1774: Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen<\/h4>\n
While employed as the tutor of the children of William Petty, 2nd\u00a0Earl of Shelburne, British minister and chemist Joseph Priestley discovered the gas oxygen.<\/p>\n
After experimenting with different \u2018airs\u2019, Priestley conducted an experiment that would make his scientific work famous. By using what was referred to as a \u2018burning lens\u2019, he placed a lump of mercuric oxide in a glass container and focused some sunlight onto the compound. A colourless gas was emitted and a candle began to burn. To begin with, Priestley called this \u2018dephlogisticated air\u2019, before further tests confirmed the discovery of oxygen.<\/p>\n
![\"Joseph](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-517447036-efa63c8.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Joseph")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>2 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1100: King William II is killed by an arrow<\/a> in mysterious circumstances<\/strong><\/p>\nWhile hunting in the New Forest in 1100, William II (Rufus) was shot and killed by an arrow fired by nobleman Walter Tirel. The incident was at the time recorded as an accident. However, it has since been suggested that it could have been an assassination.<\/p>\n
According to chronicler Orderic Vitalis, before the hunting party set off the king was presented with a letter from the Abbot of Gloucester, warning William II of a vision that a monk had had of the king\u2019s death. However, the king dismissed the letter and began the hunt.<\/p>\n
During the hunt, nobleman Walter Tirel took a shot at a stag, yet the arrow missed and hit the king in the chest. Tirel fled the scene almost immediately to France. Learning of the king\u2019s death, William\u2019s brother, Henry, rode to Winchester to proclaim himself king. It is possible that Henry had planned for his brother\u2019s murder in order to gain the throne, yet this is disputed among scholars.<\/p>\n
3 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1499: King\u00a0Henry VII<\/a> learns of a plot against his throne<\/strong><\/p>\nThe plot aimed to free Perkin Warbeck<\/a> and the Earl of Warwick (both potential claimants to the crown) from the Tower of London<\/a>\u00a0and to place one of them on the throne. Both men were tried and executed in November.<\/p>\n4 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1902: After three years of work, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, one of the marvels of late Victorian engineering, opens beneath the river Thames<\/strong><\/p>\n5 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1962: Marilyn Monroe<\/a> is found dead in the bedroom of her los Angeles home<\/strong><\/p>\nThe ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe (born 1926) radiated glamour, sex appeal and beauty at the height of Hollywood.<\/p>\n
The world was stunned when Monroe\u2019s body was discovered in the early hours of 5 August 1962. Monroe, 36, was found face down on her bed in her Los Angeles home, with several bottles of pills on a nearby table. The hasty coroner\u2019s report stated the cause of death as \u2018probable suicide\u2019 from acute barbiturate poisoning. Theories have persisted, however, claiming that Monroe was murdered.<\/p>\n
![\"Marilyn]( "\\"Marilyn")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Marilyn Monroe. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n6 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1660: Spanish baroque artist Diego Velazquez dies in Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\nAs court painter to King Phillip IV he had, in addition to religious, historical and genre scenes, produced scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family.<\/p>\n
7 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1209: The treaty of Norham is agreed<\/strong><\/p>\nFaced with an English invasion, William the Lion of Scotland agreed in the Treaty of Norham to pay 15,000 marks for\u00a0King John<\/a>\u2019s \u2018goodwill\u2019 and handed over his two daughters for John to arrange their\u00a0marriages.<\/p>\n Famous births in August<\/h2>\n4 August 1870<\/h6>\n
Sir Harry Lauder, music hall singer\u00a0<\/p>\n
5 August 1869<\/h6>\n
Alexander William Kinglake, historian and travel writer\u00a0<\/p>\n
8 August 1861\u00a0<\/h6>\n
William Bateson, the first person to use the term \u2018genetics\u2019 to describe the study of biological inheritance<\/p>\n
8 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Paul Dirac, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics<\/p>\n
10 August 1810<\/h6>\n
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. A leading supporter of Italian unification and served as the Kingdom of Italy\u2019s first prime minister<\/p>\n
12 August 1762\u00a0<\/h6>\n
George Augustus Frederick, the eldest son of King George III<\/a> and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz<\/a><\/p>\n13 August 1792<\/h6>\n
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the future wife of King William IV<\/p>\n
13 August 1809<\/h6>\n
William Penny Brookes, English physician, botanist, JP and social reformer\u00a0<\/p>\n
14 August 1851<\/h6>\n
John Henry \u2018Doc\u2019 Holliday, American gambler, gunfighter and dentist<\/p>\n
15 August 1769<\/h6>\n
Napoleon Bonaparte<\/a>, former emperor of the French<\/p>\n17 August 1761<\/h6>\n
William Carey, co-founder of the Baptist Missionary Society<\/p>\n
19 August 1560\u00a0<\/h6>\n
James Crichton, polymath and soldier<\/p>\n
20 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Margaret Henderson Thompson, Scottish doctor who helped provide medical care for fellow inmates while a prisoner of the Japanese<\/p>\n
24 August 1759<\/h6>\n
William Wilberforce, anti-slavery campaigner<\/p>\n
27 August 1770<\/h6>\n
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, influential German philosopher<\/p>\n
28 August 1592\u00a0<\/h6>\n
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham<\/p>\n
29 August 1619<\/h6>\n
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV\u2019s minister of finance<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
8 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1963: The \u201cGreat Train Robbers\u201d steal \u00a32.6m<\/strong><\/p>\nThe heist, hailed as the \u201ccrime of the century\u201d, began before sunrise on 8 August 1963, when a gang of 15 armed criminals boarded an overnight Royal Mail train at Ledburn in Buckinghamshire.<\/p>\n
The ringleader was Bruce Reynolds, who had come into\u00a0possession of some intriguing information leaked by an insider at Royal Mail. This train, he was told, would be carrying a vast amount of cash from Glasgow to London. Over a few months, Reynolds and his gang had hatched a careful plan to intercept the train en route and relieve it of its valuable cargo.<\/p>\n
