On this day: First Britons rowed across the Atlantic

1650: Scottish army of Charles II, under Sir David Leslie, routed by the English Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell at Dunbar.

1745: James Francis Stuart proclaimed as King James VIII of Scotland by his son, Prince Charles Edward at Perth.

1752: The 3 September became 14 September with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by Britain and the British Empire, including the American colonies. Crowds were said to have flocked streets, crying: “Give us back our 11 days.”

1787: Weavers rioted against wage-cutting in Glasgow. After bricks were thrown, injuring magistrates and military, troops were ordered to fire on the rioters, killing three and fatally wounding three others before the crowd dispersed.

1852: Anti-Jewish riots took place in Stockholm, Sweden.

1878: The Princess Alice pleasure paddle-steamer was sliced in half on the Thames near Woolwich by the 1,400-tonne collier iron steamer the Bywell Castle: 700 people died, 100 swam to safety and 70 were pulled out of the water by colliers.

1916: The first German Zeppelin airship was shot down by Captain Robinson in Cufley, Hertfordshire. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1917: The first night of bombing London by German aircraft.

1935: Sir Malcolm Campbell reached a speed of 301.337mph in his Blue Bird car at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah the first automobile to exceed 300mph.

1939: Britain declared war on Germany following the invasion of Poland, followed six hours later by France and joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

1940: Hitler order the invasion of Great Britain – Operation Sealion – on September 21.

1944: The final group of Dutch Jews, including Anne Frank, was transported to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

1950: Giuseppe Farina won the Italian Grand Prix to become the inaugural Formula One champion. 1953: The European Convention on Human Rights came into effect.

1966: Captain John Ridgway and Sergeant Chay Blyth became the first Britons to row across the Atlantic. The journey, in English Rose III, took 91 days.

1967: Sweden switched to driving on the right of the road.

1971: John Lennon left the UK to live in New York.

1976: Viking 2 set down on Mars after a journey lasting six days short of one year.

1978: Pope John Paul I was installed as the 263rd pontiff.

1989: Thousands of black people marched and waded at “whites only” beach in defiance campaign in South Africa.

1991: Benetton fashion poster showing newborn baby smeared with blood was banned by Advertising Standards Authority after 800 complaints.

1992: Kevin Maxwell was declared bankrupt with debts of £406.5 million.

1995: Ebay was founded.

2004: The Beslan school siege in North Ossetia, in the Russian Federation, by Islamic separatist militants ended with the massacre of 385 people, mostly teachers and children.

2013: Microsoft purchased Nokia for $7.2 billion.

BIRTHDAYS