On this day: Hijacked jets crash into World Trade Centre

Rescue workers in action at the World Trade Center in New York following the terrorist attack on this day in 2001. Picture: Reuters

1297: Battle of Stirling Brig. William Wallace and Andrew de Moray, defeated the English.

1777: The battle of Brandywine Creek took place in the American War of Independence when the British, under General Howe, defeated George Washington.

1855: Sebastopol was taken by the Allies after capitulation of the Russians in the Crimean War.

1909: Halley’s Comet was first observed in Heidelberg.

1945: Japan’s former premier Hideki Tojo attempted suicide, but recovered and later was executed as war criminal.

1962: Soviet Union issued warning that any United States attack on Cuban or Soviet ships bound for Cuba would mean war.

1962: The Beatles recorded their first single, Love Me Do, for the Parlophone label.

1972: BBC television quiz programme Mastermind was first transmitted.

1973: Eleven African miners were shot dead during a riot at a gold mine near Johannesburg.

1978: Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was attacked and stabbed in the leg with a poisoned umbrella point in London. He later died.

1988: Thousands of Iraqis marched past United States embassy in Baghdad to denounce American charges of Iraqi chemical weapons use.

1990: The official report into the Lockerbie air disaster recommended reinforcing civil aircraft.

1994: There were renewed calls for a clamp-down on rave events after the fourth death in Scotland in as many months, .

1997: After a nationwide referendum, Scotland voted to establish a devolved parliament, within the United Kingdom.

2001: Two hijacked passenger jets smashed into the Twin Towers of New York’s 110-storey World Trade Centre. A third hijacked aircraft crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington, and a fourth, believed to be heading for the presidential retreat Camp David, crashed near Pittsburgh. The death toll was 2,973,

2008: A fire on a freight train carrying chemicals in the Channel Tunnel caused widespread disruption for travellers.

2012: Dunblane’s Andy Murray ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion with victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.

BIRTHDAYS

Graeme Obree, Scottish cylist, 49; Richard Ashcroft, singer, 43; Franz Beckenbauer, German football manager and former player, 69; Catherine Bott, soprano 62; Paul Cole, racehorse trainer, 73; Harry Connick Jr, singer, 47; Brian De Palma, film director, 74; Amy Madigan, actress, 64; Virginia Madsen, actress, 53; Moby, composer and musician, 49; Brian Perkins, newsreader, 71; Jeff Sluman, golfer, 57; Roger Uttley OBE, rugby player and coach, 65; Johnny Vegas, actor and comedian, 44; Mickey Hart, drummer (the Grateful Dead), 71; Bashar Al Assad, president of Syria, 49; Taraji Henson, actress and singer, 44; Matthew Stevens, snooker player, 37.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1700 James Thomson, Scottish poet and playwright, author of lyrics to Rule Britannia; 1815 Allan Robertson, St Andrews-born golfer; 1885 DH Lawrence, novelist.

Deaths: 1968 Tommy Armour, Edinburgh-born major-winning golfer; 1971 Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Communist leader and prime minister 1958-1964; 1994 Jessica Tandy, actress; 2006 William Auld, Scottish poet, author and translator.