The robbery got under way at around 3am. After leaving violence and handcuffed Royal Mail staff in its wake, the gang fled in three vehicles \u2013 two with the same registration to fool witnesses \u2013 with around \u00a32.6m (some \u00a355m today).<\/p>\n
9 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1942: Mohandas Gandhi and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress are arrested by the British authorities<\/strong><\/p>\nThis followed the launch of their \u2018Quit India\u2019 movement, which called for an immediate British withdrawal from the subcontinent.<\/p>\n
10 August<\/a><\/h2>\n991: Ealdorman Brihtnoth are defeated by a force of Viking raiders at the battle of Maldon in Essex<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Vikings, who were probably led by Olaf Tryggvason, had been camped on Northey Island which was joined to the mainland by a narrow tidal causeway. Seeking to bring the Vikings to battle before they sailed off to raid elsewhere, Brihtnoth allowed them to cross the causeway unopposed. Both sides suffered heavy casualties but the Vikings prevailed and Brihtnoth was slain.<\/p>\n
11 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1660: Birth of Henrietta Maria, Baroness Wentworth<\/strong><\/p>\nAs the mistress of James, Duke of Monmouth she pledged her jewellery, cash and credit as security to enable him to borrow \u00a36,000 to fund his ill-fated rebellion of 1685.<\/p>\n
12 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1969: Catholic residents clash with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the Bogside area of Derry<\/strong><\/p>\nThe three days of rioting that ensued became known as the battle of the Bogside<\/a> and led to the deployment of British troops to restore order.<\/p>\n13 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1521: Tenocht\u00edtlan falls to Spanish conquistadors<\/strong><\/p>\nAided by European diseases and indigenous allies, Spanish conquistador\u00a0Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s captures the city of Tenocht\u00edtlan<\/a> after a 93-day siege. This signals the downfall of the Aztec empire and the conquest of Mexico.<\/p>\n14 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1739: King\u00a0George II<\/a> sign the charter of the Foundling Hospital which had been established by Thomas Coram to care for abandoned children<\/strong><\/p>\n15 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1940: A big day in the Battle of Britain<\/strong><\/p>\nIn the most intensive day\u2019s fighting of the Battle of Britain<\/a>, the German\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a>\u00a0flew over 2,000 sorties and lost 75 aircraft to Fighter Command\u2019s 34.<\/p>\n16 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1858: Queen Victoria<\/a> send President James Buchanan the first trans-Atlantic telegraph<\/strong><\/p>\nThe message provides \u201can additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem\u201d.<\/p>\n
17 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1962: A Cold War death puts international spotlight on the Berlin Wall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nPeter Fechter, an 18-year-old bricklayer, was shot by East German border guards while attempting to escape with a companion across the Berlin Wall at Zimmerstrasse, not far from\u00a0Checkpoint Charlie<\/a>.<\/p>\n18 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1612: Pendle \u2018witches\u2019<\/a> take the stand<\/strong><\/p>\nOn 18 August 1612, one of the most extraordinary trials in British history opened at Lancaster Assizes. Earlier that year, 16 or 17 people, all of whom lived in or near Pendle Hill in Lancashire, had been accused of murder by witchcraft. Many of them belonged to two families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes, who were believed to have been rival witch clans.<\/p>\n
The trial\u2019s first day opened with the examination of Anne Whittle, alias Chattox, \u201ca very old withered spent and decrepit creature, her sight almost gone,\u201d who had reputedly sold her soul to the Devil some years earlier. For the next two days the trial heard a bizarre series of confessions and accusations, with the rival Demdike and Chattox families each claiming that the other was a den of witchcraft.<\/p>\n
Eleven of the accused were found guilty under the Witchcraft Act: 10 were sentenced to death by hanging, one died in prison, while another was imprisoned for a year. The remaining members of the group were all acquitted.<\/p>\n
19 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1561: After 13 years in France,\u00a0Mary, Queen of Scots<\/a> returns to Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\nShe landed at Leith, having made the journey by sea after\u00a0Elizabeth I<\/a>\u00a0had refused her permission to travel through England.<\/p>\n ![\"Mary,]( "\\"Mary,")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Mary, Queen of Scots. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n20 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1911: The first telegram is sent around the world in just 16.5 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\nThe first telegram was sent from the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>office in order to discover how long it would take for a message to cross the world by telegraph cable. The message, which travelled more than 28,000 miles, simply read \u201cThis message sent around the world\u201d.<\/p>\nAfter being transferred by 16 operators across the globe, including those in San Francisco, Saigon and the Azores, the reply to the message was received by the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0office just 16.5 minutes after being sent. This made the telegram the fastest message to be sent by a commercial cablegram since the Commercial Cable Company first launched the Pacific cable in 1900.<\/p>\n Famous deaths in August<\/h2>\n2 August 1100<\/h6>\n
King William Rufus<\/a>, third son of William the Conqueror<\/p>\n2 August 1222<\/h6>\n
Raymond VI of Toulouse, most powerful nobleman in Languedoc<\/p>\n
2 August 1921<\/h6>\n
Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor<\/p>\n
3 August 1460<\/h6>\n
James II of Scotland<\/p>\n
3 August 1792<\/h6>\n
Sir Richard Arkwright, pioneer of Britain\u2019s factory system<\/p>\n
4 August 1859<\/h6>\n
Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, pastor of the village of Ars near Lyon and patron saint of parish priests<\/p>\n
6 August 1660\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Diego Velazquez, Spanish baroque artist\u00a0<\/p>\n
13 August 1910<\/h6>\n
Florence Nightingale<\/a>, founder of modern nursing<\/p>\n17 August 1809<\/h6>\n
