On this day: Chris Boardman wins Olympic gold

On this day in 1992, Chris Boardman became the first British cyclist in more than 80 years to win an Olympic gold medal. Picture: Getty

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 Lord Darnley, in the Old Abbey Chapel at Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.

1567: James VI was crowned King of Scotland at the church of the Holy Rude in Stirling, following the abdication of Mary Queen of Scots five days earlier.

1609: Samuel de Champlain shot and killed two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, New York, which sparked 150 years of French-Iroquois conflict.

1783: Skaptar volcano in Iceland erupted, killing 9,000 people.

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

1907: Sir Robert Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts.

1920: The Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrendered.

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

1928: Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie, the movie in which Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their debuts, was released.

1930: Airship R300 made the first passenger-carrying flight from the UK to Canada.

1943: One million inhabitants of Hamburg fled the city to escape bombing by the Allies.

1948: King George VI opened the 14th Olympic Games at Wembley. They were to become known as the wettest ever held.

1949: The BBC televised the first regular weather forecast.

1968: Pope Paul VI declared artificial birth control as prohibited for Roman Catholics.

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 St Paul’s Cathedral.

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), 69; Viv Anderson MBE, English football player and coach, 59; Sally Gunnell OBE, Olympic, world, Commonwealth and European champion athlete and broadcaster, 49; Fernando Alonso, world motor racing champion 2005-6, 34; Joe Johnson, snooker player, 62; Alexandra Paul, actress (Baywatch), 52; Carl Cox, DJ and producer, 53; Nellie Kim, multi gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast, 58; John Sykes, rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter (Thin Lizzy), 56; Martina McBride, country music singer, 49; David Warner, actor, 74; David Taylor, snooker player, 72.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1841 Armauer Hansen, physician, discoverer of bacillus causing leprosy; 1905 Clara Bow, silent movie actress; 1913 Lord Grimond, Liberal politician.

Deaths: 1833 William Wilberforce, philanthropist; 1856 Robert Schumann, composer; 1890 Vincent Van Gogh, painter; 1970 Sir John Barbirolli, conductor and musical director; 1974 Cass (“Mama Cass”) Elliot, singer; 1983 David Niven, actor; 1983 Luis Buñuel, film director.

RETURN OF SIR FREDERICK LUGARD: WAR IN THE CAMEROONS

29 July, 1915

Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor-General of Nigeria, has just arrived in this country and will return to his post in a few weeks. One of the most notable features of the situation has been the great loyalty and enthusiasm shown throughout Nigeria for the British cause. This is the more satisfactory in view of the determined attempts of the Germans to subborn the Mohammedans by distributing throughout the country letters purporting to come from high dignitaries of the Islamic faith, urging them to a Jehad, and adding that he who fights for Germany fights for Islam. All the efforts of the Germans have proved futile and the natives themselves bring to the Administrator copies of these inflamatory pamphlets, at the same time holding them up to ridicule. Every class has come forward to assist against the enemy in every possible way.

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