COUNTDOWN!!......

66

On June 13th....

1373 Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Alliance (world's oldest) signed

1625 King Charles I is married to the French princess Henrietta Maria de Bourbon

1774 Rhode Island becomes first colony to prohibit importation of slaves

1900 China's Boxer Rebellion against foreigners & Christians

1917 "deadliest German air raid on London during WWI carried out by Gotha G bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries."

1940 Paris evacuated before the German advance

1955 Mercedes racing car kills 77 at Le Mans France

1967 The United Nations Security Council rejects Soviet demands for an immediate vote to condemn Israel's aggression in the so-called six-day war.

1969 Mick Taylor leaves John Mayall Band & joins the Rolling Stones

1977 Convicted Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray is recaptured after escaping from prison three days before.

1978 Israeli troops complete their withdrawal from southern Lebanon handing over many of their positions to a right-wing Christian movement.

1981 A 17-year-old man is arrested for shooting a replica gun at the Queen as she rode past crowds in London.

1991 Boris Yeltsin celebrates victory as Russia's first popularly-elected president.

1996 Guernsey votes to legalise abortion, overturning a ban which dates back to 1910.

2005 Pop star Michael Jackson is found not guilty of all charges after a four-month-long child abuse trial.

65

On June 14th....

1381 King Richard II of England meets the leaders of Peasants' Revolt.

1623 "The first breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev Gerville Pooley, Va files against Cicely Jordan. He loses"

1645 Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces

1775 The U.S. Army is founded.

1777 Stars and Stripes adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.

1789 "Mutiny on the Bounty: HMAV Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,000-mile) journey in an open boat."

1789 "Whisky distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman the Rev Elijah Craig. It is named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky."

1834 "Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer Jr, Springfield, Vermont"

1839 "Henley Royal Regatta: The village of Henley, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first Regatta."

1841 "The first Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario"

1919 The first nonstop air crossing of Atlantic (Alcock & Brown) leaves Nfld

1938 Action Comics issues the first Superman comic.

1942 "Walt Disney's ""Bambi"" is released"

1953 "Elvis Presley graduates from LC Humes High School in Memphis, Tenn"

1961 A new type of zebra crossing with push button controls , panda, for pedestrians is being introduced next year.

1962 "Anna Slesers becomes the first victim of Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler."

1963 Valery Bykovsky in Vostok 5 orbits earth 81 times in 5 days

1972 Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers face flight delays and cancellations as pilots threaten to strike over hijack fears.

1976 "The trial begins at Oxford Crown Court of Donald Neilson, the killer known as the Black Panther."

1982 Falklands War ends: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley unconditionally surrender to British forces.

1991 More than a thousand Kurds besiege a US military base near the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, pleading with American troops not to withdraw.

64

On June 15th....

0923 Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.

1094 "Valencia falls to El Cid after a siege of 9 months by an army of 7,000 men, most of them Muslims"

1215 "King John of England (1167-1216) signs the Magna Carta at Runnymede, a 63-part document of human rights that became the foundation of the English legal system."

1219 "Dannebrog - oldest national flag in the world - and flag of Denmark. According to legend, fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) in Estonia, and turned the Danes' luck."

1381 "Wat Tyler, leader of English Peasants' Revolt, beheaded in London"

1752 Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.

1775 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army

1785 2 French balloonists die in world's first fatal aviation accident

1878 "The first attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground"

1909 "Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference."

1951 Joe Louis scored his last knock out victory

1956 John Lennon (15) & Paul McCartney (13) meet for the first time as Lennon's rock group The Quarrymen perform at a church dinner

1966 The world's first hovershow opens in Britain with news of a Ministry of Defence order worth £1m.

1971 Opposition is growing to Margaret Thatcher's plans to end free school milk for children over the age of seven.

1974 In race rally clashes A march through central London leaves one person dead and many more injured as rival demonstrators clash with police and each other.

1977 Spain's first free elections since 1936

1985 Rembrandt's painting Dana is attacked by a man later judged insane; he threw sulfuric acid on the canvas and cut it twice with his knife.

1989 Ronald Reagan is knighted by Queen Elizabeth

1996 A massive bomb devastates a busy shopping area in central Manchester.

2000 The major contingent of the British military task force sent to help restore order in Sierra Leone leaves the country.

2002 "Near earth asteroid 2002 MN missed the Earth by 75,000 miles (120,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon"

63

On June 16th....

0632 Origin of Persian [Yezdegird] Era

1487 "Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses."

1567 Mary Queen of Scots thrown into Lochleven Castle prison

1743 (June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen ? last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle

1871 "University Tests Act allows students to enter the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests, except for courses in theology."

1879 "Gilbert & Sullivan's ""HMS Pinafore"" debuts at Bowery Theatre NYC"

1884 "The first roller coaster in the U.S. begins operation at Coney Island, NY."

1915 Foundation of the British Women's Institute

1960 Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho opens in New York.

1961 Ballet performer Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union while in Paris.

1963 Valentina Tereshkova, a former textile worker from the Soviet Union becomes the first woman in space.

1976 "Apartheid: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd and kill 566 children."

