Now & Then
◆ 13 JULY
1174: William I of Scotland was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
1249: Alexander III crowned at Scone.
1469: James III of Scotland married Margaret of Denmark at Holyrood Abbey.
1568: The dean of St Paul’s Cathedral perfected a way to bottle beer.
1820: First day of the trial, held in Stirling, of the Radicals captured at the Battle of Bonnymuir, charged with treason. John Baird and Andrew Hardie were subsequently executed.
1837: Queen Victoria became the first monarch to live in the presentday Buckingham Palace.
1860: Last British naval execution at the yard-arm took place, aboard HMS Leven in the River Yangtze. The victim was Marine Private John Dalliger.
1868: Scotch Reform Act was passed, creating seven additional Scottish seats in the House of Commons at the expense of English ones, and giving the vote to all male householders.
1911: Great Britain and Japan renewed their alliance for a further four years, so Japan joined the First World War on the side of the Allies. 1917: Children in Fatima, Portugal, reported a vision of the Virgin Mary. 1919: The British dirigible R34 arrived in Norfolk after the first transatlantic round flight, having left East Fortune, in East Lothian, on 2 July.
1923: The “Hollywoodland” sign above Hollywood was officially dedicated. The last four letters dropped off in 1949 and were never replaced.
1930: The first World Cup football tournament began in Uruguay. Thirteen countries took part and Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 in the final.
1939: Frank Sinatra made his first recording with a song titled Our Love.
1943: History’s greatest tank battle ended with Russia’s defeat of Germany at Kursk where 6,000 tanks took part; 2,900 were lost by Germany.
1955: Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged at Holloway Prison, London.
1962: Harold Macmillan’s so-called “Night of the Long Knives” as he sacked seven cabinet ministers, including chancellor Selwyn Lloyd. 1962: Arnold Palmer shot 276 at Royal Troon to win the Open championship.
1985: Live Aid pop concerts in Britain and America raised more than £50 million for famine victims in Africa.
1990: Wallace Mercer, the Hearts chairman, dropped his £6.1 million takeover bid for Hibernian.
2007: The BBC apologised to the Queen after admitting that a promotional trailer for a television programme appeared to show that she had stormed off in a huff from a shoot with American photographer Annie Leibovitz.
2011: Mumbai, India was rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 people and injuring 130.
2012: Scottish Football League clubs voted in favour of a newco Rangers football club playing in Division Three.
2016: Theresa May was appointed British prime minister, having been elected leader of the Conservative party, following the resignation of David Cameron.
◆ BIRTHDAYS
Sir Patrick Stewart OBE, actor, 84; Harrison Ford, US actor, 82; Ian Hislop, editor, Private Eye, 64; Roger Mcguinn, US rock musician (The Byrds), 82; Erno Rubik, Rubik’s Cube inventor, 80; Chris Serle, British broadcaster, 81; Michael Spinks, US boxer, 68; Didi Conn, actress, 73; Craig Bellamy, Welsh international footballer, 45; Roberto Martinez, football manager, 51; Charlotte Dujardin CBE, British Olympic equestrian, 39; Samia Longchambon, actor, 42.
◆ ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 100 BC Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general; 1540 Sir Francis Drake, explorer; 1933 Patsy Byrne, actress; 1933 David Storey, British novelist.
Deaths: 1947 Walter Donaldson, composer; 1951 Arnold Schöenberg, composer; 1955 Ruth Ellis (last woman hanged in Britain); 1958 Karl Erb, tenor; 1967 Tommy Simpson, cyclist; 2002 Yousuf Karsh, photographer; 2006 Red Buttons, actor and comic; 2012 Richard Darryl Zanuck, film producer; 2013 Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize-winning novelist; 2014 Lorin Maazel, US conductor, 84.