on this day in September

1913  Louis Bleriot performed the first aeronautical loop-the-loop

1853  The Cape of Good Hope issued the world's first triangular postage stamp

1976  Percy Shaw, inventor of the cat's eye, died

1962  The American poet e e cummings died

1783  The American War of Independence ended

1752  The Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian

1948  Wilhelmina abdicated as Queen of the Netherlands in favour of her daughter Juliana

1911  Sweden set up the first state film censorship authority

1997  Mother Teresa died

1817  The Drury Lane theatre became the first British theatre to be entirely lighted by gas

1892  The American boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett became the first world heavyweight champion under Queensbury rules

1977  The Canadian Cindy Nicholas became the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways non-stop

1966  Star Trek was first transmitted on US television 

1888  The first  English Football League matches were played

1971  The Old Grey Whistle Test was first broadcast on television

1963  The American Express credit card was launched in the UK

1960  Blackpool v Bolton Wanderers was the first English Football League match to be televised

1960  The first episode of "Danger Man" was shown on tv

1709  The Duke of Marlborough defeated the French at the Battle of Malplaquet

1297  William Wallace defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge

1953  Jaqueline Bouvier married John F Kennedy

2000  The Lock and Barrel, the first  pub in Frinton-on-Sea, opened for business

1788  New York became the capital of the USA

1972  Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Mantini) abolished the tonsure for monks

1830  William Huskisson was run down and killed by George Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, becoming the world's first railway accident

1908  General Motors was formed from the amalgamation of Buick and Oldsmobile

1939  HMS Courageous was torpedoed and became the first British warship to be sunk in the Second World War

1981  France abolished capital punishment

1975  Fawlty Towers was first shown on tv

1876  Melville Bissell patented a carpet-sweeper

1783  A sheep, a duck and a rooster made an ascent in a hot-air balloon over Versailles, France

1356  Edward the Black Prince defeated the King of France at the Battle of Poitiers

1967  The QE2 was launched at Clydebank

1955  Phil Silvers first appeared on tv as Sergeant Bilko

1946  The first Cannes Film Festival opened

1839  Charles Dickens finished writing Nicholas Nickleby

1936  Frank Hornby, the inventor of Meccano, died

1955  The UK's first commercial tv station went on air

1974  Ceefax went live on BBC television to become the world's first teletext system

1963  Doctors in New Zealand gave the first successful blood transfusion to an unborn baby

1953  The first Cinemascope film, The Robe, was premiered in Hollywood

1935  The first Jaguar car went on sale

1934  Babe Ruth played his last game of baseball for the New York Yankees

  768  Pippin III (The Short) King of the Franks died

1919  Scafell Pike in the Lake District was given to the nation in memory of the Great War dead

1891  Blackpool Tower's foundation stone was laid

1066  Harold II defeated Harold Hardrada of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge

1953  Sugar rationing ended in the UK

1963  Cilla Black made her television debut on Ready, Steady, Go!

1938  The Queen Elizabeth passenger liner was launched at Clydebank

1865  Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was registered as the first woman doctor in Britain

1968  The twins Matt and Luke Goss of the pop group Bros were born - like anyone cares

1399  Richard II became the first British monarch to abdicate

1955  James Dean died aged 24 in a car crash

1952  "This Is Cinerama", the first feature film to be made in Cinerama, opened in New York