On this day: Rocky Marciano defeated Roland LaStanza

On this day in 1953 Rocky Marciano beat Roland LaStanza by a technical knockout in a world heavyweight title fight. Picture: Getty

AD 867: Michael III of Eastern Empire was assassinated.

1688: France’s King Louis XIV declared war against Holy Roman Empire.

1776: The oldest of the classic horse races, the St Leger, was first run at Doncaster.

1829: Russia and the Ottoman empire signed the Peace Treaty of Adrianople.

1838: The Anti-Corn Law League was formed in a bid to repeal the Corn Laws.

1853: France annexed New Caledonia.

1869: “Jubilee” Jim Fiske and Jay Gould tried to corner the gold market, causing financial “Black Friday” in United States.

1890: The president of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City issued a manifesto advising members that the teaching and practice of polygamy should be abandoned.

1930: Noel Coward’s Private Lives premiered in London.

1934: Baseball legend Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance for the New York Yankess at Yankee Stadium.

1935: The first Jaguar car went on sale for £385.

1940: The Luftwaffe bomber a Spitfire factory in Southampton.

1943: Soviet army crossed Dnieper River north of Kiev as Germans retreated.

1947: A trainload of 1,200 Muslim refugees fleeing to Pakistan was massacred by Sikhs at Amritsar in the Punjab.

1948: First conference in London of representatives from Britain’s African colonies.

1948: The Honda Motor Company was founded.

1950: In “Operation Magic Carpet”, all Jews living in Yemen moved to Israel.

1953: Rocky Marciano defeated Roland LaStanza by a technical knockout in a world heavyweight title fight.

1960: The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, was launched at Newport, Virginia.

1969: The first Elvis Presley convention took place in Cincinnati, attended by 2,500 fans.

1971: Britain expelled 90 Soviets for espionage activities.

1972: Norway voted by 53.5 per cent not to join the EEC.

1977: United States and Soviet Union said high-level talks had narrowed their differences on proposed agreement limiting bomber and missile forces.

1990: East Germany formally withdrew from Warsaw Pact.

1990: The Supreme Soviet gave Mikhail Gorbachev sweeping powers to rule by decree for 18 months.

1991: Western hostage Jackie Mann, former Battle of Britain fighter pilot, was set free in Beirut after 28 months in captivity.

1994: Ten Haitians died in a firefight with United States marines in Cap-Haitien.

1995: Scot David Coulthard won the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril.

1996: US president Bill Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.

2005: Hurricane Rita made landfall in the United States.

2007: GMTV’s competition phone-lines company, Opera Telecom, was fined £250,000 for picking potential winners before phone-ins closed.

2008: The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago was topped off at 1,389ft (423m), becoming the world’s highest residence above ground-level.

BIRTHDAYS

Ally McCoist, Scottish footballer, manager and broadcaster, 53; Helen Lederer, comic actress, 61; Dame Elizabeth Blackadder DBE, Scottish artist, Painter and Limner to the Queen, 84; Jack Dee, comedian, 54; Brian Glanville, journalist and author, 84; Billy Kay, Scottish broadcaster and writer, 64; Gerry Marsden MBE (The Pacemakers), 73; Victoria Pendleton CBE, Olympic cycling gold medallist, 35; John Rutter CBE, composer and conductor, 70; Jackie Sandler, actress, 41; Ben Platt, actor, 22; Owen Farrell, rugby internationalist, 24; John Watts Young, astronaut, 85; Kimberley Nixon, actress, 30; Mike Phelan, football coach and former player, 53; Daniele Bennati, cyclist, 35.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1717 Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, art historian, antiquarian and politician; 1725 Arthur Guinness, founder of Guinness brewery; 1871 Lottie Dod, five-time Wimbledon ladies singles champion; 1894 Tommy Armour, Edinburgh-born golfer; 1896 Francis Scott Fitzgerald, novelist; 1931 Anthony Newley, actor, singer and composer; 1936 Jim Henson, puppeteer, actor, director and producer of The Muppet Show; 1941 Lady (Linda) McCartney, photographer, musician, animal rights activist and food writer.

Deaths: 1920 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian artist and jeweller; 1983 Dame Isobel Baillie, oratorio singer; 1991 Theodor Geisel (aka Dr Seuss), children’s author; 1991 Peter Bellamy, singer; 2014 Christopher Hogwood CBE, musicologist and conductor.