On this day: Arnold Palmer says farewell to St Andrews
National day of Belgium.
1542: Pope Paul III established the Inquisition in Rome. Six cardinals had powers to interrogate, jail and condemn heretics. A reign of terror and intimidation spread across Catholic Europe.
1718: Peace of Passarowitz ended war between Holy Roman Empire and Turkey.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad1897: The Tate Gallery in London was officially opened – built on site of the Millbank Prison.
1960: Francis Chichester docked in New York in Gypsy Moth II, setting a new record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing.
1960: Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike became premier of Ceylon after elections – first woman premier in Commonwealth.
1962: The Rolling Stones made their first appearance, at the Marquee club in London.
1973: France exploded nuclear device over South Pacific island in spite of worldwide protests.
1975: Soviet Soyuz spacecraft landed safely in Soviet Central Asia after its rendezvous in space with US Apollo craft.
1984: The man who popularised jogging, James J Fixx, had a heart attack and died while out running in Vermont. He was 52.
1989: Comedian Ken Dodd walked free after 23-day trial in which he was cleared of defrauding the Inland Revenue.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad1994: Tony Blair became the youngest man to be elected leader of the Labour Party. He promised “new politics to take us into a new millennium”.
1995: American golfer Arnold Palmer paid an emotional farewell to St Andrews, 35 years after playing his first Open at the Old Course.
1997: The fully restored USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) celebrated her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
2001: At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Japan, 11 people were killed and more than 120 injured when a pedestrian footbridge became overcrowded and people leaving the event fell down in a domino effect.
2005: Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar 7 July bombings, targeted London’s public transport system. All four bombs failed to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers were captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.
2010: In parts of Scotland, a month’s worth of rain fell in just ten hours, causing flooding in 100 homes and businesses in Perth.
BIRTHDAYS
Paloma Faith, singer-songwriter, 33; Paul Casey, golfer, 37; Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), singer, 66; Richard Johnson, jockey, 37; John Lowe, former world darts champion, 69; Dr Sir Jonathan Miller CBE, film, theatre and opera director, 80; Julian Pettifer OBE, writer and broadcaster, 77; Robin Williams, actor and comedian, 63; Rebecca Ferguson, singer, 28; Gary Teale, Scottish footballer, 36; Gene Littler, golfer, 84; Ross Kemp, actor, 50; Josh Hartnett, actor and producer, 36.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1620 Jean Picard, astronomer; 1816 Paul von Reuter, founder of the news agency; 1863 1899 Ernest Hemingway, novelist; 1918 Maurice Lindsay, Glasgow-born broadcaster, writer and poet; 1922 Mollie Sugden, actress.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDeaths: 1796 Robert Burns, poet; 1967 Basil Rathbone, actor; 1976 Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British ambassador to Ireland (assassinated); 1993 John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute; 1998 Alan Shepard, astronaut.