1648 – In the English Civil War, the battle of Preston took place

1807 – The World’s first steamboat service began along the Hudson River in New York

1835 – Solymon Merrick patented the first wrench

1836 – The registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in Britain

1858 – The first bank in Hawaii opened

1869 – The first international boat race took place on The Thames, with Oxford University beating Harvard

1896 – Mrs Bridget Driscol of Croydon became the first pedestrian to be killed by a motor car in Britain. The car was going at 4 miles an hour

1896 – Gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory, Canada

1908 – The world’s first showing of a film cartoon took place in Paris – It was called “Fantasmagorie”

1915 – Charles F. Kettering of Detroit, Missouri patented the electric self-starter for cars

1943 – In World War 2, The Allies conquered Sicily

1945 – Indonesia Declared Independence

1945 – George Orwell’s classic book “Animal Farm” was first published

1953 – The first meeting of Narcotics Anonymous took place in Southern California, USA

1955 – Elvis Presley released his first number 1 hit, ‘I Forgot to Remember to Forget / Mystery Train’ – in America

1959 – Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, the acclaimed best selling jazz recording of all time, was released

1960 – The Gabon in Africa gained independence from France

1960 – The Beatles began their first Hamburg engagement at the Indra Club

1969 – The grooviest event in music history – the Woodstock Music Festival – came to a close

1970 – Venus 7 was launched; it became the first spacecraft to soft land on Venus

1978 – Double Eagle II became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Maine, USA

1979 – Monty Python’s controversial film “The Life of Brian” had its premiere

1979 – Press reports claimed that Anita Pallenberg, the wife of Keith Richards, was linked to a witches’ coven in New York

1980 – The famous “Dingo Baby”, Azaria Chamberlain, disappeared leading to what was then the most publicised trial in Australian history

1982 – The first Compact Discs (CDs) were released in Germany

1984 – On this, the first night of his Breaking Hearts Tour, Elton John announced that he was retiring from touring. He fibbed.

1987 – Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s former right-hand man, was found dead in Spandau Prison

1991 – Nirvana shot the video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in California. It cost less than $50,000 to make.

1992 – Actor-director Woody Allen admitted being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Allen’s long-time companion, actress Mia Farrow

1995 – Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre after an apparent suicide attempt

1998 – US President Bill Clinton admitted that he had an “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and that he “misled people” about it

1998 – Carlos Santana received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame

1999 – Led Zeppelin topped a chart of Britain’s most bootlegged musicians, compiled by the British Phonographic Industry

2000 – Prince William passed three A-levels and secured a place to study history of art at St Andrews University

2003 – Movie bosses formed a task force to tackle a £400 million film piracy racket in the UK

2003 – The Pizza Hut chain announced a smoking ban in all its 500 UK restaurants

2004 – TV host Richard Madeley admitted that he once went commando and presented the old “This Morning” show without underwear

2007 – High School Musical 2 premiered on the US Disney Channel and Family Channel. It was watched by a total of 17.2 million viewers in the United States

2008 – By winning the Men’s 4x100m medley relay, swimmer Michael Phelps became the first Olympian to win eight gold medals in the same Olympics.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

1920 – Maureen O’Hara, Irish actress, Hollywood star who played Esmerelda in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame (92)

1932 – V. S. Naipaul, West Indian Nobel Prize-winning writer (80)

1939 – Anthony Valentine, British TV actor, played “Raffles”, the psychopathic Toby Meres in the series “Callan” and Luftwaffe officer Major Mohn in “Colditz” (73)

1943 – Robert De Niro, American acting King, double Oscar winner for “The Godfather Part 2″ and “Raging Bull” – He once dated Naomi Campbell (69)

1943 – John Humphrys, TV and radio broadcaster, currently the host of “Mastermind” – as tough as Paxman in the political interviewing stakes (69)

1949 – Sib Hashian, American musician, the original drummer with Boston, of “More Than a Feeling” fame (63)

1951 – Alan Minter, British boxer, former World Middleweight champion from Sussex – Used to have the nickname, “Boom Boom” (61)

1952 – Nelson Piquet, Brazilian race car driver, Formula One world champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987 – He was banned from driving on the roads in Brazil because of repeated speeding and parking violations (60)

1952 – Guillermo Vilas, retired Argentinean tennis player who won 4 Grand Slam titles (60)

1953 – Kevin Rowland, singer with Dexys Midnight Runners who recorded one of the strangest solo albums of all time called My Beauty, which featured him wearing a dress on the cover (59)

1955 – Richard Hilton, American heir, Paris Hilton’s dad (57)

1955 – Colin Moulding, bass player and joint singer with XTC of “Making Plans for Nigel” fame (57) 1957 – Robin Cousins, British figure skater, Olympic Gold medal winner and judge on “Dancing on Ice” (55)

1958 – Belinda Carlisle, American singer once of The Go-Gos. She had solo hits including “Heaven is a Place on Earth” (54)

1958 – Sir Fred Goodwin British banker, ex boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland and responsible for helping them run up the biggest losses in British corporate history (54)

1958 – Kirk Stevens, Canadian snooker player, the first to admit taking cocaine (54)

1959 – Jonathan Franzen, American author, wrote “The Corrections”, one of the biggest-selling works of the 21st Century so far (53)

1960 – Sean Penn, American actor and director. Twice Best Actor Oscar winner for his roles in “Mystic River” and “Milk” (52)

1962 – Gilby Clarke, American musician, spent 3 years as rhythm guitarist with Guns N’ Roses (50)

1964 – Maria McKee, American singer, had a 1990 UK number one with “Show Me Heaven” she also wrote Feargal Sharkey’s hit “A Good Heart” (48)

1965 – Steve Gorman, US drummer with The Black Crowes. He’s also occasionally drummed for The Stereophonics (47)

1968 – Helen McCrory, English actress, played Cherie Blair in the movie “The Queen” and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films (44)

1969 – Donnie Wahlberg, American actor and singer with New Kids On The Block, older brother of Mark Wahlberg. He’s appeared in the “Saw” horror movies and the TV miniseries Band of Brothers (43)

1969 – Kelvin Mercer, American rapper, one-third of De La Soul of “3 Feet High And Rising” fame (43)

1970 – Jim Courier, retired US tennis player, ex world number one, he won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open (42)

1977 – William Gallas, French footballer, was centre-back with Arsenal – Used to play for Chelsea. (35)

1977 – Claire Richards, singer with Steps, the “Tragedy” hitmakers (35)

1977 – Thierry Henry, French footballer, striker now with New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer after playing for Barcelona – Arsenal’s record goal-scorer (35)

1977 – Mike Lewis, Welsh guitarist for rock band LostProphets, famed for their Number One album “Liberation Transmission” (35)

1979 – Marcus Patric, British actor, played Ben Davies in Hollyoaks (33)

1982 – Phil Jagielka, England football international with 4 caps – Plays centre-back for Everton – Used to play for Sheffield United (30)

1990 – Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress, played Wendy Darling in the 2003 movie Peter Pan (22)