TODAY 1907 Brooklands motor race track opened. 1964 The Beatles Hard Day s Night opened in London. 1988 An explosion on the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha killed 166 people. 2005 The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London.

TODAY

1907 Brooklands motor race track opened.

1964 The Beatles Hard Day's Night opened in London.

1988 An explosion on the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha killed 166 people.

2005 The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London.

Birthdays: Nancy Reagan, ex-US First Lady, 84; Alan Freeman, disc jockey, 79; George Bush, US President, 60; Sylvester Stallone, actor, 60; Nanci Griffith, singer-songwriter, 53.

TOMORROW

1976 David Steel elected leader of the Liberal Party.

1981 Ian Botham quit as England Test cricket captain.

1990 Martina Navratilova won a record ninth Wimbledon singles title.

Birthdays: Ringo Starr, ex-Beatle, 66; Michael Howard, ex-leader of the Conservative Party, 65; Bill Oddie, comedian and ornithologist, 65; Tony Jacklin, ex-Open champion, 62.

SATURDAY

1956 Margaret Thatcher elected President of the Oxford Union.

1994 OJ Simpson ordered to stand trial on charges of murdering his ex-wife.

Birthdays: Anjelica Huston, actress, 55; Pauline Quirke, from Birds of a Feather, 47; Robbie Keane, Tottenham Hotspur soccer star, 26.

SUNDAY

1877 First Wimbledon Lawn Tennis championship held.

1995 French commandos seized the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior II.

2001 Zinedine Zidane joined Real Madrid in a record £50 million transfer.

Birthdays: Richard Wilson, from One Foot in the Grave, 70; David Hockney, artist, 69; Tom Hanks, actor, 50; Gianluca Vialli, ex-Chelsea manager, 42; Courtney Love, singer-songwriter, 42.

MONDAY

1958 First parking meters introduced in Britain, in Mayfair.

1997 Thousands of people turned out for a protest against a ban on fox hunting.

Birthdays: John Motson, soccer commentator, 61; Virginia Wade, ex-Wimbledon champion, 61; Neil Tennant, of the Pet Shop Boys, 52.

TUESDAY

1995 US restored dipolomatic relations with Vietnam.

Birthdays: Leon Spinks, ex-world heavyweight champion, 53; Suzanne Vega, singer-songwriter, 47; Craig Charles, from Red Dwarf, 42.

WEDNESDAY

1920 US President Woodrow Wilson opened the Panama Canel.

1930 Cricket legend Don Bradman scored a record 334 runs against England.

1984 Robert Maxwell purchased the Daily Mirror for £113 million.

Birthdays: Kathy Staff, from Last of the Summer Wine, 78; Christine McVie, of Fleetwood Mac, 63; Jennifer Saunders, comedian, 48; Gareth Gates, Pop Idol, 22.