On this day
1687: The first Huguenots set sail from France for South Africa to escape religious persecution. 1695: A window tax was imposed in Britain which resulted in many being bricked up. 1720: Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie, the “Young Pretender” - was born in Rome. As leader of the Scottish Jacobites, he attempted to depose George II, but was finally defeated at Culloden.
1911: Marie Curie received her second Nobel prize, unprecedented in the history of the award.
1923: The chimes of Big Ben were broadcast by the BBC for the first time. 1935: Charles Darrow patented his board game Monopoly. 1938: Dr R N Harger’s “Drunkometer” was officially used to breathalyse drivers by the Indianapolis Police Department.
1940: Firewatching became compulsory in wartime Britain.
1960: The farthing ceased to be legal tender.
1981: Former flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings overthrew the government of President Hilla Limann to seize power in Ghana.
1999: First President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigned his office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as his successor. 2014: John Fortune, the comedian made famous on Bremner, Bird and Fortune, died at the age of 74.