National day of Costa Rica Battle of Britain day

1321: Italian poet Dante Alighieri died in Ravenna.

1649: Titus Oates, English Anglican priest and fabricator of the "Popish Plot" in 1678, was born.

1830: At the official opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Britain's first railway fatality occurred when MP William Huskisson stepped from a train to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington -- and was run over.

1871: The Army and Navy Co-operative began the first mail order business to meet the needs of its members in Britain and overseas.

1890: Agatha Christie, creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and writer of detective stories which sold more than 300 million copies, was born in Torquay.

1916: Tanks went into battle for the first time for the British Army, in the Somme. Designed by Sir Ernest Swinton, they revolutionised battle strategy.

1935: At a Nuremberg rally, Adolf Hitler issued new decrees which relegated Jews to sub-human status.

1975: Civil war broke out in Beirut between Christians and Muslims.

1985: Tony Jacklin's European team won the Ryder Cup from the US who had long dominated the competition.

On this day last year: Time was running out for Saddam Hussein to rid his country of weapons of mass destruction or face regime change, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

BIRTHDAYS: Viscount (John Julius) Norwich, 73; Graham Taylor, football manager, 59; Clive Merrison, actor, 58; Tommy Lee Jones, actor, 57; Oliver Stone, film director, 57; Jaki Graham, singer, 47; Scott Thompson Baker, actor, 42; Prince Harry, 19.