1998
Death of Richard (‘Dick’) McDonald, American fast-food entrepreneur .

1989
The Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) was inaugurated at CERN in Switzerland. It was 16.8 miles (27 km) in circumference

1969
In the USA, the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills were withdrawn from circulation, leaving the $100 bill as the largest unit of currency

1959
Death of Grock, Swiss clown

1959
The first nuclear-powered warship, the USS Long Beach, was launched in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA

1958
The Iraqi army overthrew the monarchy in a military coup led by General Kassem. King Faisal was killed and a republic proclaimed.

1933
Adolf Hitler banned all political parties in Germany except the Nazi Party .

1933
Nazi Germany passed the ‘Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring’, also known as the ‘Sterilisation Law’.

1930
The first play, Pirandello's The Man with a Flower in His Mouth, was transmitted on British TV

1918
Birth of Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film and theatre director .

1895
Birth of F R Leavis, critic

1865
Edward Whymper was the first person to climb the Matterhorn

1858
Birth of Emmeline Pankhurst, British leader of the women’s suffrage movement.

1817
Death of Madame de Stael, writer

1789
The French Revolution begins – storming of the Bastille
