It happened today – on this day in history – March 7

322BC: Death of Aristotle.

1274: Death of Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas.

1530: Henry VIII’s request to divorce Catherine of Aragon is denied by the Pope.

1671: Birth of Scottish folk hero Rob Roy McGreagor.

1774: George III charges colonists in Boston with attempting to injure British commerce, paving the way for the closing of the port to punish them for the Boston Tea Party.

1814: Napoleon wins the Battle of Craonne against the combined forces of Russia and Prussia.

1872: Birth of abstract painter Piet Mondrian in The Netherlands.

1875: Birth of composer Maurice Ravel in France.

1876: Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone in the US.

1912: Roald Amundsen announces he has reached of the South Pole.

1926: The first transatlantic telephone call (London – New York).

1933: The game of Monopoly is invented.

1935: Malcolm Campbell sets world land speed record speed of 276.71 mph driving Bluebird – last record set at Daytona Beach, Florida.

1936: Hitler breaks the Treaty of Versailles by sending troops to the Rhineland.

1941: 50,000 British soldiers land in Greece. On the same day, British troops invade Abyssinia.

1944: Japan begins offensive in Burma.

1945: The US 9th Armoured Division attacks Remagen Germany, and crosses the Rhine.

1946: Bikini Atoll islanders are evacuated by the US government to make way for a nuclear testing site.

1951: Ezzard Charles defeats Jersey Joe Walcott in Round 15 for second time to win the NBA world heavyweight title.

1959: Kanyama Chiume, one of the leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress flees to London and goes into hiding after escaping arrest in his home country.

1965: State troopers assault scores of demonstrators demanding better voting rights for black people in the US as they attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery. On the same day, a golden eagle which escaped from Regent’s Park Zoo is still on the loose after outsmarting his keepers’ latest attempts to recapture him.

1966: Tina Turner records her vocal on the Phil Spector produced River Deep Mountain High. On the same day, Mike Millward guitarist from The Fourmost dies, aged 23 from leukaemia.

1967: The Beatles record additional overdubs for the Paul McCartney song Lovely Rita, including harmonies, effects, and the sound of a piece of toilet paper being blown through a hair comb.

1968: The BBC broadcasts the news in colour for the first time.

1969: Golda Meir is elected as the first female prime minister of Israel.

1971: Singles chart:

1. Baby Jump – Mungo Jerry
2. Another Day – Paul McCartney
3. My Sweet Lord – George Harrison
4. Rose Garden – Lynn Anderson
5. It’s Impossible – Perry Como
6. The Pushbike Song – The Mixtures
7. Hot Love – T. Rex
8. Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
9. Amazing Grace – Judy Collins
10. Stoned Love – The Supremes

Album chart:

1. All Things Must Pass – George Harrison
2. Tumbleweed Connection – Elton John
3. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
4. Led Zeppelin 3 – Led Zeppelin
5. Greatest Hits – Andy Williams
6. The Yes Album – Yes
7. Elton John – Elton John
8. Motown Chartbusters Vol 4 – Various Artists
9. Pendulum – Credence Clearwater Revival
10. Chicago 3 – Chicago

1973: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League wins election in Bangladesh.

1975: The body of Lesley Whittle, the 17-year-old heiress kidnapped from her Shropshire home 52 days earlier, is found at the bottom of a drain shaft.

1977: Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party wins elections. On the same day, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin meets US President Jimmy Carter.

1987: Mike Tyson beats James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith in 12 rounds for the WBA heavyweight boxing title.

1989: Iran drops diplomatic relations with Britain over Salman Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses”.

1994: Charles Taylor resigns as President of Liberia. On the same day, David Platt is appointed captain of England football team.

1999: Death of director Stanley Kubrick aged 70.

2009: Neymar makes his professional football debut aged 17 for Santos in Brazil.

2013: Death of guitarist Peter Banks (Brockbanks). “the architect of progressive music” aged 65. On the same day, jazz trumpeter Kenny Ball dies aged 82.

2019: Chinese telecommunications company Huawei sues the US government over a federal ban on its products.

BIRTHDAYS: Chris White, bassist/songwriter (The Zombies) 76; Matthew Fisher, organist (Procol Harum), 75; Ernie Isley, guitarist (The Isley Brothers) 69; Bryan Cranston, actor, 65; Ivan Lendl, tennis legend, 61; Taylor Dayne (Leslie Wundermann) singer, 59; E L James (Erika Leonard), author, 58; Wanda Sykes, comedian/actor, 57; Rachel Weisz (Craig), actress, 51; Ray Parlour, footballer, 48; Tobias Menzies, actor, 47; Jenna (Regina) Fischer, actress, 47; Josh Dewhurst, guitarist (Blossoms) 24.