Now & Then
◆ 3 JULY
1582: James Crichton of Eliock, a graduate of St Andrews University, a tutor of King James VI and the original “Admirable Crichton” – inspiration for JM Barrie’s stage play – stage play, died in a brawl in Mantua.
1608: Quebec was founded by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
1661: Portugal gave Tangier and Bombay to King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1720: Sweden and Denmark signed a peace treaty.
1806: The first cultivated strawberry was exhibited by Michael Keens of Isleworth at a Royal Horticultural Society show. 1844: The last known pair of great auks were killed on the island of Eldey, off Iceland, while incubating an egg.
1883: When the SS Daphne capsized after launch, 124 workers were drowned in the Clyde’s worst accident of its type.
1884: Dow Jones published its first stock average.
1886: Karl Benz drove his first car in Germany.
1900: Tsar Nicholas of Russia issued a decree abolishing the banishment of dissidents to Siberia.
1912: Board of Trade inquiry into the Titanic disaster found Captain Edward J Smith, who went down with the White Star liner after it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage, guilty of negligence.
1928: The world’s first television transmission in colour was made by John Logie Baird, at the Baird Studios in London.
1936: Fred Perry defeated Gottfried von Cramm 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title – the last British winner for 77 years.
1938: The LNER Mallard reached 126mph on the Stoke Bank stretch of line between Grantham and Peterborough, heading south
– the world record for a steam locomotive.
1954: Food rationing ended in Britain. Smithfield market opened at midnight instead of 6am to cope with the demand for beef.
1967: News at Ten appeared on UK television for the first time; it is still being broadcast today.
1976: Israel launched the rescue of 103 Air France crew and passengers who had been held for a week at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-palestinian hijackers.
1987: Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand abandoned their hotair balloon Virgin Atlantic Flyer off Rathlin Island, County Antrim, having flown it from Maine, setting a world distance record.
1987: Klaus Barbie, the former SS officer known as the “Butcher of Lyon”, was jailed for life by France for war crimes against humanity. 1992: Thirty-one years after their expulsion, South Africa had its Fifa membership reinstated.
1996: John Major, the Conservative prime minister, announced that the Stone of Destiny would be returned to Scotland, seven centuries after it was taken to England by Edward I. 2002: The FTSE 100 went into freefall, plummeting 154.2 points to close at 4392.6, its lowest close in five years and wiping more than £37 billion off the value of the UK’S biggest companies.
2013: Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was deposed by the military. Adly Mansour was appointed interim president.
◆ BIRTHDAYS
Tom Cruise, actor, 62; Paul Young, Edinburgh-born actor, 80; Susan Penhaligon, British actress, 75; Sir Tom Stoppard CBE, British playwright, 87; Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver, 37; Julian Assange, co-founder of Wikileaks, 53; Tommy Flanagan, Glasgowborn actor, 59; Tracey Emin CBE, artist, 61; Vince Clarke, musician, 64; Joanne Harris MBE, British author, 60; Sian Lloyd, TV weather presenter, 66; Shane Lynch, pop singer (Boyzone), 48.
◆ ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1728 Robert Adam, Kirkcaldy-born architect; 1883 Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist; 1923 Baroness Ryder of Warsaw (Sue Ryder), charity worker; 1927 Ken Russell, British director; 1945 Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, speaker of the House of Commons 2000-09.
Deaths: 1969 Brian Jones, Rolling Stone; 1971 Jim Morrison, singer (The Doors); 1986 Rudy Vallée, singer, actor and bandleader; 1995 Pancho Gonzales, tennis player; 2001 Billy Liddell, Scottish footballer; 2011 Anna Massey CBE, British actress