Matthew Boulton, manufacturer and entrepreneur<\/p>\n
20 August 1580\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Sir George Bowes, loyal servant of Elizabeth I<\/p>\n
23 August 1481<\/h6>\n
Sir Thomas Littleton, English judge and lawyer\u00a0<\/p>\n
25 August 1482\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Margaret of Anjou<\/a>, widow of the deposed King Henry VI<\/p>\n26 August 1929<\/h6>\n
Edith Thompson, historian and lexicographer<\/p>\n
30 August 1659<\/h6>\n
Alexander Lindsay, first Earl of Balcarres<\/p>\n
30 August 1940<\/h6>\n
Sir Joseph John Thompson, British physicist who discovered the electron<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
21 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen<\/a> in France<\/strong><\/p>\nLeonardo da Vinci<\/a>\u2019s famous painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris on this day in 1911. Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia decided to steal the 16th-century painting after being employed by the Louvre to construct protective glass cases for some of the museum\u2019s most famous works, which included the Mona Lisa.<\/p>\nAfter spending the night in a closet, Peruggia was able to remove the painting with ease, hide it under his clothes and leave the building \u2013 he was let out by a plumber after finding the doors were locked.<\/p>\n
The painting was not reported missing until 24 hours later. After this, the newspapers were filled with stories about the stolen masterpiece. It was not until two years later, December 1913, that the painting was finally recovered. Peruggia received a seven-month jail sentence.<\/p>\n
![\"People]( "\\"MonaLisaHeist\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> People gather around the Mona Lisa painting on January 4, 1914 in Paris France, after it was stolen from the ouvre by Vincenzo Peruggia in 1911. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n22 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1485: Richard III<\/a> dies at the battle of Bosworth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nRichard\u2019s forces met Henry Tudor\u2019s men on a patch of marsh known as \u2018Redemore\u2019, south of Market Bosworth. Richard\u2019s army was twice the size of Henry\u2019s but, as fighting began, it became clear that the king did not have the full loyalty of his army. Betrayed by Sir William Stanley, Richard made a brave final charge at Henry but was hacked to death. His body was stripped and taken to Leicester, where it was later buried in the Grey Friars priory.<\/p>\n
23 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1572: The St Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre begins<\/strong><\/p>\nThe massacre began in Paris with the assassination on royal orders of a number of key Huguenot<\/a> leaders. Within a day this had escalated into a widespread general slaughter of French Protestants.<\/p>\n24 August<\/a><\/h2>\nAD 79:\u00a0Pompeii<\/a>\u00a0is engulfed by ash after Vesuvius erupts with furious violence and devastating results<\/strong><\/p>\nThe eruption caused the start of fires, while rooftops were swept away, columns collapsed. Almost certainly thousands were killed, though the true figure will never be known.<\/p>\n
Pliny the Younger wrote that while \u201cashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames\u201d. With ash filling the sky, the unnatural darkness seemed \u201cblacker and denser than any ordinary night\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the ancient Roman city was lost for centuries. Today, it is one of the world\u2019s most famous \u2013 and fascinating \u2013 archaeological sites.<\/p>\n
25 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1875:\u00a0Matthew Webb conquers the Channel<\/strong><\/p>\nTo the Victorians, Matthew Webb was one of the great celebrities of the age: the first man ever to swim the English Channel. A former steamship captain in his late twenties, Webb was obsessed with swimming the Channel, training at Lambeth Baths and in the heavily polluted river Thames. With one unsuccessful attempt 12 days earlier behind him, on 24 August 1875 he made his way to the end of Dover\u2019s Admiralty Pier. There, having been rubbed all over in porpoise oil, he dived in, and with three boats bobbing alongside, began the long breaststroke swim to France.<\/p>\n
Although the French coast was only 18 nautical miles away, Webb\u2019s route lasted much longer. The strong current meant he effectively zigzagged across the Channel instead of heading directly across. At one point he was even stung by a jellyfish, and had to be thrown a bottle of brandy to revive his spirits.<\/p>\n
![\"Matthew]( "\\"GettyImages-160501061\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Matthew Webb is helped by a boat crew during his attempt to swim the English Channel. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n26 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1346: English forces claim victory at the battle of Cr\u00e9cy<\/a> during the Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/strong><\/p>\nOn 26 August 1346, thousands of English and French troops lined up against one another near the town of Cr\u00e9cy-en-Ponthieu in the north-eastern corner of France.<\/p>\n
The English army consisted mainly of footsoldiers. Led by Edward III, they had landed in Normandy in July and plundered and razed every town in their way. The stunning victory over the French marked a new dawn for the humble foot soldier, and is a landmark moment in the\u00a0Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/a><\/p>\n27 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
While hunting in the New Forest in 1100, William II (Rufus) was shot and killed by an arrow fired by nobleman Walter Tirel. The incident was at the time recorded as an accident. However, it has since been suggested that it could have been an assassination.<\/p>\n
According to chronicler Orderic Vitalis, before the hunting party set off the king was presented with a letter from the Abbot of Gloucester, warning William II of a vision that a monk had had of the king\u2019s death. However, the king dismissed the letter and began the hunt.<\/p>\n
During the hunt, nobleman Walter Tirel took a shot at a stag, yet the arrow missed and hit the king in the chest. Tirel fled the scene almost immediately to France. Learning of the king\u2019s death, William\u2019s brother, Henry, rode to Winchester to proclaim himself king. It is possible that Henry had planned for his brother\u2019s murder in order to gain the throne, yet this is disputed among scholars.<\/p>\n
