On This Day: March 29, 2024

Birthdays

1790 John Tyler, Former American President

1902 Sir William Walton, English composer

1931 Lord (Norman) Tebbit, Tory politician and TV presenter

1943 John Major, Conservative Prime Minister

1943 Julie Goodyear, Cornation Streets 'Bet Lynch'

1944 Vangelis, Greek musician

1944 John Suchet, Television journalist

1949 Michael Brecker, Of the group 'The Brecker Brothers'

Events

1871 Queen Victoria opened the Royal Albert Hall in London

1940 Bank of England Pound notes were issued containing metal strips as an anti forgery device

1974 The American spacecraft Mariner 10 took close-up photographs of Mercury

1981 The first ever London marathon was held; won by an American, Dick Beardsley

1982 The film 'Chariots of Fire' won an 'Oscar' for best film

1988 Plans were announced, for the construction of Europe's tallest 'skyscraper', on Canary Wharf, London

1992 Earl Spencer, the father of the Princess of Wales, died