On this day: Hearts chief Wallace Mercer drops Hibs takeover bid

On this day in 1990, Wallace Mercer, the Hearts chairman, dropped his Â£6.1 million takeover bid for Hibernian. Picture: Crawford Tait

574: John II ended his reign as Catholic Pope.

1174: William I of Scotland was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.

1249: Alexander III crowned at Scone.

1469: James III of Scotland married Margaret of Denmark at Holyrood Abbey.

1568: The dean of St Paul’s Cathedral perfected a way to bottle beer.

1772: Captain James Cook began his second voyage aboard Resolution to search for Terra Australis (the southern continent).

1820: First day of the trial, held in Stirling, of the Radicals captured at the Battle of Bonnymuir, charged with treason. John Baird and Andrew Hardie were subsequently executed.

1837: Queen Victoria became the first monarch to live in the present-day Buckingham Palace.

1868: Scotch Reform Act was passed, creating seven additional Scottish seats in the House of Commons at the expense of English ones, and giving the vote to all male householders.

1908: The fourth Olympic Games opened in London.

1919: The British dirigible R34 arrived in Norfolk after the first transatlantic round flight, having left East Fortune, in East Lothian, on 2 July.

1923: The “Hollywoodland” sign above Hollywood was officially dedicated. The last four letters dropped off in 1949.

1930: The first World Cup football tournament began in Uruguay. Thirteen countries took part and Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 in the final.

1933: All political parties were banned in Germany, except the Nazis.

1955: Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged at Hollowat Prison, London.

1972: A series of shootings and gun battles erupted across Belfast between the Provisional IRA and British Army soldiers.

1985: Live Aid pop concerts in Britain and America raised more than £50 million for famine victims in Africa.

1990: Wallace Mercer, the Hearts chairman, dropped his £6.1 million takeover bid for Hibernian.

2007: The BBC apologised to the Queen after admitting that a promotional trailer for a television programme appeared to show that she had stormed off in a huff from a shoot with American photographer Annie Leibovitz.

2011: Mumbai, India was rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 people and injuring 130.

2012: Scottish Football League clubs voted in favour of a newco Rangers football club playing in Division Three.