3 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1499: King\u00a0Henry VII<\/a> learns of a plot against his throne<\/strong><\/p>\nThe plot aimed to free Perkin Warbeck<\/a> and the Earl of Warwick (both potential claimants to the crown) from the Tower of London<\/a>\u00a0and to place one of them on the throne. Both men were tried and executed in November.<\/p>\n4 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1902: After three years of work, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, one of the marvels of late Victorian engineering, opens beneath the river Thames<\/strong><\/p>\n5 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1962: Marilyn Monroe<\/a> is found dead in the bedroom of her los Angeles home<\/strong><\/p>\nThe ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe (born 1926) radiated glamour, sex appeal and beauty at the height of Hollywood.<\/p>\n
The world was stunned when Monroe\u2019s body was discovered in the early hours of 5 August 1962. Monroe, 36, was found face down on her bed in her Los Angeles home, with several bottles of pills on a nearby table. The hasty coroner\u2019s report stated the cause of death as \u2018probable suicide\u2019 from acute barbiturate poisoning. Theories have persisted, however, claiming that Monroe was murdered.<\/p>\n
![\"Marilyn]( "\\"Marilyn")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Marilyn Monroe. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n6 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1660: Spanish baroque artist Diego Velazquez dies in Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\nAs court painter to King Phillip IV he had, in addition to religious, historical and genre scenes, produced scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family.<\/p>\n
7 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1209: The treaty of Norham is agreed<\/strong><\/p>\nFaced with an English invasion, William the Lion of Scotland agreed in the Treaty of Norham to pay 15,000 marks for\u00a0King John<\/a>\u2019s \u2018goodwill\u2019 and handed over his two daughters for John to arrange their\u00a0marriages.<\/p>\n Famous births in August<\/h2>\n4 August 1870<\/h6>\n
Sir Harry Lauder, music hall singer\u00a0<\/p>\n
5 August 1869<\/h6>\n
Alexander William Kinglake, historian and travel writer\u00a0<\/p>\n
8 August 1861\u00a0<\/h6>\n
William Bateson, the first person to use the term \u2018genetics\u2019 to describe the study of biological inheritance<\/p>\n
8 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Paul Dirac, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics<\/p>\n
10 August 1810<\/h6>\n
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. A leading supporter of Italian unification and served as the Kingdom of Italy\u2019s first prime minister<\/p>\n
12 August 1762\u00a0<\/h6>\n
George Augustus Frederick, the eldest son of King George III<\/a> and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz<\/a><\/p>\n13 August 1792<\/h6>\n
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the future wife of King William IV<\/p>\n
13 August 1809<\/h6>\n
William Penny Brookes, English physician, botanist, JP and social reformer\u00a0<\/p>\n
14 August 1851<\/h6>\n
John Henry \u2018Doc\u2019 Holliday, American gambler, gunfighter and dentist<\/p>\n
15 August 1769<\/h6>\n
Napoleon Bonaparte<\/a>, former emperor of the French<\/p>\n17 August 1761<\/h6>\n
William Carey, co-founder of the Baptist Missionary Society<\/p>\n
19 August 1560\u00a0<\/h6>\n
James Crichton, polymath and soldier<\/p>\n
20 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Margaret Henderson Thompson, Scottish doctor who helped provide medical care for fellow inmates while a prisoner of the Japanese<\/p>\n
24 August 1759<\/h6>\n
William Wilberforce, anti-slavery campaigner<\/p>\n
27 August 1770<\/h6>\n
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, influential German philosopher<\/p>\n
28 August 1592\u00a0<\/h6>\n
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham<\/p>\n
29 August 1619<\/h6>\n
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV\u2019s minister of finance<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
8 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1963: The \u201cGreat Train Robbers\u201d steal \u00a32.6m<\/strong><\/p>\nThe heist, hailed as the \u201ccrime of the century\u201d, began before sunrise on 8 August 1963, when a gang of 15 armed criminals boarded an overnight Royal Mail train at Ledburn in Buckinghamshire.<\/p>\n
The ringleader was Bruce Reynolds, who had come into\u00a0possession of some intriguing information leaked by an insider at Royal Mail. This train, he was told, would be carrying a vast amount of cash from Glasgow to London. Over a few months, Reynolds and his gang had hatched a careful plan to intercept the train en route and relieve it of its valuable cargo.<\/p>\n
The robbery got under way at around 3am. After leaving violence and handcuffed Royal Mail staff in its wake, the gang fled in three vehicles \u2013 two with the same registration to fool witnesses \u2013 with around \u00a32.6m (some \u00a355m today).<\/p>\n
9 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1942: Mohandas Gandhi and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress are arrested by the British authorities<\/strong><\/p>\nThis followed the launch of their \u2018Quit India\u2019 movement, which called for an immediate British withdrawal from the subcontinent.<\/p>\n
10 August<\/a><\/h2>\n991: Ealdorman Brihtnoth are defeated by a force of Viking raiders at the battle of Maldon in Essex<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Vikings, who were probably led by Olaf Tryggvason, had been camped on Northey Island which was joined to the mainland by a narrow tidal causeway. Seeking to bring the Vikings to battle before they sailed off to raid elsewhere, Brihtnoth allowed them to cross the causeway unopposed. Both sides suffered heavy casualties but the Vikings prevailed and Brihtnoth was slain.<\/p>\n
11 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1660: Birth of Henrietta Maria, Baroness Wentworth<\/strong><\/p>\nAs the mistress of James, Duke of Monmouth she pledged her jewellery, cash and credit as security to enable him to borrow \u00a36,000 to fund his ill-fated rebellion of 1685.<\/p>\n
