On this day: First Oxford and Cambridge boat race

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 10 June
The first Oxford and Cambridge University boat race took place on this day in 1829, with Oxford winning comfortably. Picture: GettyThe first Oxford and Cambridge University boat race took place on this day in 1829, with Oxford winning comfortably. Picture: Getty
The first Oxford and Cambridge University boat race took place on this day in 1829, with Oxford winning comfortably. Picture: Getty

1692: The first of the 14 Salem witches was hanged. Bridget Bishop was one of the 150 respectable citizens accused of witchcraft by a band of young girls who, for nearly 20 months, mesmerised the strict Puritan community in Massachusetts.

1719: The Battle of Glenshiel saw the defeat of Scottish Jacobite and Spanish troops by Hanoverian forces.

1768: Forth and Clyde Canal construction started.

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1794: Power of French revolutionary tribunals was increased, leading to mass executions.

1829: The first Oxford and Cambridge University boat race took place, 2.25 miles from Hambledon Lock to Henley Bridge – and was won easily by Oxford.

1854: Queen Victoria opened Crystal Palace on its new site at Sydenham, south London.

1864: Over-arm bowling was legalised for cricket matches.

1909: SOS signal first used in an emergency. The SOS call, which replaced CQD emergency call in 1906, was recognised by two steamers which went to the rescue of the Cunard liner SS Slavonia, wrecked off the Azores.

1943: Ball-point pens, devised by Hungarian Laszlo Biro, were patented in the United States.

1946: Italy became a republic, replacing King Humbert II.

1967: Israel agreed to United Nations cease-fire with Egypt, with Israel holding conquered territory four times its own size.

1971: United States lifted 21-year-old embargo on trade with China.

1978: Larry Holmes won the world heavyweight boxing title in Las Vegas, defeating Ken Norton on points.

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1983: Margaret Thatcher won her second term as prime minister.

1988: Britain’s last lightship was towed from its position north-west of Guernsey to Harwich, ending an era of 157 years for such vessels, which have been replaced by technology.

1989: Police arrested 1,000 people in Seoul, Korea, as radical students fought with riot police in a demand for the overthrow of President Roh Tae-woo.

1990: Former US national security adviser John Poindexter sentenced to six months in prison for his role in Iran-Contra affair.

1990: BA pilot Captain Timothy Lancaster was sucked half-way out of his BAC 1-11 cockpit after the windscreen blew out at 23,000 feet. His legs were held by crew members until the plane landed.

1992: The IRA continued its renewed terror campaign in London with a bomb in Victoria Street, near the House of Commons. No-one was hurt.

1996: Peace talks began in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Fein.

1997: Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot ordered the killing of his defence chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen’s family members.

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1999: Nato suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.

2001: Pope John Paul II canonised Lebanon’s first female saint, Saint Rafqa.

2003: The Spirit Rover was launched, beginning Nasa’s Mars Exploration Rover mission.

2009: At 11:22am Stratford-upon-Avon time, chosen to honour the birthplace of William Shakespeare, the phrase “Web 2.0” entered the English language as its official millionth word.

BIRTHDAYS

Duke of Edinburgh, 93; Faith Evans, R&B singer, 41; Gina Gershon, actress, 52; Arthur Campbell Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General, 72; Elizabeth Hurley, actress and model, 49; Sir Simon Jenkins, columnist, editor of The Times 1990-2, 71; Bill Longmuir, Scottish golfer, 61; Jeanne Tripplehorn, actress, 51; Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer, 54; Helen Young, weather forecaster, 45; Princess Madeleine of Sweden, 32; Carlo Ancelotti, Italian football manager, 55; Andy Schleck, Luxembourg-born professional cyclist (Tour de France winner), 29.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1688 James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender; 1710 James Short, Edinburgh-born optician and astronomer; 1819 Gustave Courbet, artist; 1840 Sir HM Stanley, explorer; 1901 Frederick Loewe, composer; 1901 Eric Maschwitz OBE, playwright, songwriter; 1911 Sir Terence Rattigan, playwright; 1915 Saul Bellow, novelist; 1922 Judy Garland, actress; 1923 Robert Maxwell, MP and publisher; 1926 Lionel Jeffries, actor, screenwriter and film director; 1928 Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator.

Deaths: 1560 Marie of Guise, Queen Regent of Scotland; 1727 King George I; 1836 Andre Ampere, physicist; 1934 Frederick Delius, composer; 1967 Spencer Tracey, actor; 1974 Henry, Duke of Gloucester; 1982 Rainer Werner Fassbinder, film director; 1993 Les Dawson, comedian; 2000 Brian Statham, cricketer; 2004 Ray Charles, singer; 2004 Graeme Kelling, guitarist (Deacon Blue).