ON THIS DAY
10BC: Roman Emperor Claudius I was born in Lyons.
1714: Queen Anne, the last Stuart sovereign, died aged 49, to be succeeded by George I under the Act of Settlement of 1701.
1778: The first savings bank opened, in Hamburg.
1798: The Battle of the Nile when Nelson beat the French fleet at Aboukir Bay.
1831: New London Bridge was opened by King William IV. It was sold to an American in 1968 and rebuilt in Arizona.
1834: Slavery was abolished in all British dominions.
1873: The Clay Street Hill Railroad, San Francisco’s cablepowered street car system, began running.
1903: Martha Jane Cannary, better known as frontierswoman Calamity Jane, died near Deadwood, Dakota. Her final request was to be buried next to Wild Bill Hickok.
1932: The first Mars bar, made in Slough, went on sale.
1945: Family Favourites record request programme began on the BBC. 2012: Golden girl rowers Helen
Glover and Heather Stanning claimed Team GB’s first gold medal of London 2012.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Nasa’s
planet spotting telescope uncovered another three planets, which scientists said included the first nearby super-Earth.
BIRTHDAYS: Professor Laurie Taylor, sociologist, 84; Robert Cray, blues musician, 67; Chuck D, rapper, 60; Coolio, rapper/actor, 57; Mark Wright, former footballer and manager, 57; Sam Mendes, film and theatre director, 55; David James, footballer, 50; Nwankwo Kanu, former footballer, 44.