It happened today – this day in history – September 19

1356: English forces under Edward The Black Prince defeat the French at theBattle of Poitiers and capture the French King during the Hundred Years’ War.

1796: George Washington gives his farewell address as US president.

1876: The first carpet sweeper is patented by Melville Bissell of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

1879: Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.

1881: US president James Garfield dies aged 49 from wounds suffered when he was shot in July.

1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to grant all women the right to vote.

1896: Dr Acacio Gabriel Viegas detects the first case of the Bombay plague epidemic in Mandvi. It goes on to kill 12 million people in India.

1908: Gustav Mahler’s 7th Symphony premieres in Prague.

1931: Japanese troops conquer Mukden, South Manchuria.

1934: Bruno Haptmann is arrested for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby.

1940: Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz in order to smuggle out information and start a resistance.

1945: William Joyce (German progaganda broadcaster Lord Haw Haw) is sentenced to death in London.

1952: While back in Britain for the premiere of his film Limelight, the US prevents Charlie Chaplin from returning to Hollywood until he is investigated by the Immigration Services.

1955: Argentine president Juan Peron resigns and flees.

1959: Soviet first secretary Nikita Khrushchev is denied entry to Disneyland.

1961: American couple Betty and Barney Hill claim that they saw a mysterious craft in the sky and that it tried to abduct them.

1972: An Israeli diplomat was killed when a letter bomb exploded at the embassy in London.

1973: Gram Parsons (Cecil Ingram Connor III), formerly of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, died from a heroin overdose in Joshua Tree, California. His coffin was stolen by manager Phil Kaufman and Michael Martin, a former roadie for The Byrds, and taken to Cap Rock in the California desert, where it was set alight in accordance with Parson’s wishes.

1974: The KGB begin a large-scale operation to discredit Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and cut his communications with Soviet dissidents.

1975: Fawlty Towers premieres on BBC2.

1980:

1982: Singles chart:

1. Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor
2. The Bitterest Pill – The Jame
3. Private Investigations – Dire Straits
4. Walking On Sunshine – Rocker’s Revenge ft Donnie Calvin
5. All Of My Heart – ABC
6. There It Is – Shalamar
7. Save A Prayer – Duran Duran
8. The Message – Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
9. Saddle Up – David Christie
10. Friend Or Foe – Adam Ant

Album chart:

1. The Kids From Fame – Kids From Fame
2. Chartbeat Chartheat – Various Artists
3. The Dreaming – Kate Bush
4. Upstairs At Eric’s – Yazoo
5. The Lexicon Of Love – ABC
6. New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84) – Simple Minds
7. In The Heat Of The Night – Imagination
8. Rio – Duran Duran
9. Breakout – Various Artists
10. Signals – Rush

1983:St Kitts & Nevis declares independence from Britain.

1985: Mexico City is hit by a devastating earthquake.

1986: Two passenger trains collide at Colwich Junction near Rugeley in Staffs, killing one of the drivers and injuring 75.

1988: British swimmer Adrian Moorehouse wins the 100m breaststroke gold medal at the Seoul Olympics.

1990: Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liota, is released.

1997: An Intercity 125 ploughs into a freight train near Southall station, west London, killing six and injuring more than 150. The driver of the Swansea-Paddington service was arrested by London Transport Police.

1999: Songwriter, and record producer, Ed Cobb died. He wrote the hit ‘Tainted Love’.

2004: Europe retains the Ryder Cup.

2006: The Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok. The constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.

2008: George Michael is arrested in a public toilet in the Hampstead Heath area for possession of Class A and C drugs.

2010: “The King’s Speech” directed by Tom Hooper and starring Colin Firth, wins the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

2015: Author Jackie Collins dies aged 77.

2016: Angelina Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt.

2017: Champion boxer Jake LaMotta, subject of the film Raging Bull, dies at 95.

2019: Tropical Depression Imelda hits southeast Texas and Louisiana prompting widespread evacuations.

BIRTHDAYS: David McCallum, actor, 87; Paul Williams, songwriter, 80; Freda Payne, singer, 75; John Coughlan, drummer (Status Quo) 74; Lol Creme, guitarist/singer/songwriter/video director (10cc) 73; Ray Cooper, percussionist, 73; Jeremy Irons, actor, 72; Twiggy (Lesley Hornsby), model, 71; Daniel Lanois, record producer, 69; Nile Rodgers, guitarist/songwriter/producer, 68; Lita Ford, guitarist (The Runaways) 62; David Seaman, goalkeeper, 57; Jarvis Cocker, singer-songwriter (Pulp) 57; Trisha Yearwood, country singer, 56; Candy Dulfer, saxophonist, 51; Victoria Silvstedt, model, 46; Jimmy Fallon, comedian, chatshow host, 46; Ryan Dusick drummer (Maroon 5) 43; Scott Bradlee, musician (Postmodern Jukebox) 39; Danielle Panabaker, actress/director, 33.