1978 Release of Grease movie.

1982 South Wales coalfield comes to a standstill as miners strike in support of health workers.

1982 Britain requests Argentina arrange for return of prisoners after their War

1989 "Historic reburial of Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian Prime Minister in Budapest."

1989 "4 golfers shoot a hole-in-one on the same hole at the US Open all on the 6th hole (Weaver, Wiebe, Pate & Price)"

1992 An explosive new book about the Princess of Wales, including claims she attempted suicide, is published by author Andrew Morton.

1999 Maurice Greene sets a new 100m world record at 9.79 seconds. This is the largest drop in a 100m world record in the history of electronic timing from Donovan Bailey's 9.84.

62

On June 17th....

1462 "Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II in The Night Attack, and the latter is forced to retreat from Wallachia."

1497 Battle of Deptford Bridge - Forces under King Henry VII soundly defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.

1579 Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.

1631 "Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spent more than 20 years to build her tomb, the Taj Mahal."

1775 Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it was Breed's Hill)

1885 The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbour (in 350 pieces on board the French frigate IsŠre)

1928 Amelia Earhart leaves Nfld to become first woman to fly the Atlantic (as a passenger in a plane piloted by Wilmer Stultz)

1936 Himmler is appointed chief of the German Police.

1950 The first kidney transplant (Chicago)

1953 "East Berlin workers rise up to protest low wages and bad conditions. Soviet tanks mow down the strikers with machine gun fire, ending illusions that communism is a workers' paradise."

1964 The first purpose-built floating trade fair docks at Tilbury in London with 22,000 samples of Japanese goods on board.

1970 Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain

1970 'Babes in the Wood' bodies found. Detectives investigating the disappearance of two children are at the site of a shallow grave in Essex where two bodies have been found.

1972 "Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition."

1974 An IRA bomb explodes at the Houses of Parliament, causing extensive damage and injuring 11 people.

1980 The locations for the first US nuclear missiles to be stored on British soil are revealed by the government.

1987 "With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct."

2010 "Grizzly bear kills a 70-year-old man -Erwin Frank Evert, near Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. He was in the forest with his wife, a member of a federal team of researchers studying grizzly bears - USA"

61

On June 18th....

0618 "Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty's rule over China."

1178 Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the moon's distance (on the order of metres) are a result of this collision.

1429 French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc crush the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.

1767 "Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sighted Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island."

1812 War of 1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1815 The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena

1858 Charles Darwin receives from Alfred Russel Wallace a paper that included nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own. This prompts Darwin to publish his theory.

1940 "Winston Churchill urges perseverance so that future generations would remember that ""this was their finest hour"""

1942 James Paul McCartney of The Beatles is born in Liverpool

1945 William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) Brit radio traitor charged with treason

1956 Last of foreign troops leaves Egypt (British and French forces attempted to seize the Canal)

1959 Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane.

1959 The First telecast transmitted from England to US

1965 Drink-Drive limit to be introduced. The government announces it will introduce a blood alcohol limit for drivers with penalties for those caught above it.

1972 UK's worst aircrash. A flight from London Heathrow to Brussels crashes minutes after take-off killing all 118 people on board.

1977 "Space Shuttle test model ""Enterprise"" carries a crew aloft for first time, It was fixed to a modified Boeing 747"

1979 United States President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign Salt II, the first arms-reduction treaty between the two super powers.

1999 Police and protesters clash at a demonstration against capitalism in the centre of London's financial district.

2010 Campbell Soup Co. recalls nearly 15 million pounds of canned SpaghettiOs with meatballs because of possible under-processing - USA

60

On June 19th....

1269 King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.

1306 The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven.

1770 Emanuel Swedenborg reports the completion of the Second Coming of Christ in his work True Christian Religion.

1846 "The first baseball game under recognizable modern rules is played in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States."

1870 "After all of the Southern States are formally readmitted to the United States of America, the Confederate States of America ceases to exist."

1910 Father's Day celebrated for first time

1917 "After WW I King George V ordered members of British royal family to dispense with German titles & surnames, they take the name Windsor"

1940 """Brenda Starr,"" first cartoon strip by a woman, appears in Chicago"

1970 Edward Heath becomes the new British prime minister after a surprise victory for the Conservatives in the general election.

1975 An inquest jury decides Lord Lucan murdered the 29-year-old nanny of his three young children.

1976 US Viking 1 goes into Martian orbit after 10-month flight from Earth

1978 Garfield comic strip launches.

1978 Cricketing star Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.

1980 Three gunmen who attacked the British embassy in Baghdad are shot dead by Iraqi security forces.

1981 "Heaviest known orange (2.5 kg) exhibited, Nelspruit, S Africa"

1982 Roberto Calvi, a senior Italian banker, is found dead under Blackfriars Bridge in London more than a week after he went missing from Milan.

1991 2 of Mia Farrow's daughters arrested for shoplifting lingerie

1997 Fast food chain McDonald's wins a partial victory in its epic libel trial against two environmental campaigners.

59

On June 20th....

