National day of Ecuador
1675: Greenwich Observatory was established by King Charles II, who laid the foundation stone.
1787: Mozart completed his famous Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. On the same day in 1788, he finished his Jupiter Symphony.
1842: The Mines Act was passed by the British Parliament, forbidding women and children to work underground.
1868: The first dukedom was created by Queen Victoria, when stylish James Haworth was appointed Duke of Abercorn.
1889: The screw bottle top was patented by Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Barnsley.
1895: The first London Promenade Concert took place, founded by Henry Wood and Robert Newman, and played by an orchestra of 80 in the Queen's Hall.
1897: The Royal Automobile Club was founded, under the name of The Automobile Club of Great Britain.
1949: "Acid bath" murderer John Haigh, who confessed to nine killings, was executed at Wandsworth Prison.
1954: Sir Gordon Richards, champion English jockey, retired after 4,869 wins.
1961: Britain first applied for membership of the EEC.
LAST YEAR: Britain's temperature broke through the 100F mark, at 37.9C, for the first time ever, the Met Office said. The record was set at Heathrow.
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