1947 – Russ Abbot (78), English comedian (The Russ Abbot Show, September Song, Boomers), born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
1949 – Peter Shilton (76), English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper (England, West Ham United, Coventry City), born in Leicester.
1962 – Joanne Catherall (63), English singer and member of the synth-pop band The Human League (“Don’t You Want Me”), born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
1962 – John Fashanu (63), English television presenter (Gladiators) and former professional footballer (Wimbledon, Aston Villa), born in Kensington, London.
1971 – Jada Pinkett Smith (54), American actress (The Nutty Professor, The Matrix franchise as Niobe) and talk show host, born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
1974 – Sol Campbell (51), English professional football manager (Southend United 2019–2020) and former player (England, Newcastle United, Arsenal), born in Plaistow, London.
1984 – Dizzee Rascal, born Dylan Kwabena Mills (41), British MC and rapper (“Dance Wiv Me”, “Bonkers”, “Bassline Junkie”), born in Bow, London.
1944 – World War II: The British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoed Junyō Maru, a Japanese cargo ship used to transport prisoners. It was the world’s greatest sea disaster at the time with 5,620 dead. 723 survivors were rescued, only to be put to work in conditions similar to those of the Burma Railway where death was commonplace.
1939 – William Joyce, whose upper-class accent earned him the nickname Lord Haw-Haw, made his first Nazi propaganda broadcast from Germany to the UK. After his capture, Joyce, who had been issued a British passport when he lived in England after misstating his nationality, was convicted in the United Kingdom of high treason in 1945 and sentenced to death.
1972 – The first Ugandan refugees fleeing the persecution of the country’s military dictatorship arrived in Britain. The refugees were British passport holders originally from India who had faced severe persecution and harassment by Idi Amin’s troops.
1994 – Warwickshire became the first side to win the County Cricket Championship, the Benson and Hedges Cup and the Sunday League title in one season.
2012 – Two unarmed female police officers PC Nicola Hughes (23) and PC Fiona Bone (32) were killed in a gun and grenade ambush attack in Mottram, Greater Manchester. It led to the arrest of a wanted man Dale Cregan.
2014 – A referendum was held in Scotland, with one single question on the ballot paper – “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The “No” side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom.
2014 – The world famous golf club, the Royal & Ancient at St. Andrews, voted overwhelmingly to end its 260-year ban on female members, with immediate effect.
2024 – After nearly 80 years of business, the iconic plastic kitchenware brand Tupperware filed for bankruptcy.
1970 – Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbot’s Hospital in London at the age of 27 after choking on his own vomit. Hendrix left the message ‘I need help bad man’, on his managers answer phone earlier that night. Rumors and conspiracy theories grew up around Hendrix’s death. Eric Burdon claimed Jimi had committed suicide, but that’s contradicted by reports that he was in a good frame of mind.
1971 – The Who scored their first and only UK No.1 album with Who’s Next the bands sixth LP release, featuring ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Cover artwork shows a photograph, taken at Easington Colliery, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling.
1982 – The seven-minute epic by Dire Straits ‘Private Investigations’ went to No.2 on the UK singles chart, held off No.1 by survivors ‘Eye Of The Tiger’.
1993 – Meat Loaf went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Bat Out Of Hell II. His 1983 album Dead Ringer also reach No.1 whilst his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell only reached No.3.
2012 – In a survey of more than 160,000 readers, British music magazine NME named John Lennon as Rock’s ultimate icon. Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher was placed second, followed by David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner and late Nirvana icon Kurt Cobain.
2014 – American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was at no.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Shake It Off’, becoming Swift’s second No.1 single in the United States and the 22nd song to debut at No.1 in the chart’s history.
1502 – During his fourth and final voyage, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in Costa Rica.
1685 – The Taunton Assize trials came in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England. The trials were led by Lord Chief Justice George Jeffreys. They took place in the Great Hall of Taunton Castle. Of more than 500 prisoners brought before the court, 144 were hanged and their remains displayed around the county.
1809 – The Royal Opera House opened, in Covent Garden, Central London. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1857. There were two performances, Shakespeare’s Macbeth and a musical called The Quaker.
1837 – Tiffany & Co. was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young, initially as a stationery and fancy goods store named Tiffany, Young and Ellis. The company was renamed Tiffany & Co. in 1853 after Charles Tiffany took sole control and shifted the business’s focus to jewellery.
1879 – The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time with eight carbon arc lamps on the promenade, and the event has been held annually ever since.