On this day: Mikhail Gorbachev toppled in coup

On this day in 1991, protesters and the military clashed in a dramatic coup that toppled Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Picture: Getty

1272: Coronation of Edward I took place.

1561: Mary, Queen of Scots, landed at Leith from France after an absence of 13 years.

1685: Judge Jeffreys sentenced hundreds to death at what became known as the Bloody Assize.

1745: After travelling from France, Prince Charles Edward Stuart raised his father’s standard at Glenfinnan to start the ‘45 Rising.

1855: The first international voluntary organisation, the YMCA World Alliance, formed in Paris.

1897: The London Electric Cab Co began operating the first taxi-cab service in London’s West End and City. The black and yellow electric cars went at 9mph and cost 25 shillings for a whole day, including driver.

1934: Plebiscite in Germany gave sole power to Adolf Hitler.

1936: British government banned export of arms to Spain.

1940: British forces were driven out of Somaliland.

1942: In Operation Jubilee, about 6,000 troops, mainly Canadian, supported by British Commandos and American Rangers, raided the French port of Dieppe in Normandy. About 1,000 were killed and 2,000 captured.

1953: England, under captain Len Hutton, won the Ashes for the first time since the controversial Bodyline tour of 1932-3.

1987: Michael Ryan shot dead 16 people in Hungerford, Berkshire and then shot himself.

1991: Soviet hardliners toppled president Mikhail Gorbachev in a sudden and dramatic coup.

1994: Graeme Obree, from Irvine, riding a home-made bike, broke the world record and became world pursuit champion over 4,000 metres in Hamar, Norway.

1999: In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rallied to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia president Slobodan Milosevic.

2002: A Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops was hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.

2003: A car-bomb attack on UN headquarters in Iraq killed the agency’s top envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 other employees.

2008: Edinburgh cyclist Chris Hoy became the first Briton in a century to win three gold medals at the same Olympic Games. He won the sprint to add to his golds from the keirin and team sprint.

BIRTHDAYS

Darius Danesh, Scottish singer-songwriter and actor, 34; Ginger Baker, rock drummer (Cream), 75; Gordon Brand, Jnr, golfer, 56; Bill Clinton, 42nd United States president (1993-2001), 68; Jonathan Coe, writer, 53; John Deacon, guitarist (Queen) and songwriter, 63; Kevin Dillon, actor, 49; Ian Gillan, singer (Deep Purple), 69; Richard Ingrams, editor of Private Eye 1963-86, 77; Billy J Kramer, Merseybeat rock singer (The Dakotas), 71; Christy O’Connor, Jnr, golfer, 66; Matthew Perry, actor, 45; Baroness Scotland of Asthal, shadow attorney-general for England and Wales 2010-11, 59; Simon Bird, actor and comedian, 30; Nico Hulkenberg, F1 racing driver, 27; Jennie Bond, TV presenter and journalist, 64.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1560 James Crichton, Dumfriesshire-born athlete, scholar, poet and linguist (the “Admirable Crichton”); 1631 John Dryden, poet; 1646 John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal; 1871 Orville Wright, aviation pioneer.

Deaths: 14AD Caesar Augustus, founder and first emperor of Roman Empire; 1819 James Watt, steam engine pioneer; 1977 Groucho Marx, comedian and film star.