ON THIS DAY

1660: England’s Long Parliament was dissolved after sitting for 20 years. 1802: The United States Military Academy at West Point was established.

1872: The first English FA Cup Final took place. Wanderers, a team formed by university and ex-public school players, beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at The Oval in London. 1888: The first recorded sale of a manufactured motor car was to Emile Roger of Paris, who bought a petrol-driven Benz. 1900: Sir Arthur Evans uncovered the ancient city of Knossos, Crete. 1926: The first liquidfuelled rocket was demonstrated in the USA, by Dr Robert H Goddard. 1935: Hitler renounced the Versailles Treaty and reintroduced conscription. 1947: Almost 600,000 acres of farming land were submerged by floodwater on the Fens as the River Ouse overflowed and a million sheep died.

1971: Boxer Henry Cooper, above, announced his retirement after losing his title to Joe Bugner. 1988: A Loyalist gunman opened fire indiscriminately and hurled grenades into a crowd of mourners at an IRA funeral for three people killed by the SAS in Gibraltar 10 days before. 1998: Beef exports from Northern Ireland resumed after a three-year ban stemming from the BSE crisis. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives his first daily No 10 press conference, calling on the public to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel due to the spread of coronavirus.