CROW ANNIVERSARIES July 4 – July 10 Friday July 4 1969 Britain s Ann Jones became Wimbledon s ladies singles champion. 1976 Israeli commandos rescued 100 hostages from Entebbe airport in Uganda. 1977 Tommy Docherty was sacked as manager of Manchester Un

CROW ANNIVERSARIES

July 4 - July 10

Friday July 4

1969 Britain's Ann Jones became Wimbledon's ladies singles champion.

1976 Israeli commandos rescued 100 hostages from Entebbe airport in Uganda.

1977 Tommy Docherty was sacked as manager of Manchester United.

1996 Boris Yeltsin was re-elected president of Russia.

2007 The BBC's Middle East correspondent Alan Johnston was released after being held hostage for 114 days in the Gaza Strip.

Births: Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, 1804; Thomas John Barnado, social work pioneer, 1845; Calvin Coolidge, US President, 1872.

Today's birthdays: Gina Lollobrigida, actress, 81; Adam Hart-Davis, broadcaster, 65; Neil Morrissey, from Men Behaving Badly, 46; Jo Whiley, broadcaster, 42.

Deaths: Thomas Jefferson, US President, 1826; Marie Curie, scientist, 1934; Barry White, soul singer, 2003.

Saturday July 5

1948 The National Health Service came into operation.

1974 Don Revie became England soccer boss.

1988 The Church of England voted for the ordination of women.

1991 The Bank of England ordered the closure of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI).

2003 Suicide bombers caused the death of 15 people at a rock concert in Moscow.

Births: Cecil Rhodes, statesman, 1853; Dwight F Davis, creator of the Davis Cup, 1879; Georges Pompidou, French Prime Minister, 1911; Tony Lock, England Test cricket spin bowler, 1929.

Today's birthdays: Elizabeth Emanuel, designer, 55; Gianfranco Zola, ex-Chelsea soccer star, 42.

Deaths: Thomas Stamford Raffles, creator of Singapore, 1781.

Sunday July 6

1907 The all-purpose motor racing track Brooklands was opened.

1928 First all-talking movie - Lights of New York - was screened at the Strand Theatre in New York.

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

1988 More than 160 people were killed in an explosion on the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha.

1996 Steffi Graf became Wimbledon ladies singles champion for the seventh time.

2005 The International Olympic Committee announced that the 2012 Games would be held in London.

Births: Bill Haley, rock-n-roll legend, 1925; Alan Freeman, disc jockey, 1927; Janet Leigh, actress, 1927.

Today's birthdays: The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader, 73; George W Bush, US President, 62; Sylvester Stallone, actor, 62; Nanci Griffith, singer-songwriter, 55; Kate Nash, singer-songwriter, 21.

Deaths: Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, 1932; Aneurin Bevan, Labour politician, 1960; William Faulkner, author of The Sound and the Fury, 1962; Louis Armstrong, jazz legend, 1971; Ed McBain, crime author, 2005.

Monday July 7

1976 David Steel was elected leader of the Liberal Party.

1981 Ian Botham quit as England Test cricket captain.

1985 The unseeded 17-year-old Boris Becker became Wimbledon men's singles champion.

Today's birthdays: Ringo Starr, of The Beatles, 68; Michael Howard, ex-leader of the Conservative Party, 67; Bill Oddie, ornithologist, 67; Tony Jacklin, British Open champion, 64.

Deaths: R B Sheridan, English dramatist, 1816; Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, 1930.

Tuesday July 8

1956 Margaret Roberts (Thatcher) elected president of the Oxford University Conservatives.

1988 First edition of The Canterbury Tales was sold at auction for £4.6 million.

Births: John D Rockefeller, millionaire, 1839.

Today's birthdays: Anjelica Huston, actress, 57; Kevin Bacon, actor, 50; Pauline Quirke, from Birds of a Feather, 49; Robbie Keane, Tottenham Hotspur star, 28.

Deaths: Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet, 1822; Anthony Hope, author of The Prisoner of Zenda, 1933; William Cadbury, social philanthropist, 1933.

Wednesday July 9

1877 First Wimbledon championships were held.

1947 The engagement of Princess Elizabeth and Lt Philip Mountbatten was announced.

1992 Chris Patten became the last Governor of Hong Kong.

1955 French commandos seized the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior II.

2001 Zinedine Zidane joined Real Madrid for a world record transfer of £50 million.

Births: Edward Heath, ex-British Prime Minister, 1916.

Today's birthdays: Richard Wilson, from One Foot in the Grave, 72; David Hockney, artist, 71; Tom Hanks, actor, 52; Kelly McGillis, actress, 51; Gianluca Vialli, ex-Chelsea soccer boss, 44; Courtney Love, singer-songwriter, 44.

Deaths: Edmund Burke, statesman, 1797; Rod Steiger, actor, 2002.

Thursday July 10

1945 The Louvre gallery opened in Paris.

1964 The Beatles returned to Liverpool for the opening of A Hard Day's Night.

1980 Alexandra Palace in north London was damaged in a blaze.

Births: Marcel Proust, French author, 1871.

Today's birthdays: John Motson, commentator, 63; Virginia Wade, ex-Wimbledon ladies singles champion, 63; Neil Tennant, singer-songwriter, 54; John Simm, from Life on Mars, 38.

Deaths: Jerry Roll Morton, jazz pianist, 1941; Lord Shawcross, Attorney-General and chief prosecutor at the Nuremburg war crimes tribunal, 2003; Winston Graham, author, 2003.