On this day: Bangladesh independence | Ames inquiry | Dolly the Sheep
1797: French forces landed at Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, but were quickly captured. No other foreign force has managed to invade Britain.
1819: Florida was purchased by the United States from Spain.
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Hide Ad1848: Revolt erupted in Paris due to failure of Louis Philippe’s reign.
1886: The Times became the first newspaper to institute a “personal” column.
1934: National Council for Civil Liberties was founded.
1955: Maureen Connolly, Little Mo, darling of Wimbledon, announced her retirement from competitive tennis to get married.
1957: The Duke of Edinburgh was formally granted the style and titular dignity of prince of the United Kingdom in recognition of his ten years’ service to the country.
1964: Ghana became one-party Socialist state.
1972: IRA bomb killed seven people at Aldershot.
1974: Bangladesh’s independence was recognised by Pakistan.
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Hide Ad1975: Military government of Ethiopia announced that 2,300 guerrillas had been killed in fighting in Eritrea.
1982: Mercury given licence to operate telephones in competition with British Telecom.
1990: An Ariane rocket, carrying two Japanese satellites, exploded in French Guiana two minutes after take-off.
1991: Kenny Dalglish, veteran of a record 102 caps for Scotland, quit after five years as Liverpool player-manager.
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Hide Ad1992: The UN Security Council voted to send 14,400 peace-keeping troops to Croatia – the first deployment of a United Nations peace force in Europe.
1994: US president Bill Clinton ordered a full inquiry after top CIA agent Aldrich Ames and his wife were accused of having spied for the Soviet Union and Russia for nine years.
1995: John Major and his Irish counterpart, John Bruton, launched the joint Framework Document, offering the chance of permanent peace in Northern Ireland.
1997: In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announced that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.
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Hide Ad2006: At least six men staged Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53 million from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011: An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude struck Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 181 people.