0451 Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' victory over Attila the Hun.

1214 University of Oxford receives its charter.

1646 Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford

1685 "Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater."

1756 146 Brit soldiers imprisoned in India-Black Hole of Calcutta-most die

1791 King Louis XVI caught trying to escape French Revolution

1819 "The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, but most of the journey was made under sail."

1837 "England issues its first stamp, 1P Queen Victoria"

1837 Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV Ruled for 63 years ending in 1901

1893 Lizzie Borden is acquitted of murdering her stepmother and father.

1936 Jesse Owens of the US sets 100 meter record at 10.2

1965 Police in Algiers break up demonstrations by people who have taken to the streets chanting slogans in support of deposed President Ben Bella

1966 Sheila Scott completes first round-the-world solo flight by a woman

1967 Muhammad Ali convicted of refusing induction into armed services

1968 Jim Hines becomes first person to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds

1976 Hundreds of Americans and Britons are moved from Beirut and taken to safety in Syria by the US military, following the murder of the US ambassador.

1984 The biggest exam shake-up for over 10 years is announced with O-Level and CSE exams to be replaced by GCSEs.

1990 British Chancellor John Major proposes a new European currency which would circulate alongside existing national currencies.

1991 German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.

1995 Oil giant Shell caves in to international pressure and abandons plans to dump the Brent Spar oil rig at sea.

58

On June 21st...

0524 "Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vzeronce."

1798 Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at Battle of Vinegar Hill

1854 First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands.

1877 "The Molly Maguires, ten Irish immigrants, are hanged at the Schuylkill County and Carbon County, Pennsylvania Prisons."

1879 F W Woolworth opens first store (failed almost immediately)

1913 Tiny Broadwick becomes first woman to parachute from an airplane

1942 Rommel takes Tobruk in North Africa

1948 "First stored computer program run, on Manchester Mark I"

1948 "Dr Peter Goldmark of CBS demonstrates ""long playing record"" Columbia commits to 33 1/3 rpm records, plans to phase out 78's"

1964 "Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan."

1968 The Egg Marketing Board should be scrapped and an independent authority established in its place, according to a report published today.

1978 An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.

1982 John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1982 Diana, Princess of Wales, gives birth to a boy, William, sixteen hours after checking in to St Mary's Hospital, in London.

1991 British Gas chairman Robert Evans is under fire for accepting a pay increase taking his annual wage to £370,000.

57

On June 22nd.....

0168 "BC - Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat and capture Macedonian King Perseus, ending the Third Macedonian War"

1611 Henry Hudson & son set adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers

1675 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II

1772 Slavery outlawed in England

1847 Doughnut created

1911 "George V is crowned King of the United Kingdom, succeeding his father, Edward VII."

1941 The German Army takes the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin by surprise as it begins a massive advance on Moscow.

1959 Directors of Harrods are urging shareholders to vote for a merger with Debenhams department chain.

1977 "Walt Disney's ""The Rescuers"" released"

1979 A jury clears former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe of the attempted murder of Norman Scott.

1981 Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon

1986 Argentine footballer Diego Maradona scored both the Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century against England during the FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.

1987 "Fred Astaire actor/dancer, dies at Century City Hospital in LA at 88"

2001 The Parole Board decides that the two schoolboy murderers of James Bulger are to be released.

SaintMike wrote:57

On June 22nd.....

0168 "BC - Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat and capture Macedonian King Perseus, ending the Third Macedonian War"

1611 Henry Hudson & son set adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers

1675 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II

1772 Slavery outlawed in England

1847 Doughnut created

1911 "George V is crowned King of the United Kingdom, succeeding his father, Edward VII."

1941 The German Army takes the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin by surprise as it begins a massive advance on Moscow.

1959 Directors of Harrods are urging shareholders to vote for a merger with Debenhams department chain.

1977 "Walt Disney's ""The Rescuers"" released"

1979 A jury clears former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe of the attempted murder of Norman Scott.

1981 Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon

1986 Argentine footballer Diego Maradona scored both the Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century against England during the FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.

1987 "Fred Astaire actor/dancer, dies at Century City Hospital in LA at 88"

2001 The Parole Board decides that the two schoolboy murderers of James Bulger are to be released.

2012 Matty renewed his season ticket, bank balance worse for wear but looking forward to seeing how Saints and NA cope wioth the challenge

56

HALF WAY.......8 WEEKS TO GO!

On June 23rd....

1053 "Norseman Robert Guiscard gains victory at Civitate over papal forces raised by Leo IX, who is captured Robert, 38, takes Benevento from the Byzantines and founds the Norman Empire that will rule southern Italy until 1194

1532 Henry VIII & Franois I sign secret treaty against Emperor Charles V.

1661 Marriage contract between Charles II of England & Catharina of Portugal.

1757 "Battle of Plassey - 3000 British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000 strong Indian army under Siraj Ud Daulah at Plassey."

1775 "First regatta held on Thames

1848 Bloody insurrection of workers in Paris

1860 US Secret Service created

1868 "Christopher Latham Sholes patents ""Type-writer"""

1894 "International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin."

1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnian Serbs initiating World War I.

1942 "World War II: Germany's latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf FW190 is captured intact when it mistakenly lands in Wales."

1951 British diplomats Guy Burgess & Donald Maclean flee to USSR

1955 "Walt Disney's ""Lady & the Tramp"" released"

1955 The Queen Elizabeth ocean liner leaves for New York on schedule despite attempts by striking seamen to delay her departure.

1968 74 are killed and 150 injured in a football stampede towards a closed exit in a Buenos Aires stadium.

1970 Rocker Chubby Checker arrest for marijuana pocession

1972 The Chancellor, Anthony Barber, announces his decision to temporarily float the pound.

1972 Nixon & Haldeman agree to use CIA to cover up Watergate

1973 "A fire at a house in Hull, England, which kills a six year old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 deaths by fire caused over the next seven years by arsonist Peter Dinsdale."

1975 "Rocker Alice Cooper falls off stage in Vancouver, breaks 6 ribs"

1985 A passenger jet disintegrates in mid-air off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board.

55

On June 24th.....

1314 Battle of Bannockburn; Scotland regains independence from England

1340 Edward III personally commands the English fleet in their victory over the French off Sluys (who were trying to blockade English export of wool to Flanders)

1348 Order of the Garter founded by King Edward III motto 'Honi soit qui mal y pense'

1374 "A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion."

1441 Eton College founded by Henry VI

1497 John Cabot lands on North America in Newfoundland; first European exploration of the region since the Vikings. Claims eastern Canada for England

1509 Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon crowned King and Queen of England.

1540 "Henry VIII divorces his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves"

1650 "Charles II returns from the Continent, landing in Scotland. He signs the National Covenant and is proclaimed king, but he is defeated September 3 at the Battle of Dunbar by Oliver Cromwell"

1717 "The Grand Lodge of England, the first Freemasonic Grand Lodge (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England."

1894 Decision to begin modern Olympics every 4 years

1901 First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens.

1902 "King Edward VII develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation."

1916 Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artillery bombardment on the German Line.

1939 Pan Am's first US to England flight

1948 Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible.

1949 """Hopalong Cassidy"" becomes first network western (NBC)"

1968 The country's rail network is thrown into disarray as the National Union of Railwaymen begins its work-to-rule and ban on overtime.

1974 The Labour Government admits Britain exploded a nuclear device in the United States a few weeks ago.

1977 IRS reveals Jimmy Carter paid no taxes in 1976

1981 "What would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years, the Humber Bridge opens, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire."

1982 "British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines."

1983 America's first woman in space, Sally Ride, returns safely in the Challenger space shuttle after a six-day flight.

1986 Hard-line unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley warns Northern Ireland is on the verge of civil war.

1993 Northern Ireland Minister Michael Mates resigns over his links with fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir.

2004 "In New York, capital punishment was declared unconstitutional."

54

On June 25th....

0524 "Battle of Vzeronce, Franks defeat Burgundians."

1178 5 Canterbury monks report something exploding on Moon

1630 Fork introduced to American dining by Gov Winthrop

1844 "John Tyler took Julia Gardiner as his bride, thus becoming the first U.S. President to marry while in office."

1876 "Indian Chief Crazy Horse won the twohour Battle of Little Bighorn, Montana, wiping out the army of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Custer, who led the battle against the Sioux Indian encampment, was among the 200+ casualties. Ironically, the only survivor of Custer's forces was a horse, Comanche."

1921 Jack Hutchinson becomes first American to win golf's British Open

1929 Pres Hoover authorizes building of Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam)

1938 Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated the first President of Ireland.

1942 "British RAF staged a 1,000 bomb raid on Bremen Germany (WW II)"

1947 The Diary of Anne Frank is published.

1950 UN condemns North Korean invasion. North Korea has invaded South Korea at several points along the two countries' joint border.

1953 John Christie is sentenced to hang for murdering his wife and then hiding her body under the floorboards of their Notting Hill home in London.

1957 United Church of Christ founded with the union of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches.

1961 Iraq announces that Kuwait is a part of Iraq (Kuwait disagrees)

1967 "First global satellite television programme ""Our World"""

1970 The United States launches its latest plan to end the current war of attrition between Israel and Egypt.

1975 "Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares Emergency in India, suspending civil liberties and elections."

1982 Greece abolishes headshaving of the recruits in the military.

1985 Thirteen people are arrested in connection with a suspected IRA bombing campaign uncovered by police two days ago.

2001 The ring leaders of a weekend of racial clashes in Burnley, Lancashire, are hunted by the police as the clear up in the town begins.

2009 """King of Pop"" Michael Jackson, dies at the age of 50"

53

On June 26th....

0363 Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.

1284 "According to legend, the Pied Piper lures 130 children of Hamelin away."

