On this day: 14th Olympic Games opened at Wembley|BBC televised

On this day in 1948, the 14th Olympic Games opened at Wembley, and were to become known as the wettest ever held. Picture: Getty

29 July

1030: St Olaf, King of Norway, was killed in battle. Several churches in Shetland and Orkney were dedicated to him.

1565: Mary, Queen of Scots, married her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in the Old Abbey Chapel at Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.

1567: James VI crowned at Stirling.

1588: The Spanish Armada was sighted off Cornwall. It was defeated by the English fleet under Howard and Drake,  the battle beginning off Plymouth.

1900: Umberto I, King of Italy from 1878, was assassinated at Monza by anarchists.

1911: Dual control aircraft were introduced at Eastchurch, England, for use in training of Territorial Army pilots.

1921: All-India Congress decided to boycott Prince of Wales’s visit to India.

1921: Adolf Hitler was elected president of National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

1922: Music hall artist Will Hay was the first comedian on British radio, when excerpts from a forthcoming show at the  Apollo Theatre were broadcast on a programme called Listening In.

1945: The BBC Light Programme began  broadcasting.

1948: The 14th Olympic Games opened at Wembley, and were to become known as the wettest ever held.

1949: The BBC televised  the first regular weather forecast.

1959: Hawaii voted for first time as one of United States, and elected first Orientals to be seated in United States Congress.

1973: Voters in Greece endorsed decisions by their leaders to abolish Greek monarchy and install George Papadopoulos as president.

1981: The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were married at Westminster  Abbey.

1986: South Africa’s president PW Botha rejected British foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe’s plea for unconditional release of Nelson Mandela.

1989: London Weather Centre announced that 1989 had reached the record for the sunniest summer of the  century.

1990: South Africa’s Communist Party was relaunched after 40 years underground. Nelson Mandela urged a peaceful transition to democracy and the dismantling of apartheid.

1992: Chris Boardman became the first British cyclist for 84 years to win an individual Olympic gold medal when he won the 4,000 metres pursuit on his revolutionary “superbike” in Barcelona.

2009: A tornado hit  Stornoway, causing widespread damage.

2010: A very rare broadsword to commemorate the carrying of Robert the Bruce’s heart on crusade fetched £10,800 at auction.

BIRTHDAYS

Bill Forsyth, Scottish film director (Gregory’s Girl; Local Hero), 67. Sally Gunnell, Olympic, world, Commonwealth and European champion athlete and broadcaster, 48; Fernando Alonso, world motor racing champion 2005-6, 33; Stephen Dorff, actor, 41; Lord Kilpatrick of Kincraig CBE, pharmacologist, president, General Medical Council 1989-1995, 88; Joe Johnson, snooker player, 62; Diane Keen, actress, 68; Andi Peters, television presenter and producer, 44; Sharon Creech, children’s author, 69; Jay Rodriguez, footballer, 25; Carl Cox, DJ and producer, 52; Graham Poll, referee, 51; Nellie Kim, multi gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast, 57; John Sykes, rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter (Thin Lizzy), 55; Jim Beglin, football commentator and former Republic of Ireland internationalist; David Warner, actor, 73; Robert Fuller, actor, 81; Robert Horton, actor (Wagon Train), 90; David Taylor, snooker player, 71

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1801 George Bradshaw, cartographer, printer and publisher (Bradshaws railway timetables); 1841 Armauer Hansen, physician, discoverer of bacillus causing leprosy; 1869 Booth Tarkington, author; 1883 Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator; 1892 William Powell, actor; 1905 Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary-general of United Nations 1953-1961; 1905 Clara Bow, silent movie actress; 1913 Lord Grimond, Liberal politician; 1947 Dick Harmon, golf coach.

Deaths: 1833 William Wilberforce, anti-slave trade philanthropist; 1856 Robert Schumann, composer; 1890 Vincent Van Gogh, painter; 1900 Umberto I, king of Italy; 1970 Sir John Barbirolli, conductor and musical director; 1974 Cass (“Mama Cass”) Elliot, singer; 1976 Mickey Cohen, US mafia boss; 1983 David Niven, actor; 1983 Raymond Massey, actor; 1983 Luis Buñuel, film director; 2007 Mike Reid, comedian and actor.