1711 Ascot became "Royal" with the attendance of Queen Anne at the horse races.

1840 Parliament passed an Act prohibiting the employment of climbing boys as chimney sweeps.

1858 Ottawa was chosen by Queen Victoria to be the capital of Canada.

1876 Mata Hari (Margaretha Zelle), exotic spy who passed secrets to Germany during the First World War, was born. The French arrested her in 1917 and she was killed by firing squad.

1903 Martha Jane Cannary, better known as frontierswoman Calamity Jane, died near Deadwood, Dakota. Her final request was to be buried next to Wild Bill Hickok.

1925 British Summer Time became permanent with the passing of the Daylight Saving Act.

1926 The first British Motor Racing Grand Prix was held at the Brooklands track, over a distance of 110 laps and 287 miles.

1931 Bix Beiderbecke, legendary jazz trumpeter, died aged 28 from a combination of pneumonia and alcoholism. He was the first white jazz musician to be admired by black performers.

1957 Oliver Norvell Hardy, the fat comedian who, with his partner Stan Laurel, formed one of the most successful double acts of all time, died.

1958 The Litter Act came into force in Britain.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Tensions remained high on Glasgow's deprived Sighthill estate where an asylum seeker was murdered and another was stabbed in the back.