On this day: James VIII proclaimed King of Scotland

Kevin Maxwell, left, seen here with his brother Ian, was declared bankrupt on ths day in 1992 with debts of £406.5m. Picture: PA

3 September

1189: Coronation of King Richard I, the Lion Heart, in Westminster Abbey.

1650: Scottish army of Charles II, under Sir David Leslie, routed by the English Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell at Dunbar.

1651: Oliver Cromwell defeated Royalist troops at Battle of Worcester.

1745: James Francis Stuart proclaimed as King James VIII of Scotland by his son, Prince Charles Edward at Perth.

1752: The 3 September became 14 September with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. Crowds were said to have flocked streets, crying: “Give us back our 11 days.”

1783: The peace of Versailles ending the War of American Independence was signed in Paris.

1787: Weavers rioted against wage-cutting in Glasgow. After bricks were thrown, injuring magistrates and military, troops were ordered to fire on the rioters, killing three and fatally wounding three others before the crowd dispersed.

1878: The Princess Alice pleasure paddle-steamer was sliced in half on the Thames near Woolwich by the 1,400-tonne collier iron steamer the Bywell Castle: 700 people died, 100 swam to safety and 70 were pulled out of the water by colliers.

1879: Afghanistan troops massacred British legation at Kabul.

1916: The first German Zeppelin airship was shot down by Captain Robinson in Cufley, Hertfordshire. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1935: Sir Malcolm Campbell set up a land speed record of 301.13mph.

1939: Britain and France declared war on Germany.

1945: Singapore was returned to British control after being occupied by Japanese since 1942.

1953: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was established.

1966: Captain John Ridgway and Sergeant Chay Blyth became the first Britons to row across the Atlantic. The journey, in English Rose III, took 91 days.

1967: Sweden switched to driving on the right of the road.

1976: Viking 2 set down on t Mars after a journey lasting six days short of one year.

1989: Thousands of blacks marched and waded at “whites only” beach in defiance campaign in South Africa.

1991: Benetton fashion poster showing newborn baby smeared with blood was banned by Advertising Standards Authority after 800 complaints.

1992: Kevin Maxwell was declared bankrupt with debts of £406.5 million.

BIRTHDAYS

Pauline Collins OBE, actress, 73 Basil Butcher, West Indian cricketer, 80; Caryl Churchill, playwright, 75; ; Michael Connarty, Labour MP, 66; Fearne Cotton, television presenter, 32; Nicky Horne, disc jockey, 63; Gerard Houllier, French football manager, 66; Anne Jackson, actress, 87; Al Jardine, singer (The Beach Boys), 71; Steve Jones, rock guitarist (Sex Pistols), 58; Sir Brian Lochore OBE, New Zealand rugby player, 63; Charlie Sheen, actor, 48.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1728 Matthew Boulton, engineer and inventor; 1899 Sir Frank Burnet, immunologist; 1901 James Hanley, novelist and playwright; 1904 Lord Craigton, former Scottish Office minister.

Deaths: 1963 Louis MacNeice, poet; 1967 Woody Guthrie, folk singer; 1982 Frederic Dannay, novelist and one half of the team known as Ellery Queen; 1990 Lady Home of the Hirsel; 1991 Frank Capra, writer and film director.