12 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1969: Catholic residents clash with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the Bogside area of Derry<\/strong><\/p>\nThe three days of rioting that ensued became known as the battle of the Bogside<\/a> and led to the deployment of British troops to restore order.<\/p>\n13 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1521: Tenocht\u00edtlan falls to Spanish conquistadors<\/strong><\/p>\nAided by European diseases and indigenous allies, Spanish conquistador\u00a0Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s captures the city of Tenocht\u00edtlan<\/a> after a 93-day siege. This signals the downfall of the Aztec empire and the conquest of Mexico.<\/p>\n14 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1739: King\u00a0George II<\/a> sign the charter of the Foundling Hospital which had been established by Thomas Coram to care for abandoned children<\/strong><\/p>\n15 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1940: A big day in the Battle of Britain<\/strong><\/p>\nIn the most intensive day\u2019s fighting of the Battle of Britain<\/a>, the German\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a>\u00a0flew over 2,000 sorties and lost 75 aircraft to Fighter Command\u2019s 34.<\/p>\n16 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1858: Queen Victoria<\/a> send President James Buchanan the first trans-Atlantic telegraph<\/strong><\/p>\nThe message provides \u201can additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem\u201d.<\/p>\n
17 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1962: A Cold War death puts international spotlight on the Berlin Wall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nPeter Fechter, an 18-year-old bricklayer, was shot by East German border guards while attempting to escape with a companion across the Berlin Wall at Zimmerstrasse, not far from\u00a0Checkpoint Charlie<\/a>.<\/p>\n18 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1612: Pendle \u2018witches\u2019<\/a> take the stand<\/strong><\/p>\nOn 18 August 1612, one of the most extraordinary trials in British history opened at Lancaster Assizes. Earlier that year, 16 or 17 people, all of whom lived in or near Pendle Hill in Lancashire, had been accused of murder by witchcraft. Many of them belonged to two families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes, who were believed to have been rival witch clans.<\/p>\n
The trial\u2019s first day opened with the examination of Anne Whittle, alias Chattox, \u201ca very old withered spent and decrepit creature, her sight almost gone,\u201d who had reputedly sold her soul to the Devil some years earlier. For the next two days the trial heard a bizarre series of confessions and accusations, with the rival Demdike and Chattox families each claiming that the other was a den of witchcraft.<\/p>\n
Eleven of the accused were found guilty under the Witchcraft Act: 10 were sentenced to death by hanging, one died in prison, while another was imprisoned for a year. The remaining members of the group were all acquitted.<\/p>\n
19 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1561: After 13 years in France,\u00a0Mary, Queen of Scots<\/a> returns to Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\nShe landed at Leith, having made the journey by sea after\u00a0Elizabeth I<\/a>\u00a0had refused her permission to travel through England.<\/p>\n ![\"Mary,]( "\\"Mary,")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Mary, Queen of Scots. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n20 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1911: The first telegram is sent around the world in just 16.5 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\nThe first telegram was sent from the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>office in order to discover how long it would take for a message to cross the world by telegraph cable. The message, which travelled more than 28,000 miles, simply read \u201cThis message sent around the world\u201d.<\/p>\nAfter being transferred by 16 operators across the globe, including those in San Francisco, Saigon and the Azores, the reply to the message was received by the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0office just 16.5 minutes after being sent. This made the telegram the fastest message to be sent by a commercial cablegram since the Commercial Cable Company first launched the Pacific cable in 1900.<\/p>\n Famous deaths in August<\/h2>\n2 August 1100<\/h6>\n
King William Rufus<\/a>, third son of William the Conqueror<\/p>\n2 August 1222<\/h6>\n
Raymond VI of Toulouse, most powerful nobleman in Languedoc<\/p>\n
2 August 1921<\/h6>\n
Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor<\/p>\n
3 August 1460<\/h6>\n
James II of Scotland<\/p>\n
3 August 1792<\/h6>\n
Sir Richard Arkwright, pioneer of Britain\u2019s factory system<\/p>\n
4 August 1859<\/h6>\n
Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, pastor of the village of Ars near Lyon and patron saint of parish priests<\/p>\n
6 August 1660\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Diego Velazquez, Spanish baroque artist\u00a0<\/p>\n
13 August 1910<\/h6>\n
Florence Nightingale<\/a>, founder of modern nursing<\/p>\n17 August 1809<\/h6>\n
Matthew Boulton, manufacturer and entrepreneur<\/p>\n
20 August 1580\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Sir George Bowes, loyal servant of Elizabeth I<\/p>\n
23 August 1481<\/h6>\n
Sir Thomas Littleton, English judge and lawyer\u00a0<\/p>\n
25 August 1482\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Margaret of Anjou<\/a>, widow of the deposed King Henry VI<\/p>\n26 August 1929<\/h6>\n
Edith Thompson, historian and lexicographer<\/p>\n
30 August 1659<\/h6>\n
Alexander Lindsay, first Earl of Balcarres<\/p>\n
30 August 1940<\/h6>\n
Sir Joseph John Thompson, British physicist who discovered the electron<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
21 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen<\/a> in France<\/strong><\/p>\nLeonardo da Vinci<\/a>\u2019s famous painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris on this day in 1911. Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia decided to steal the 16th-century painting after being employed by the Louvre to construct protective glass cases for some of the museum\u2019s most famous works, which included the Mona Lisa.<\/p>\nAfter spending the night in a closet, Peruggia was able to remove the painting with ease, hide it under his clothes and leave the building \u2013 he was let out by a plumber after finding the doors were locked.<\/p>\n
The painting was not reported missing until 24 hours later. After this, the newspapers were filled with stories about the stolen masterpiece. It was not until two years later, December 1913, that the painting was finally recovered. Peruggia received a seven-month jail sentence.<\/p>\n
![\"People]( "\\"MonaLisaHeist\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> People gather around the Mona Lisa painting on January 4, 1914 in Paris France, after it was stolen from the ouvre by Vincenzo Peruggia in 1911. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n22 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1485: Richard III<\/a> dies at the battle of Bosworth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nRichard\u2019s forces met Henry Tudor\u2019s men on a patch of marsh known as \u2018Redemore\u2019, south of Market Bosworth. Richard\u2019s army was twice the size of Henry\u2019s but, as fighting began, it became clear that the king did not have the full loyalty of his army. Betrayed by Sir William Stanley, Richard made a brave final charge at Henry but was hacked to death. His body was stripped and taken to Leicester, where it was later buried in the Grey Friars priory.<\/p>\n
