ON THIS DAY
NATIONAL DAY OF TOGO 1296: The English beat the Scots at the battle of Dunbar.
1521: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines at the Battle of Mactan.
1737: Edward Gibbon, English historian who wrote The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, was born in London.
1791: Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code, was born in Massachusetts. He made his living as a portrait painter.
1810: Beethoven’s piano piece Fur Elise was published.
1828: The London Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park were opened.
1937: Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was completed. At 4,200ft long, it was the longest in the world at the time.
1939: In Britain, conscription was introduced for the first time since the First World War.
1950: Apartheid in South Africa (the Group Areas Act), was passed, formally segregating races.
1968: Abortion was legalised in Britain.
1992: Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history. 1994: The first democratic general election was held in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Prince of Wales became patron of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
(RPO) - a role previously held by his brother the Duke of York.
BIRTHDAYS: Anouk Aimee, actress, 90; Michael Fish, former TV weatherman, 78; Ann Peebles, singer, 75; Sheena Easton, singer, 63; Darcey Bussell, retired ballet dancer, 53; Mica Paris, singer/TV presenter, 53; Jenna-Louise Coleman, actress, 36.