1483 Richard III becomes king of England.

1793 "Gilbert White, naturalist, dies at Selborne, Hampshire"

1797 Charles Newbold patents first cast-iron plow. Farmers fear the effects of the iron on the soil

1807 "Lightning hits a warehouse in Luxembourg, killing 230 people."

1819 The bicycle is patented.

1830 "George IV dies and his brother, William IV, accedes to the throne"

1846 "In London England, British protectionists repeal Corn Laws to raise price of wheat for British farmers; rioting in the streets; British property values fall 50%, and the Canadas will soon feel the effects."

1857 "Off Cap Rouge Quebec, the Steamer Montreal catches fire and sinks in 15 minutes in the St. Lawrence; left Quebec City at 5 pm a day earlier; 253 lives lost, mostly Scottish immigrants on their way to the west."

1857 "The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London."

1870 The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.

1900 Dr Walter Reed begins research that beats Yellow Fever

1902 England establishes Order of Merit

1949 Walter Baade discovers asteroid Icarus inside orbit of Mercury

1959 The Queen and President Eisenhower inaugurate the St Lawrence Seaway in Canada that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic.

1963 "John F. Kennedy speaks the famous words ""Ich bin ein Berliner"" on a visit to West Berlin."

1970 Riots break out in Londonderry after it is revealed Bernadette Devlin has been arrested.

1974 Liz Taylor's 5th divorce (Richard Burton)

1974 "The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio"

1975 Indira Gandhi establishes authoritarian rule in India.

1977 "The Yorkshire Ripper kills 16 year old shop assistant Jayne MacDonald in Leeds, changing public perception of the killer as she was the first victim who was not a prostitute."

1978 Air Canada Flight 189 to Toronto overran the runway and crashed into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of 107 passengers onboard died.

1986 Entrepreneur Richard Branson sets off on his second attempt to claim the transatlantic crossing record for Britain.

1996 Irish Journalist Veronica Guerin is shot in her car while in traffic in the outskirts of Dublin

1997 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling is published in the United Kingdom.

2000 International inspectors say they have seen a large number of IRA weapons "safely and adequately stored" in bunkers.

52

On June 27th...

0678 Saint Agatho begins his reign as a Catholic Pope.

1358 Republic of Dubrovnik founded

1693 "The first woman's magazine ""The Ladies' Mercury"" published (London)"

1759 General James Wolfe starts siege of Quebec.

1806 The British capture Buenos Aires during the British invasions of the Ro de la Plata.

1884 "The SS Caesarea, sank 10 miles off Cap de la Hague, Channel Islands, after being in a collision with the Strathesk on a voyage from Southampton."

1893 Crash of the New York Stock Exchange.

1898 "The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia."

1929 The first color TV demo (NYC)

1940 "800 Jews are burned alive inside Great Synagogue. 1,200 others die in shooting."

1954 "The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow."

1955 First automobile seat belt legislation enacted (Illinois)

1957 The link between smoking and lung cancer is one of 'direct cause and effect', a report by the Medical Research Council finds.

1963 The US President John F Kennedy visits his ancestral homeland in County Wexford.

1969 "Police raid the Stonewall Gay Bar in Greenwich Village, NY, about 400 to 1,000 patrons riot against the police, it lasts 3 days"

1976 "Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda."

1977 Home Secretary Merlyn Rees appeals for calm following two weeks of violent clashes outside the Grunwick factory in north London.

1979 Muhammad Ali announces his retirement from boxing.

1985 U.S. Route 66 ceases to be an official U.S. highway.

1986 Anne White shocks Wimbledon by wearing only a body stocking

1986 "In referendum, Irish uphold ban on divorce"

1986 The International Court of Justice finds the United States guilty of violating international law by supporting rebels in Nicaragua.

1988 "Mike Tyson KOs Michael Spink in 91 seconds, in Atlantic City"

1990 "Salman Rushdie, condemned to death by Iran, contributes $8600 to help their earthquake victims"

1991 "Slovenia, after declaring independence two days previous, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War."

2007 Tony Blair formally tenders his resignation as Prime Minister to the Queen. Gordon Brown is his successor.

51

On June 28th...

1098 Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul.

1519 Charles V elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

1776 "Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington, was hanged for mutiny and sedition."

1790 Forth and Clyde Canal opened. The 35 mile course from Bowling to Grangemouth was the longest of the Lowland canals. It was formally abandoned in 1962.

1820 Tomato is proven nonpoisonous

1838 The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom.

1859 "The first dog show held (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England)"

1880 Ned Kelly the Australian bushranger captured at Glenrowan.

1958 France orders the release of 30 political prisoners to win Muslim support for plans on Algeria's future.

1960 At least 37 men are killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Monmouthshire, Wales.

1976 Three Britons and an American are sentenced to death by firing squad for their roles during the Angolan civil war.

2004 The US hands sovereignty back to Iraq in a low-key ceremony in Baghdad.

2005 Canada becomes the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

50

On June 29th...

0512 A solar eclipse is recorded by a monastic chronicler in Ireland.

1613 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London burns down

1644 "Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, the last battle won by an English King on English soil."

1786 "Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario."

