200 years ago (5 Jul 1810)
Birth of P.T. Barnum, American showman and circus founder

50 years ago (6 Jul 1960)
Death of Aneurin (‘Nye’) Bevan, British politician responsible for establishing the National Health Service

200 years ago (9 Jul 1810)
Napoleon annexed Holland and made his brother Louis its King

70 years ago (10 Jul 1940)
World War II: The Battle of Britain began

25 years ago (10 Jul 1985)
The Greenpeace campaign ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ was sunk by two bomb explosions in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand

50 years ago (11 Jul 1960)
Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was published

100 years ago (12 Jul 1910)
Death of Charles Stewart Rolls, British driver, aviator and car manufacturer, co-founder of Rolls-Royce, first person to fly cross the Channel and back non-stop, first British pilot to die in a plane crash

75 years ago (12 Jul 1935)
Death of Alfred Dreyfus, French soldier whose treason trial in 1894 (‘The Dreyfus Affair’) became one of Europe’s most tense political dramas

25 years ago (13 Jul 1985)
Live Aid. Two simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia, plus other venues including Sydney and Moscow, raised millions of pounds for victims of famine in Africa

400 years ago (18 Jul 1610)
Death of Caravaggio, Italian artist

30 years ago (19 Jul 1980)
The Moscow Olympics began. Dozens of nations boycotted the games due to Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan

500 years ago (22 Jul 1510)
Birth of Alessandro de’ Medici, first Duke of Florence

100 years ago (31 Jul 1910)
American physician Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen was arrested aboard the SS Montrose as it docked in Quebec. He had fled England after murdering his wife, and was the first criminal to be caught using wireless telegraph