Today in History

[Gemini]

1579

Francis Drake anchored the Golden Hind just north of what would one day be San Francisco Bay, California and proclaimed England's sovereignty over an area he named New Albion.

[Gemini]

1999

The wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex ( the fourth, and youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh) and Sophie Rhys-Jones. The wedding took place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

[Gemini]

1984

The biggest exam shake up for over 10 years was announced with O Level and CSE exams to be replaced by new examinations, to be known as GCSEs.

[Gemini]

1937

First televising of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.

[Gemini]

1948

The Empire Windrush ship arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex, bringing the first of hundreds of thousands of people who came to Britain between 1948 and 1971 to help rebuild the country after the war.

[Gemini]

2005

The Glastonbury Festival eventually got under way after suffering serious disruption when storms tore across its site at Pilton, Somerset. Heavy rain flooded parts of the site, with dozens of tents lost under water, while lightning strikes affected the stages and knocked out power lines.

[Gemini]

1969

Wimbledon saw the longest men’s singles match ever when Charlie Passarell was beaten by Pancho Gonzalez 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9.

[Gemini]

1959

The St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower.

[Gemini]

1948

English middleweight boxer Dick Turpin, (the elder brother and trainer of the more famous Randolph Turpin), beat Vince Hawkins at Villa Park in Birmingham to become the first black fighter to win a British boxing title.

[Gemini]

1966

Barclays Bank introduced the Barclaycard - the UK's first credit card.

[Gemini]

1957

The British Egg Marketing Board stamped a crowned lion on British eggs as a sign of freshness. In the first week 80% of all eggs sold carried the stamp.

[Gemini]

2014

Tracey Emin's modern artwork 'My Bed' was sold at auction by Christie's in London for £2.2m. The work features an unmade bed surrounded by a floor littered by empty vodka bottles, cigarette butts and condoms. It was put up for sale by the art collector Charles Saatchi with a guide price of between £800,000 and £1.2m.

[Oma]

Madness and more money than sense.

[Gemini]

2018

British divers, John Volanthen, (an IT consultant based in Bristol) and Rick Stanton, (a former Midlands fire fighter), discovered 12 young Thai footballers and their coach, after nine days trapped in caves in northern Thailand. More than 1,000 people were involved in the global operation. All 13 were rescued after 17 days underground. It was the most challenging underground rescue in history.