ON THIS DAY
1645: The Battle of Naseby took place in Northamptonshire during the Civil War. Cromwell’s Parliamentarians (Roundheads) defeated the Royalists (Cavaliers) under Prince Rupert, defending King Charles I. 1789: Whiskey distilled from maize was first produced – by a clergyman, the Rev Elijah Craig. He called the liquor bourbon because he lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky. 1839: The first Henley Regatta on the Thames took place. 1840: The first reduced-rate railway excursion was introduced when Newcastle & Carlisle Railway ran a works family outing from Newcastle to Carlisle. 1873: King Priam’s treasure of 8,700 priceless pieces was discovered in Turkey by German/American Heinrich Schliemann. In disinterring it, he destroyed what was left of Troy. 1919: Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten-Brown took off from Newfoundland on the first non-stop transatlantic flight to Galway, Ireland, in a Vickers Vimy. 1940: German troops entered Paris and the Swastika flew from the Eiffel Tower. Eight days later the armistice was signed and the Vichy government was set up. 1964: Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben Island, seven miles off Cape Town, sparking international protests. 1970: Bobby Charlton played his 106th and last football match for England in the World Cup in Mexico. His first was on April 19, 1958, against Scotland. 1982: Argentinian troops on the Falkland Islands surrendered when General Mario Benjamin Menendez agreed to an armistice. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A study reported that social media had overtaken television for the first time as young people’s main source of news. BIRTHDAYS: Mike Yarwood, entertainer, 76; Donald Trump, United States president, 71; Sir Antony Sher, actor/writer, 68; Paul Boateng, former British High Commissioner to South Africa, 66; Will Patton, actor, 63; Paul O’Grady, comedian, 62; Boy George, singer, 56; Yasmine Bleeth, actress, 49; Steffi Graf, former tennis player, 48.