1871 "Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal"

1888 "First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel's Israel in Egypt on wax cylinder."

1913 Beginning of the 2nd Balkan War

1916 Boeing aircraft flies for first time

1939 Dixie Clipper completes first commercial plane flight to Europe

1946 "British arrest 2,700 Jews in Palestine as alleged terrorists"

1949 South Africa begins implementing apartheid; no mixed marriages

1960 The BBC's new Television Centre will be the "Hollywood" of the small screen, the corporation's director of TV announces.

1963 "Beatles' first song ""From Me to You"" hits the UK charts"

1967 Keith Richards is sentenced to 1 year in jail on drugs charge

1974 Isabel Peron is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina. Her husband President Juan Peron had delegated responsibility due to weak health and died two days later.

1976 The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.

1985 "Vancouver businessman Jimmy Pattison pays $2,229,000 for a yellow Rolls-Royce formerly owned by the Beatles"

1986 Millionaire Richard Branson smashes the world record for the fastest powerboat crossing of the Atlantic.

1995 American and Russian spacecrafts successfully dock in orbit for the first time in 20 years.

2001 The government announces a memorial in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, is to be built in London's Hyde Park.

2007 Apple iPhone goes on sale in the United States.

2007 Two car bombs are found in the heart of London at Picadilly Circus.

49

On June 30th...

1097 The Battle of Nicaea ends in defeat for a Muslim army at the hands of a combined force of Crusaders and Byzantine Greeks who take the Seljuk Turks' capital

1688 "The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, beginning the struggle for English independence from Rome which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution."

1859 Charles Blondin is first to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope

1882 "Charles Guiteau hanged in Washington, DC for the shooting death of President James Garfield."

1894 London's Tower Bridge first opens

1905 "Albert Einstein publishes the article ""On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies"", where he introduces special relativity."

1914 "Mahatma Gandhi's first arrest, campaigning for Indian rights in S Africa"

1936 """Gone With the Wind"" by Margaret Mitchell, published"

1948 Transistor as a substitute for Radio tubes announced (Bell Labs)

1954 Millions of people turn to look at the darkening skies as a total eclipse of the sun spreads from America through Europe and on to Asia.

1956 "A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 (Flight 718) collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States, killing all 128 on the two planes."

1964 Centaur 3 launch vehicle fails to make Earth orbit

1969 Four million people face starvation when the Nigerian government bans night flights of food by the Red Cross to Biafra.

1971 Three Russian cosmonauts are found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan.

1975 "Cher, just 4 days after divorcing Sonny Bono marries Gregg Allman"

1977 "Virginia Wade wins the Ladies Singles title at Wimbledon, the last British champion at the All England Club to date."

1979 Johnny Rotten & Joan Collins appear together on BBC's Juke Box Jury

1981 China's Communist Party condemns the late Mao Tse-tung's policy

1985 All 39 Americans being held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia in Lebanon are released, after almost three weeks in captivity.

1989 Attorney General Thornburgh orders Joseph Doherty deported to the UK

1990 East and West Germany merge their economies.

1992 Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.

1997 The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

2007 "A car crashes into Glasgow International Airport in Scotland, believed to be a terrorist attack."

48

On July 1st....

0251 The battle of Abrittus is won by Goths against Romans. Roman Emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus are killed.

1535 Sir Thomas More went on trial in England charged with treason

1690 "Army of England's Protestant King William III defeats Roman Catholic King James II in Battle of the Boyne in Ireland (Now celebrated on July 12 as ""The Battle of the Orange"" )"

1874 "First US kidnapping for ransom, 4-year-old Charles Ross, $20,000"

1879 Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower.

1881 "First international telephone conversation, Calais, ME-St Stephen, NB"

1881 "General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Army's organisation, came into effect."

1890 Anglo-German disputes in East Africa are resolved

1899 Gideon Society established to place bibles in hotels

1911 Formation of Royal Australian Navy (RAN)

1916 "First day on the Somme: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 20,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded."

1934 "First x-ray photo of entire body, Rochester, NY"

1942 World War II: First Battle of El Alamein.

1963 Former Foreign Office official Harold Philby is confirmed as the "third man" in the Burgess and Maclean case.

1963 "Beatles record ""She Loves You"" & ""I'll Get You"""

1969 Charles Philip Arthur George invested as Prince of Wales

1969 John & Yoko are hospitilized after a car crash

1972 First Gay Pride march in England

1974 Monmouthshire renamed Gwent & becomes part of Wales

1979 Sony introduces the Walkman.

1987 One of the City's top investment bankers receives the first conviction for insider dealing since it became illegal.

1994 The chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, returns to the Gaza Strip after 27 years in exile.

1997 The written Theory test becomes a compulsory part of Driving License Examinations in Great Britain

2000 Millionaire novelist Ken Follett levels scathing personal criticism at Prime Minister Tony Blair.

2004 International space probe Cassini-Huygens reaches Saturn and sends back the closest photographs yet of the planet's rings.

