On this day: Pele retires | Concorde 001 breaks sound barrier

On this day in 1977, Brazilian footballer Pele, pictured, right, with journalist Michael Hart, announced his retirement. Picture: Getty

Pheasant shooting begins.

National day of Nigeria, China and Cyprus

1568: The Bannatyne MS, the most extensive collection of early Scottish poetry extant, was made by George Bannatyne, an Edinburgh merchant, while staying at Newtyle in Angus to escape the plague.

1792: Money orders were first issued in Britain.

1838: Britain’s first Afghan war, to prevent increasing Russian influence threatening British position in India.

1870: The first official issue of the postcard was made in Britain by the Post Office, together with the introduction of the halfpenny postage stamp.

1908: Henry Ford introduced the model T car for $850 – within 18 years his production techniques reduced that to $310. 1911: Royal Navy’s then-biggest ship, the battleship King George V, was launched.

1923: Failure of Black Reichswehr coup in Germany.

1931: Britain’s first traffic lights were installed as an experiment in Oxford Street, London.

1949: The People’s Republic was founded in China, with Mao Tsetung its chairman.

1960: Nigeria achieved independence within the Commonwealth.

1961: First edition of Songs of Praise was broadcast.

1962: BBC transmitted first edition of the Tonight show.

1966: Speer and von Schirach were released from Spandau, leaving Rudolf Hess the sole prisoner from the Nazi war trials.

1969: Concorde 001 broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight in France.

1971: Disneyworld, the world’s largest amusement park, opened in Florida.

1974: The first McDonald’s opened in London to speed up the fast-food revolution.

1977: Pele retired from football after 1,363 games, in which the Brazilian scored 1,281 goals.

1982: Internal telegrams in Britain were abolished.

1992: Japanese scientists denied that a malfunction in a reactor near Tokyo had threatened a core meltdown.

1995: British shops were forced to observe a European Commission directive and switch to metric system of weights, or face fines of up to £5,000.

2009: The Supreme Court took over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.