23 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1572: The St Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre begins<\/strong><\/p>\nThe massacre began in Paris with the assassination on royal orders of a number of key Huguenot<\/a> leaders. Within a day this had escalated into a widespread general slaughter of French Protestants.<\/p>\n24 August<\/a><\/h2>\nAD 79:\u00a0Pompeii<\/a>\u00a0is engulfed by ash after Vesuvius erupts with furious violence and devastating results<\/strong><\/p>\nThe eruption caused the start of fires, while rooftops were swept away, columns collapsed. Almost certainly thousands were killed, though the true figure will never be known.<\/p>\n
Pliny the Younger wrote that while \u201cashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames\u201d. With ash filling the sky, the unnatural darkness seemed \u201cblacker and denser than any ordinary night\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the ancient Roman city was lost for centuries. Today, it is one of the world\u2019s most famous \u2013 and fascinating \u2013 archaeological sites.<\/p>\n
25 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1875:\u00a0Matthew Webb conquers the Channel<\/strong><\/p>\nTo the Victorians, Matthew Webb was one of the great celebrities of the age: the first man ever to swim the English Channel. A former steamship captain in his late twenties, Webb was obsessed with swimming the Channel, training at Lambeth Baths and in the heavily polluted river Thames. With one unsuccessful attempt 12 days earlier behind him, on 24 August 1875 he made his way to the end of Dover\u2019s Admiralty Pier. There, having been rubbed all over in porpoise oil, he dived in, and with three boats bobbing alongside, began the long breaststroke swim to France.<\/p>\n
Although the French coast was only 18 nautical miles away, Webb\u2019s route lasted much longer. The strong current meant he effectively zigzagged across the Channel instead of heading directly across. At one point he was even stung by a jellyfish, and had to be thrown a bottle of brandy to revive his spirits.<\/p>\n
![\"Matthew]( "\\"GettyImages-160501061\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Matthew Webb is helped by a boat crew during his attempt to swim the English Channel. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n26 August<\/a><\/h2>\n1346: English forces claim victory at the battle of Cr\u00e9cy<\/a> during the Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/strong><\/p>\nOn 26 August 1346, thousands of English and French troops lined up against one another near the town of Cr\u00e9cy-en-Ponthieu in the north-eastern corner of France.<\/p>\n
The English army consisted mainly of footsoldiers. Led by Edward III, they had landed in Normandy in July and plundered and razed every town in their way. The stunning victory over the French marked a new dawn for the humble foot soldier, and is a landmark moment in the\u00a0Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/a><\/p>\n27 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
The plot aimed to free Perkin Warbeck<\/a> and the Earl of Warwick (both potential claimants to the crown) from the Tower of London<\/a>\u00a0and to place one of them on the throne. Both men were tried and executed in November.<\/p>\n 1902: After three years of work, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, one of the marvels of late Victorian engineering, opens beneath the river Thames<\/strong><\/p>\n 1962: Marilyn Monroe<\/a> is found dead in the bedroom of her los Angeles home<\/strong><\/p>\n The ultimate blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe (born 1926) radiated glamour, sex appeal and beauty at the height of Hollywood.<\/p>\n The world was stunned when Monroe\u2019s body was discovered in the early hours of 5 August 1962. Monroe, 36, was found face down on her bed in her Los Angeles home, with several bottles of pills on a nearby table. The hasty coroner\u2019s report stated the cause of death as \u2018probable suicide\u2019 from acute barbiturate poisoning. Theories have persisted, however, claiming that Monroe was murdered.<\/p>\n 1660: Spanish baroque artist Diego Velazquez dies in Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\n As court painter to King Phillip IV he had, in addition to religious, historical and genre scenes, produced scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family.<\/p>\n 1209: The treaty of Norham is agreed<\/strong><\/p>\n Faced with an English invasion, William the Lion of Scotland agreed in the Treaty of Norham to pay 15,000 marks for\u00a0King John<\/a>\u2019s \u2018goodwill\u2019 and handed over his two daughters for John to arrange their\u00a0marriages.<\/p>\n Sir Harry Lauder, music hall singer\u00a0<\/p>\n Alexander William Kinglake, historian and travel writer\u00a0<\/p>\n William Bateson, the first person to use the term \u2018genetics\u2019 to describe the study of biological inheritance<\/p>\n Paul Dirac, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics<\/p>\n Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. A leading supporter of Italian unification and served as the Kingdom of Italy\u2019s first prime minister<\/p>\n George Augustus Frederick, the eldest son of King George III<\/a> and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz<\/a><\/p>\n Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the future wife of King William IV<\/p>\n William Penny Brookes, English physician, botanist, JP and social reformer\u00a0<\/p>\n John Henry \u2018Doc\u2019 Holliday, American gambler, gunfighter and dentist<\/p>\n Napoleon Bonaparte<\/a>, former emperor of the French<\/p>\n William Carey, co-founder of the Baptist Missionary Society<\/p>\n James Crichton, polymath and soldier<\/p>\n Margaret Henderson Thompson, Scottish doctor who helped provide medical care for fellow inmates while a prisoner of the Japanese<\/p>\n William Wilberforce, anti-slavery campaigner<\/p>\n Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, influential German philosopher<\/p>\n George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham<\/p>\n Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV\u2019s minister of finance<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> 1963: The \u201cGreat Train Robbers\u201d steal \u00a32.6m<\/strong><\/p>\n The heist, hailed as the \u201ccrime of the century\u201d, began before sunrise on 8 August 1963, when a gang of 15 armed criminals boarded an overnight Royal Mail train at Ledburn in Buckinghamshire.