On this day: Heavy flooding across Scotland

On this day in 2009 heavy flooding caused devastation across Scotland, particular between the Lothians and Moray. Picture: Getty

1860: The first weather forecast appeared in the Times newspaper.

1872: British-French dual control of Egypt was re-established.

1886: Geronimo, Apache chief and leader of the last great Red Indian resistance, surrendered in Arizona to General Nelson Miles.

1888: George Eastman registered Kodak as a trademark and patented the first roll-film camera.

1909: The first Boy Scout rally took place in Crystal Palace, London.

1916: British forces took Dar es Salaam in Tanganyika.

1939: The British liner Athenia sank after being torpedoed by a German U-boat the previous day off Ireland. Ninety-three lives were lost.

1944: Allies liberated Antwerp.

1949: Britain’s largest aircraft, the 130-ton eight-engined Bristol Brabazon, had its first flight.

1955: Richard Baker presented the late-night summary on BBC to become the first television newscaster to be seen on screen.

1957: Egypt and Syria formed economic union.

1961: The Initial Teaching Alphabet system was introduced in 19 schools.

1961: Trades Union Congress expelled Electrical Trades Union for ballot-rigging.

1964: The Forth Road Bridge, 6,156ft long and with a centre span of 3,300ft, was opened by the Queen.

1970: Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova defected to the West during a visit to London by the Kirov Ballet.

1987: United Nations secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar said Iran had agreed to negotiate implementation of UN peace plan to end its war with Iraq.

1990: Convoy of seven buses carrying 306 British women and children stranded since Iraqi invasion reached Baghdad after 14-hour journey from Kuwait.

1992: The government borrowed £7.25 billion in foreign currencies to help prop up the pound.

1998: Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.

2009: Hundreds of homes were evacuated after some of the worst flooding in living memory caused devastation from the Lothians to Moray.

2010: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35am, causing widespread damage and several power outages.

BIRTHDAYS

Beyoncé Knowles, singer, 33; Raymond Floyd, golfer, 72; Dawn Fraser MBE, Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist, 77; Mark Ronson, DJ/producer, 39; John David James Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair, 53; Tom Watson, eight-time major-winning golfer, 65; Tareq Aziz, Bangladeshi cricketer, 31; Kevin Kennedy, actor, writer, producer (Curly Watts in Coronation Street), 53; Shane Gould MBE, triple Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, 58; Michael Stean, chess grandmaster, 61; Martin Chambers, drummer (the Pretenders), 63; Gene Parsons, drummer, guitarist, singer-songwriter (the Byrds), 70.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1241 Alexander III, King of Scotland 1249-86 (at Roxburgh); 1736 Robert Raikes, founder of Sunday School movement; 1886 Albert Orsborn, Salvation Army general; 1928 Dick York, actor.

Deaths: 1571 Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, Regent of Scotland; 1852 William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist and ornithologist; 1907 Edvard Grieg, composer; 2006 Steve Irwin, crocodile hunter and television presenter; 2009 Iain Cuthbertson, Glasgow-born actor.