On this day: Sally Gunnell set a new world record

On this day in 1993 Sally Gunnell set a new world record of 52.74 seconds for the women's 400 metres hurdles. Picture: Mike Powell/Allsport

1272: Coronation of Edward I took place.

1399: King Richard II of England surrendered to his cousin Henry.

1561: Mary, Queen of Scots, landed at Leith from France after an absence of 13 years, following the death of her husband, King Francis II.

1692: Five people were hanged in Salem, Massachusetts, for witchcraft.

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

1849: The New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California, turning the gold rush into a stampede as approximately 300,000 prospectors converged on the area.

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.

1919: Afghanistan declared independence from the UK.

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

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.

1942: British prime minister Winston Churchill visited Fieldmarshal Montgomery at his headquarters in Burg-Al-Arab, Egypt.

1944: Paris police staged a strike against Nazi occupiers; the Germans gave parts of the city over to the Resistance.

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

1960: Sputnik 5 carried two dogs and three mice into orbit, the first animals launched in a round trip into space.

1966: An earthquake struck Varko, Turkey, leading to 2,400 deaths.

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.

1979: Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov and Valery Ryumin returned to earth aboard Soyuz 34 after a record 175 days in space.

1986: A car bomb killed 20 people in Tehran, Iran.

1987: Michael Ryan killed 16 people with an assault rifle, then committed suicide in the Hungerford Massacre.

1993: Britain’s Sally Gunnell set a new world record of 52.74 seconds for the women’s 400 metres hurdles.

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

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.

2010: Operation Iraqi Freedom ended, as the last of the US combat teams crossed the border into Kuwait.

BIRTHDAYS

Darius Cambell (formerly Danesh), Scottish singer-songwriter and actor, 35; Ginger Baker, rock drummer (Cream), 76; Gordon Brand, jnr, golfer, 57; Bill Clinton, 42nd US president (1993-2001), 69; Jonathan Coe, writer, 54; ohn Deacon, rock guitarist (Queen) and songwriter, 64; Kevin Dillon, actor, 50; Ian Gillan, singer (Deep Purple), 70; Richard Ingrams, editor of Private Eye 1963-86, 78; Billy J Kramer, Merseybeat singer (The Dakotas), 72; Christy O’Connor, jnr, Irish golfer, 67; Matthew Perry, actor, 46; Jill St John, actress, 75; Baroness Scotland of Asthal, shadow Attorney General for England and Wales 2010-11, 60; Nico Hulkenberg, F1 racing driver, 28; Jennie Bond, TV presenter and journalist, 65.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1560 James Crichton, Dumfriesshire-born athlete, scholar, poet and linguist; 1631 John Dryden, poet; 1808 James Nasmyth, Edinburgh-born inventor of steam hammer; 1860 West Calder-born painter; 1871 Orville Wright, aviation pioneer; 1883 Coco Chanel, fashion designer; 1902 Ogden Nash, poet; 1930 Frank McCourt, author; 1930 Willie Shoemaker, jockey.

Deaths: 14AD Caesar Augustus, founder and first emperor of Roman Empire; 1662 Blaise Pascal, mathematician who invented first digital calculator; 1819 James Watt, steam engine pioneer; 1936 Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director; 1959 Jacob Epstein, sculptor, painter; 1976 Alastair Sim CBE, Scottish actor; 2002 6th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, artist and critic; 2012 Tony Scott, film director.