1756 – The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France. It turned into a global war with all the major players at the time being involved.
1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley. It is visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years.
2005 A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons: Nix and Hydra. It has four moons with the largest being Charon.
Birthdays
1909 – Fred Perry was born in Stockport, UK. He became a tennis player and won 10 major tournaments and was the world number 1 for four years.
1920 – Pope John Paul II was born as Karol Józef Wojtyła in the Republic of Poland. He became Pope in 1978 and remained so until his death in 2005.
1958 – Toyah Wilcox was born in Birmingham, UK. She became a singer and actress, she has had 313 Top 40 singles and has appeared in over forty plays.
1889 – Thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889 at high noon. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000. Around 50,000 people took part to get their land out of the 2 million acres available.
1906 – The 1906 Summer Olympics open in Athens. It is now not recognised as part of the official Olympic Games.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
Birthdays
1916 – Yehudi Menuhin was born in the USA. He became a violinist and spent of his career performing in the UK. He is considered one of the greatest violinists.
1937 – Jack Nicholson was born John Joseph Nicholson in New York. He became an actor and is a well known star, he has had twelve Oscar nominations and has been nominated for Academy Awards in every decade since the 1960’s.
1944 – Steve Fossett was born in Jackson, Tennessee. He became an adventurer and a businessman. He was the first person to fly solo round the world in a balloon.
1513 – The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now Florida. He founded the idea the ‘Fountain of Youth’ was in Florida.
1962 - The first panda crossing was opened outside Waterloo Station in London, it was designed to make pedestrians crossing the road safer. Similar to the Zebra crossing but without stripes and with lights to indicate when to cross.
1982 – Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, the British Government dispatched the military to retake the Islands by amphibious force, the war lasted 74 days. It is the most recent war where the British have fought without allied forces.
Birthdays
1914 – Sir Alec Guinness was born in London. He became an actor and won an Academy Award for his character in Bridge Over the River Kwai. He is probably best known for playing the character Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.
1926 – Sir Jack Brabham was born in Hurstville, Australia. He became a Formula 1 racing driver and later went onto form his own team called Brabham racing, in 1966 he won a race driving one of his own cars.
1960 – Linford Christie was born in Jamaica, he then emigrated to the UK aged 7. He became an athlete and has won gold medals for the 100 metres, he is the first European to break the 10 second barrier.
1625 – Charles I was crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was executed in 1649 and became a Saint in the Church of England.
1854 – England declares war on Russia, this was called the Crimean war, it was long running contest to gain control over the declining Ottoman Empire.
1886 – The famous Apache warrior called Geronimo, surrenders to the U.S. Army. This ended the main phase of the Apache Wars.
Birthdays
1963 – Quentin Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He became a director and screenwriter, his films include Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill.
1970 – Mariah Carey was born in New York. She became a singer, she holds the record for the longest running number 1 song in US History, a duet with Boyz II Men called One Sweet Day.
1971 – David Coulthard was born in Scotland and became a racing car driver, he won 13 races in his F1 career and moved into presenting F1 shows.
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