<\/p>\n The ringleader was Bruce Reynolds, who had come into\u00a0possession of some intriguing information leaked by an insider at Royal Mail. This train, he was told, would be carrying a vast amount of cash from Glasgow to London. Over a few months, Reynolds and his gang had hatched a careful plan to intercept the train en route and relieve it of its valuable cargo.<\/p>\n The robbery got under way at around 3am. After leaving violence and handcuffed Royal Mail staff in its wake, the gang fled in three vehicles \u2013 two with the same registration to fool witnesses \u2013 with around \u00a32.6m (some \u00a355m today).<\/p>\n 1942: Mohandas Gandhi and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress are arrested by the British authorities<\/strong><\/p>\n This followed the launch of their \u2018Quit India\u2019 movement, which called for an immediate British withdrawal from the subcontinent.<\/p>\n 991: Ealdorman Brihtnoth are defeated by a force of Viking raiders at the battle of Maldon in Essex<\/strong><\/p>\n The Vikings, who were probably led by Olaf Tryggvason, had been camped on Northey Island which was joined to the mainland by a narrow tidal causeway. Seeking to bring the Vikings to battle before they sailed off to raid elsewhere, Brihtnoth allowed them to cross the causeway unopposed. Both sides suffered heavy casualties but the Vikings prevailed and Brihtnoth was slain.<\/p>\n 1660: Birth of Henrietta Maria, Baroness Wentworth<\/strong><\/p>\n As the mistress of James, Duke of Monmouth she pledged her jewellery, cash and credit as security to enable him to borrow \u00a36,000 to fund his ill-fated rebellion of 1685.<\/p>\n 1969: Catholic residents clash with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the Bogside area of Derry<\/strong><\/p>\n The three days of rioting that ensued became known as the battle of the Bogside<\/a> and led to the deployment of British troops to restore order.<\/p>\n 1521: Tenocht\u00edtlan falls to Spanish conquistadors<\/strong><\/p>\n Aided by European diseases and indigenous allies, Spanish conquistador\u00a0Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s captures the city of Tenocht\u00edtlan<\/a> after a 93-day siege. This signals the downfall of the Aztec empire and the conquest of Mexico.<\/p>\n 1739: King\u00a0George II<\/a> sign the charter of the Foundling Hospital which had been established by Thomas Coram to care for abandoned children<\/strong><\/p>\n 1940: A big day in the Battle of Britain<\/strong><\/p>\n In the most intensive day\u2019s fighting of the Battle of Britain<\/a>, the German\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a>\u00a0flew over 2,000 sorties and lost 75 aircraft to Fighter Command\u2019s 34.<\/p>\n 1858: Queen Victoria<\/a> send President James Buchanan the first trans-Atlantic telegraph<\/strong><\/p>\n The message provides \u201can additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem\u201d.<\/p>\n 1962: A Cold War death puts international spotlight on the Berlin Wall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old bricklayer, was shot by East German border guards while attempting to escape with a companion across the Berlin Wall at Zimmerstrasse, not far from\u00a0Checkpoint Charlie<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1612: Pendle \u2018witches\u2019<\/a> take the stand<\/strong><\/p>\n On 18 August 1612, one of the most extraordinary trials in British history opened at Lancaster Assizes. Earlier that year, 16 or 17 people, all of whom lived in or near Pendle Hill in Lancashire, had been accused of murder by witchcraft. Many of them belonged to two families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes, who were believed to have been rival witch clans.<\/p>\n The trial\u2019s first day opened with the examination of Anne Whittle, alias Chattox, \u201ca very old withered spent and decrepit creature, her sight almost gone,\u201d who had reputedly sold her soul to the Devil some years earlier. For the next two days the trial heard a bizarre series of confessions and accusations, with the rival Demdike and Chattox families each claiming that the other was a den of witchcraft.<\/p>\n Eleven of the accused were found guilty under the Witchcraft Act: 10 were sentenced to death by hanging, one died in prison, while another was imprisoned for a year. The remaining members of the group were all acquitted.<\/p>\n 1561: After 13 years in France,\u00a0Mary, Queen of Scots<\/a> returns to Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\n She landed at Leith, having made the journey by sea after\u00a0Elizabeth I<\/a>\u00a0had refused her permission to travel through England.<\/p>\n 1911: The first telegram is sent around the world in just 16.5 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n The first telegram was sent from the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>office in order to discover how long it would take for a message to cross the world by telegraph cable. The message, which travelled more than 28,000 miles, simply read \u201cThis message sent around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n After being transferred by 16 operators across the globe, including those in San Francisco, Saigon and the Azores, the reply to the message was received by the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0office just 16.5 minutes after being sent. This made the telegram the fastest message to be sent by a commercial cablegram since the Commercial Cable Company first launched the Pacific cable in 1900.<\/p>\n King William Rufus<\/a>, third son of William the Conqueror<\/p>\n Raymond VI of Toulouse, most powerful nobleman in Languedoc<\/p>\n Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor<\/p>\n James II of Scotland<\/p>\n Sir Richard Arkwright, pioneer of Britain\u2019s factory system<\/p>\n Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, pastor of the village of Ars near Lyon and patron saint of parish priests<\/p>\n Diego Velazquez, Spanish baroque artist\u00a0<\/p>\n Florence Nightingale<\/a>, founder of modern nursing<\/p>\n Matthew Boulton, manufacturer and entrepreneur<\/p>\n Sir George Bowes, loyal servant of Elizabeth I<\/p>\n Sir Thomas Littleton, English judge and lawyer\u00a0<\/p>\n Margaret of Anjou<\/a>, widow of the deposed King Henry VI<\/p>\n Edith Thompson, historian and lexicographer<\/p>\n Alexander Lindsay, first Earl of Balcarres<\/p>\n Sir Joseph John Thompson, British physicist who discovered the electron<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen<\/a> in France<\/strong><\/p>\n Leonardo da Vinci<\/a>\u2019s famous painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris on this day in 1911. Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia decided to steal the 16th-century painting after being employed by the Louvre to construct protective glass cases for some of the museum\u2019s most famous works, which included the Mona Lisa.<\/p>\n After spending the night in a closet, Peruggia was able to remove the painting with ease, hide it under his clothes and leave the building \u2013 he was let out by a plumber after finding the doors were locked.<\/p>\n The painting was not reported missing until 24 hours later. After this, the newspapers were filled with stories about the stolen masterpiece. It was not until two years later, December 1913, that the painting was finally recovered. Peruggia received a seven-month jail sentence.<\/p>\n 1485: Richard III<\/a> dies at the battle of Bosworth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Richard\u2019s forces met Henry Tudor\u2019s men on a patch of marsh known as \u2018Redemore\u2019, south of Market Bosworth. Richard\u2019s army was twice the size of Henry\u2019s but, as fighting began, it became clear that the king did not have the full loyalty of his army. Betrayed by Sir William Stanley, Richard made a brave final charge at Henry but was hacked to death. His body was stripped and taken to Leicester, where it was later buried in the Grey Friars priory.<\/p>\n 1572: The St Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre begins<\/strong><\/p>\n The massacre began in Paris with the assassination on royal orders of a number of key Huguenot<\/a> leaders. Within a day this had escalated into a widespread general slaughter of French Protestants.<\/p>\n AD 79:\u00a0Pompeii<\/a>\u00a0is engulfed by ash after Vesuvius erupts with furious violence and devastating results<\/strong><\/p>\n The eruption caused the start of fires, while rooftops were swept away, columns collapsed. Almost certainly thousands were killed, though the true figure will never be known.<\/p>\n Pliny the Younger wrote that while \u201cashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames\u201d. With ash filling the sky, the unnatural darkness seemed \u201cblacker and denser than any ordinary night\u201d.<\/p>\n After the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the ancient Roman city was lost for centuries. Today, it is one of the world\u2019s most famous \u2013 and fascinating \u2013 archaeological sites.<\/p>\n 1875:\u00a0Matthew Webb conquers the Channel<\/strong><\/p>\n To the Victorians, Matthew Webb was one of the great celebrities of the age: the first man ever to swim the English Channel. A former steamship captain in his late twenties, Webb was obsessed with swimming the Channel, training at Lambeth Baths and in the heavily polluted river Thames. With one unsuccessful attempt 12 days earlier behind him, on 24 August 1875 he made his way to the end of Dover\u2019s Admiralty Pier. There, having been rubbed all over in porpoise oil, he dived in, and with three boats bobbing alongside, began the long breaststroke swim to France.<\/p>\n Although the French coast was only 18 nautical miles away, Webb\u2019s route lasted much longer. The strong current meant he effectively zigzagged across the Channel instead of heading directly across. At one point he was even stung by a jellyfish, and had to be thrown a bottle of brandy to revive his spirits.<\/p>\n 1346: English forces claim victory at the battle of Cr\u00e9cy<\/a> during the Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/strong><\/p>\n On 26 August 1346, thousands of English and French troops lined up against one another near the town of Cr\u00e9cy-en-Ponthieu in the north-eastern corner of France.<\/p>\n The English army consisted mainly of footsoldiers. Led by Edward III, they had landed in Normandy in July and plundered and razed every town in their way. The stunning victory over the French marked a new dawn for the humble foot soldier, and is a landmark moment in the\u00a0Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/a><\/p>\n4 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
5 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"Marilyn](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-74284348-1b41b4c.png?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"Marilyn")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>6 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
7 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
Famous births in August<\/h2>\n
4 August 1870<\/h6>\n
5 August 1869<\/h6>\n
8 August 1861\u00a0<\/h6>\n
8 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
10 August 1810<\/h6>\n
12 August 1762\u00a0<\/h6>\n
13 August 1792<\/h6>\n
13 August 1809<\/h6>\n
14 August 1851<\/h6>\n
15 August 1769<\/h6>\n
17 August 1761<\/h6>\n
19 August 1560\u00a0<\/h6>\n
20 August 1902\u00a0<\/h6>\n
24 August 1759<\/h6>\n
27 August 1770<\/h6>\n
28 August 1592\u00a0<\/h6>\n
29 August 1619<\/h6>\n
8 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
9 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
10 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
11 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
12 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
13 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
14 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
15 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
16 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
17 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
18 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
19 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"Mary,](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-528863266-012cd38.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Mary,")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>20 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
Famous deaths in August<\/h2>\n
2 August 1100<\/h6>\n
2 August 1222<\/h6>\n
2 August 1921<\/h6>\n
3 August 1460<\/h6>\n
3 August 1792<\/h6>\n
4 August 1859<\/h6>\n
6 August 1660\u00a0<\/h6>\n
13 August 1910<\/h6>\n
17 August 1809<\/h6>\n
20 August 1580\u00a0<\/h6>\n
23 August 1481<\/h6>\n
25 August 1482\u00a0<\/h6>\n
26 August 1929<\/h6>\n
30 August 1659<\/h6>\n
30 August 1940<\/h6>\n
21 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-80912841-3b9e68d.png?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"MonaLisaHeist\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>22 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
23 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
24 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
25 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-160501061-12fdf13.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C412\" "\\"GettyImages-160501061\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>26 August<\/a><\/h2>\n
27 August<\/a><\/h2>\n