jepsen, singer, 32.