2007 "Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces. With the ban already in force in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, this means it is illegal to smoke in indoor public places anywhere in the UK."

47

On July 2nd...

0626 "In fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Incident at Xuanwu Gate. On September 4, Shimin's father abdicated to him, and so Shimin became Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor of China."

0963 The imperial army proclaims Nicephorus Phocas to be Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.

1566 "Nostradamus French astrologer/physician/prophet, dies in Salon"

1578 Martin Frobisher sights Baffin Island.

1613 First English expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia - led by Samuel Argall.

1644 Battle of Marston Moor; Parliamentary forces defeat royalists

1644 "William Gascoigne introduced telescopic sights, is killed at 24"

1776 "The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain, though a public Declaration of Independence is not formally printed for the masses until July 4."

1777 Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.

1787 de Sade shouts from Bastille that prisoners are being slaughtered

1881 "Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from infection on September 19."

1900 "First zeppelin flight on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany."

1927 The first American to win Wimbledon in 20 years (Helen Wills Moody)

1935 Great Britain boxers beat US team in first intl Golden Gloves

1937 Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.

1938 Helen Wills Moody (US) wins her 8th & final Wimbledon singles

1947 "An object speculated to be a UFO crashes near Roswell, New Mexico, though the United States Air Force claims it is a weather balloon."

1961 Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death in Ketchum Idaho

1962 "The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas."

1964 The Civil Rights Bill - one of the most important piece of legislation in American history - becomes law.

1966 Billie Jean King wins her first of 6 Wimbledon single titles

1969 "Brian Jones founder of the Rolling Stones, drowns"

1969 The Jimi Hendrix Experience break up.

1970 Police seize a large cache of arms in west London in one of the biggest raids in Britain for years.

1976 Formal reunification of North & South Vietnam

1987 Moors murderer Ian Brady offers to assist police searches of Saddleworth Moor for the first time since his conviction.

1990 "A stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leads to the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims in Mecca during hajj."

1992 The IRA admits killing three men found by the army at different roadsides in south Armagh.

2001 Barry George is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of television presenter Jill Dando.

2002 Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.

2005 Ten Live 8 concerts are held around the world in an attempt to force G8 countries to address poverty.

46

On July 3rd....

0324 "Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium."

0987 "Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty which ruled France till the French Revolution in 1792."

1806 Michael Keens exhibits first cultivated strawberry

1920 "Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon"

1928 First color television broadcast in London.

1938 "World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 mph.(203 km/h)"

1951 Talks to end the Korean war will begin later in July after terms were accepted by General Matthew Ridgway, supreme commander to the UN in the Far-East.

1966 Demonstrators in London are arrested after their protest against the Vietnam War turns violent.

1967 """News at 10"" premieres on English TV"

1970 A charter flight from Manchester has gone missing over Spain with 105 holiday-makers on board.

1971 Jim Morrison, the lead singer of American rock group The Doors dies of heart failure in Paris, aged 27.

1983 Calvin Smith of US becomes fastest man alive (9.93 s for 100 m)

1987 The former chief of Gestapo in Lyon, Klaus Barbie, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a Lyon court.

1988 An American naval warship patrolling in the Persian Gulf shoots down an Iranian passenger jet after apparently mistaking it for a fighter plane.

1989 "The movie ""Batman,"" set record of quickest $100 million (10 days)"

1991 Donald Trump gives Marla Maples a 7.45 karat diamond ring

2000 In his first speech as Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announces that he will stand up to the government.

45

On July 4th....

1054 "A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula."

1653 Barebones Parliment goes into session in England

1776 American Independence Day . The United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress declaring itself free of British rule. Signed in Philadelphia.

1777 "John Paul Jones hoists first Stars and Stripes flag on Ranger at Portsmouth, NH."

1802 "At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens."

1826 "John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third presidents of the United States, respectively, died on this day, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence."

1831 "James Monroe 5th president, dies"

1837 "Grand Junction Railway, world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool."

1840 "The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end."

1862 Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

1865 "The first edition of ""Alice in Wonderland"" is published"

1876 The first public exhibition of electric light in SF

1898 "Sable Island, Nova Scotia, the French ship La Bourgogne collides with British ship the Cromartyshire; 560 persons drown."

1918 Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date)

1919 Jack Dempsey beats Jess Willard in Cuba for heavyweight championship

1934 Joe Louis wins his first professional boxing match.

1938 "Suzanne Lenglen 6 time Wimbledon champ, dies at 39 of anemia"

1941 "Howard Florey & Norman Heatley meet for the first time, 11 days later they successfully recreate penicillin"

1947 """Indian Independence Bill"" is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign countries - India and Pakistan."

1954 Fourteen years of food rationing in Britain is over as restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat, and bacon in particular, are lifted.

1968 Round-the-world yachtsman Alec Rose receives a hero's welcome as he sails into Portsmouth after his 354-day trip.

1969 Ann Jones defeats Billie Jean King for Wimbledon Ladies championship

1976 In a dramatic raid Israeli commandos fly to Uganda to save 100 hostages held by pro-Palestinian hijackers at Entebbe airport.

