On this day
1582: Pope Gregory XIII announced the new Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar. It was not adopted by Britain until 1752, when a “loss” of 11 days had to be made up.
1825: Thomas Bowdler, who took out the “naughty bits” in Shakespeare’s work, died. He gave the English language the word “bowdlerise”.
1848: France became a republic for the second time, following the abdication of King Louis Philippe.
1887: The first two cities to be linked by telephone were Paris and Brussels.
1905: The Simplon Tunnel through the Alps, 12.3 miles long, was completed. 1920: American-born Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons following her election as an MP two months earlier. 1923: The Flying Scotsman locomotive began hauling scheduled services between London and Scotland.
1932: Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird beat his own land speed record at Daytona Beach by reaching 253.96 mph. 1938: A nylon toothbrush, the first commercial nylon product, went on sale in New Jersey.
1991: In their first parliamentary elections under a genuine multi-party system, voters in Lithuania rejected Communist rule.