On this day: India’s first unmanned lunar mission

High school students next to a model of the PSLV-C11 rocket at the Indian Space Research Organisation, on this day in 2008. Picture: Getty

1721: Peter the Great took title of Czar of All Russia.

1797: First parachute descent made by André-Jacques Garnerin from a balloon over Paris.

1877: Firedamp explosion at Blantyre Colliery, Lanarkshire, killed 207 miners.

1910: Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen convicted at Old Bailey of poisoning his wife Cora, and was hanged (23 November) in London.

1921: German government resigned over economic crisis.

1924: Ministry of Health banned use of preservatives in dairy products and many other foods.

1937: Duke and Duchess of Windsor arrived in Berlin to meet Hitler, study poor housing conditions and hear a concert by the Nazi District Orchestra.

1952: SA Velcro patented the non-metallic fastener that was later developed for space suits.

1962: Cuban missile crisis began as president John F Kennedy announced blockade of Cuba in protest at Russian missiles there.

1962: Nelson Mandela’s treason trial opened in South Africa.

1964: Jean-Paul Sartre turned down the Nobel Prize for literature. His publisher said he would never accept gifts. The only other authors to turn down the award had been George Bernard Shaw and Boris Pasternak (who was made to by his government).

1968: Arab guerrilla bombs killed 13 people in Jerusalem market.

1987: First volume of Gutenberg Bible sold in New York for £3.26 million, making it the most expensive printed book ever.

1992: Demonstrators threw eggs at the Queen when she arrived at a church in Dresden, Germany, for a service of reconciliation.

1995: Scotland won the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews for the first time, beating Zimbabwe in the final.

1999: Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during the Second World War, was jailed for crimes against humanity.

2005: Tropical Storm Alpha formed in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 22 named storms.

2008: India launched its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1.

2009: The first nationwide postal strike in two years began after talks between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union broke down.

BIRTHDAYS

Catherine Deneuve, actress, 71; Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, explorer and author, 78; Jeff Goldblum, actor, 62; Sir Derek Jacobi CBE, actor, 76; Craig Levein, Scottish footballer, manager and administrator, 50; Christopher Lloyd, actor, 76; Shelby Lynne, singer, 46; Sir Donald McIntyre CBE, opera singer, 80; Kelvin MacKenzie, media executive and former newspaper executive, 68; Paul McStay, footballer, 50; Sir Michael Stoute, racehorse trainer, 69; Arsene Wenger, football manager, 65; Shaggy, reggae singer, 46; George Cohen, World Cup-winning footballer, 75; Mike Hendrick, former cricketer, 66.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1811 Franz Liszt, composer and pianist; 1913 Robert Capa, war photographer and photojournalist; 1915 Yitzhak Shamir, prime minister of Israel 1986 to 1992; 1919 Doris Lessing OBE, novelist and Nobel laureate; 1923 Bert Trautmann OBE, football goalkeeper.

Deaths: 1707 Sir Cloudesley Shovell, admiral; 1802 Samuel Arnold, composer; 1906 Paul Cézanne, painter; 1917 Bob Fitzsimmons, first British boxer to win world heavyweight title; 1999 Sharman Weir, musician, manager, Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow.