ON THIS DAY
AD 138: Hadrian, Roman Emperor who planned the great wall across northern Britain, died.
1099: Spanish warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar - El Cid - died in Valencia, apparently of grief after defeat by the Moors.
1460: The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton.
1553: Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England at the age of 16 - she lasted only nine days before being arrested and executed.
1834: American artist James McNeill Whistler, who made Chelsea his adopted home, was born in Massachusetts.
1871: Author Marcel Proust - A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (Remembrance Of Things Past) was born in Paris.
1900: The Paris Metro opened. 1954: Gordon Richards rode his last mount - at Sandown - the 21,834th of his nearly 34-year-long career.
1958: The first parking meters in Britain were installed in London’s Mayfair.
1962: Telstar I, the world’s first television telecommunications satellite, was launched in America.
2011: The News of the World bade farewell to its readers after 168 years with the simple words “Thank you & goodbye”.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A man who stole a statue of Marilyn Monroe from on top of a Hollywood public art installation was sentenced to a year in jail, prosecutors said.
BIRTHDAYS: Gavin Strang, former MP, 77; Virginia Wade, former tennis player, 75; Sunil Gavaskar, former cricketer, 71; Neil Tennant, singer (Pet Shop Boys), 66; Gina Bellman, actress, 54; John Simm, actor, 50; Jason Orange, former Take That singer, 50; Jessica Simpson, singer, 40.