79 – Mount Vesuvius began stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire

1305 – William Wallace, the Scottish patriot, was executed for high treason by Edward I of England

1500 – Christopher Columbus was arrested for mistreating the natives of Haiti

1617 – The first one-way streets were established in London; The first one-way street in London was Albemarle Street in Mayfair, the location of the Royal Institution. There were 17 specified including Thames St. and Pudding Lane

1711 – A British attempt to invade Canada by sea failed

1775 – King George III declared that the American colonies existed in a state of open and avowed rebellion

1793 – In France, the first ever national conscription was introduced

1799 – Napoleon left Egypt for France en route to seize power

1833 – England passed a law making owning a slave illegal in the realm after one year. 700,000 slaves were freed

1839 – Britain captured Hong Kong as a base as it prepared for what became known as the first Opium War with China

1873 – The Albert Bridge in Chelsea, London opened

1904 – The car snow chain, which makes it easier to drive through snow and ice, was patented

1913 – The statue of The Little Mermaid, based on the tale by Hans Christien Andersen, was unveiled in Copenhagen

1914 – In World War I, Japan declared war on Germany and bombed China

1923 – Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John P. Richter performed the first mid-air refuelling on a De Havilland plane, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours

1933 – The first televised boxing match took place in London, between Archie Sexton and Laurie Raiteri

1938 – English cricketer Len Hutton set a world record for the highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test match against Australia

1939 – In World War II, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. They secretly agreed that the Baltic States, Finland, Romania, and Poland would be divided between them

1940 – The German Luftwaffe began night bombing of London in what became known as The Blitz

1942 – In World War II, The Battle of Stalingrad began

1942 – In World War II, the last cavalry charge in history took place at Izbushensky

1944 – In World War II, Marseille in France was liberated

1948 – The World Council of Churches was formed

1958 – Marie Ashton completed playing the piano for 133 hours, which was a world record for a woman

1960 – The World’s largest frog, at 7.275 lbs, was caught in Equatorial Guinea.

1962 – John Lennon married Cynthia Powell at Liverpool’s Mount Pleasant register office. He then played a gig that night with The Beatles at Liverpool’s Riverpark Ballroom.

1963 – The Rolling Stones appeared on the TV show ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ for the first time, performing their debut single ‘Come On.’

1965 – The U.S. premiere of the film ‘Help!’, starring The Beatles, was held for thousands of moviegoers

1967 – Joni Mitchell played her first ever UK show in London

1968 – Ringo temporarily quit the Beatles over a disagreement

1970 – Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club ‘Max’s Kansas City’

1977 – The first man-powered flight of a mile took place

1977 – New, smaller pound notes, were introduced in Britain

1986 – Sigue Sigue Sputnik came up with an idea to sell advertising space between the tracks on their forthcoming new album – It never happened

1989 – In what became known as the Singing Revolution, two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stood holding hands as a gesture of independence from Soviet Russia

1990 – Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi TV with a number of Western “guests” (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War

1990 – Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union

1990 – West Germany and East Germany announced that they would reunite on October 3

1991 – The re-formed Dire Straits kicked off a two year 300 date world tour in Dublin

1995 – Dallas star Larry Hagman received a liver transplant

1996 – Osama bin Laden issued a message entitled ‘A declaration of war against the Americans’

1996 – Tommy Gallagher, Noel and Liam’s dad, was jailed for one month by a Manchester Court for driving while disqualified

1999 – Berlin again became the capital of Germany

2003 – Lee Ryan of boy band Blue was banned from driving for 18 months after admitting drink-driving

2004 – Queen became the first UK rock band to receive official approval in Iran, where Western music was strictly prohibited. Freddie Mercury had Iranian ancestry

2005 – Les McKeown the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers appeared in court charged with drugs offences

2006 – Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity

2008 – Madonna kicked off her 86-date Sticky and Sweet Tour at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. It became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist

2010 – The first drive-thru Tesco store was launched at the group’s Tesco Extra store in Baldock, Hertfordshire.

TODAYS BIRTHDAYS

1929 – Peter Thomson, Aussie golf superstar from a bygone era who won the British Open 5 times (83)

1930 – Vera Miles, American actress who starred in films like ‘Psycho’, ‘The Searchers’, ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ and ‘Psycho II’ (82)

1934 – Barbara Eden, American actress and singer, best known for her starring role in the US sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” (78)

1938 – Mike Burt, the drummer with Chas and Dave (74)

1938 – Roger Greenaway – A famous British songwriter who, along with Roger Cook wrote hundreds of hits for artists like Andy Williams, Deep Purple, Cilla Black, The Hollies and Gene Pitney. The pair also co-wrote ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing’ (74)

1943 – Peter Lilley, a British Tory MP for Hitchin and Harpenden – Former Trade and Industry Secretary under Maggie Thatcher (69)

1947 – Willy Russell, British playwright from Liverpool, famous for penning “Educating Rita”, “Shirley Valentine”, and “Blood Brothers” (65)

1947 – David Robb, British actor – He’s a voice actor for several Star Wars video games (65)

1949 – Geoff Capes, English strongman and former shot-putter – twice winner of the World’s Strongest Man title, and he also keeps budgies (63)

1949 – Shelley Long, American film and TV actress most famous for playing Diane in the US sitcom “Cheers” (63)

1949 – Rick Springfield, Australian singer and actor, best known for his 1981 hit “Jessie’s Girl” (63)

1951 – Queen Noor of Jordan (61)

1951 – Jimi Jamison, American singer with the band Survivor, of “Eye of the Tiger” fame (61)

1952 – Vicky Leandros, Greek singer and politician – She won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with the song “Apres Toi” while representing Luxembourg (60) 1953 – Bobby G, British singer with Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz, of “Making Your Mind Up” fame – He’s the only remaining original member in the group now (59)

1959 – Edwin Collins, former guitarist and singer with the band Orange Juice, who had a hit with “Rip It Up” – He then became a solo star with the classic 1995 UK No.4 single ‘A Girl Like You’ – He’s recovered amazingly from a brain haemorrhage (53)

1961 – Dean DeLeo, American musician, guitarist with rockers The Stone Temple Pilots (51)

1961 – Gary Mabbutt, English footballer, former defender for Spurs and England who overcame the handicap of diabetes to reach the top (51)

1962 – Shaun Ryder, English musician, madcap singer with the “Step On” superstars, Happy Mondays and Black Grape – His lyrics have been compared to the poetry of Keats (50)

1967 – Richard Illingworth, former England cricketer who’s now an umpire – He was a slow left arm bowler who played 9 tests for England (45)

1968 – Chris DiMarco, American golfer who’s won 5 top titles (44)

1971 – BoneCrusher, American rapper, born Wayne Hardnett Jr (41)

1972 – Mark Butcher, England cricketer, retired batsman who played for Surrey and played 71 tests for England, whom he captained once (40)

1974 – Ray Park, Scottish actor who played Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, and Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (38)

1978 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player who’s really famous over there as a guard for the L.A. Lakers (34)

1978 – Julian Casablancas, American lead singer with The Strokes, who had a top 5 hit in 2005 with the song “Juicebox”, but are more famous for the song “Last Nite” (34)

1979 – Ritchie Neville, British musician, singer with the boyband Five (33)

1984 – Glen Johnson, English footballer, right back for Liverpool and England (28)