3rd June

[chenrezig]

1162 Thomas à Becket was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.

1657 The death of William Harvey, the English physician who described the circulation of the blood.

1665 James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England) defeated the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

1726 The birth of James Hutton, Scottish physician and geologist who wrote Theory of the Earth in 1785, which became the basis of modern geology.

1739 The opening of the first Methodist Chapel in Britain - in Bristol.

1839 In Humen, (China) 1.2 million kg of opium were confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a justification to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.

1865 The birth of George V, King of England from 1910 to 1936 who married Princess May of Teck (Queen Mary) in 1893. He ruled during the First World War and changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917.

1899 English cricket captain W.G.Grace became the first man to play Test cricket beyond the age of 50. He played his last game against Australia aged 50 and 320 days at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

1931 The Baird Company televised the Epsom Derby, which was transmitted by the BBC.

1937 The Duke of Windsor, (the abdicated King Edward VIII), married American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson, privately in a château near Tours, France.

1940 World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ended with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.

1967 The death of Arthur Ransome, author best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books.

1971 The London opening of "No Sex Please, We're British" starring Michael Crawford. It became the longest-running comedy in theatre history before closing on 5th September, 1987.

1978 The Guiness Book of Records entered the record books as the most-stolen book from British libraries.

1981 Shergar won the Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths.

1992 The death of Robert Morley, (CBE) the English actor who was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment.

1996 The High Court awarded compensation to a total of 14 police officers traumatised by the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster when 96 fans were killed in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

[annie]

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[Rosalind]

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