1977 Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty is sacked by the club's directors.

1985 Child prodigy Ruth Lawrence achieves a starred first in Mathematics at Oxford University.

1995 The Prime Minister, John Major, wins his battle to remain leader of the Conservative party.

1997 "Web surfers viewed the first-ever photos of the surface of Mars, transmitted by the Sojourner, a roving robot deposited by the Mars Pathfinder, an unmanned spacecraft"

44

On July 5th...

1295 "Scotland and France form an alliance, the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England."

1610 John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.

1687 Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

1803 The convention of Artlenburg leads to the French occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).

1809 Napoleon annexes the Papal States Pope Pius VII is taken prisoner July 5 and will remain in custody until 1814

1841 Thomas Cook opens first travel agency

1865 "The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London"

1865 The world's first maximum speed law is enacted in England.

1937 "Spam, the luncheon meat, was introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation."

1940 Diplomatic relations broken between Britain & Vichy govt in France

1942 "Port Hope Ontario, Ian Fleming the first graduate of the Special 25 training school for spies; later member of MI5, creator of James Bond novels."

1943 "The Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, starts with a German tank attack on Soviet forces."

1946 Louis Reard's bikini swimsuit design debuts at Paris fashion show

1948 British National Health Service Act enacted.

1954 Elvis Presley has his first commercial recording session. He sang That's All Right (Mama) and Blue Moon of Kentucky. Widely considered to be the birth of Rock and Roll.

1954 The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news programme.

1963 "First Beatle tune to hit US charts, Del Shannon ""From Me to You"" at #87"

1975 American tennis player Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship.

1979 The Queen presides over the 1000th annual open-air sitting of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald.

1981 Up to 30 police officers are injured by bricks and other missiles as rioting and looting breaks out in Toxteth, Liverpool.

1983 "Woman gives birth to baby 84 days after brain death (Roanoke, VA)"

1989 Former White House aide Oliver North escapes jail for his part in the Iran-Contra affair.

1989 Rod Stewart hits his head while on stage & knocks himself out

1991 The Bank of Credit and Commerce International closes UK branches over fraud allegations.

1998 "Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation."

2000 Record-breaking penguin rescue. Conservationists in South Africa are carrying out the biggest ever airlift of wild birds.

2006 Emergency United Nations Security Council meeting held at the U.N in New York City because of the North Korean missile tests a day before.

43 (well, 44 as put back to sunday)

On July 6th....

1044 "Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, invades Hungary and defeats a Magyar army at the Battle of Mnf."

1189 Henry II King of England dies

1483 Richard III is crowned king of England.

1535 "Sir Thomas More, author of Utopia and one time Lord Chancellor of England, is executed for treason by King Henry VIII after refusing to agree to Henry's decision to separate the English church from the Roman Catholic church."

1560 The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.

1699 Capt William Kidd arrested in Boston

1785 "Congress resolves US currency named ""dollar"" & adopts decimal coinage"

1801 Battle of Algeciras: The French navy are defeated by the British Royal Navy.

1847 "SS Sea King, this paddle steamer which was plying the ferry trade between Belfast and Liverpool when it ran aground on the eastern end of Mew Island, Belfast Lough. It proven impossible to refloat her and she rolled over filled with water and sank, but there was no loss of life."

1885 "Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog."

1886 Horlicks of Wisconsin offers first malted milk to public

1892 Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.

1906 "The Empress of Ireland arrives at Quebec at 05:30 on maiden voyage from Liverpool; with 215 1st-class passengers, 314 2nd-class passengers and 777 3rd-class passengers; best day's run was 460 knots, a record for the North Atlantic service."

1919 "British R-34 lands in NY, first airship to cross Atlantic (108 hr)"

1924 "The first photo sent experimentally across Atlantic by radio, US-England"

1928 "The first all-talking motion picture shown, in NY (Lights of NY)"

1942 "Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in the ""Secret Annexe"" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse."

1944 "In Hartford, Connecticut, a fire broke out under the big top of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, killing 167 people and injuring 682. Two-thirds of those who perished were children"

1952 After nearly a century of service the tram has made its final appearance in London.

1978 A blaze on the Penzance to Paddington sleeper train leaves 11 dead and 17 injured.

1978 Yana Mintoff hurled horse manure onto the floor of the British House of Commons.

1983 Tony Blair gives his maiden speech in the British Parliament.

1988 Piper Alpha oil rig ablaze. An out-of-control fire on a North Sea oil rig is feared to have claimed the lives of most of those on board.

1989 The Israeli 405 Bus slaughter in which 14 bus passengers were killed as an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus was driving by the edge of a cliff.

1992 The French Government mobilises the army and police to remove the lorries blocking the nation's major roads.

1997 Nasa scientists free a robot from space probe Mars Pathfinder, allowing it to begin exploring the Red Planet.

2000 The Prime Minister Tony Blair's eldest son, Euan, is arrested for being drunk and incapable.

2005 The 2012 Olympic Games will be held in London, the International Olympic Committee announces.