ON THIS DAY
1653: Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Long Parliament which had governed during the Civil War.
1657: The Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz Bay was destroyed by the English under Admiral Blake.
1770: Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia.
1841: The Murders In The Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe, considered to be the first modern detective story, was published in the USA.
1887: The world’s first motor race took place along the banks of the river Seine from the centre of Paris to Neuilly.
1889: Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, the son of a customs official who changed his name from Schickelgruber.
1893: Harold Lloyd, bespectacled comedian famous for his stunt scenes, was born in Nebraska.
1929: The first Italian parliament made up exclusively of Fascists led by Benito Mussolini was opened by Victor Emmanuel III.
1945: Soviet troops entered Berlin.
1972: Apollo 16 landed on the moon.
1989: Scientists said that the Earth narrowly missed being struck by a passing asteroid weighing 400 million tons.
1999: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and injured 21 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School, Colorado.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: 22 people were killed following a 12-hour shooting rampage in Nova Scotia the previous day. BIRTHDAYS: Leslie Phillips, actor, 97; George Takei, actor, 84; Peter Snow, TV reporter, 83; Ray Brooks, actor, 82; Michael Brandon, actor, 76; Jessica Lange, actress, 72; Louise Jameson, actress, 70; Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor, 60, Carmen Electra, model and actress, 49.