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10th August

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1675: New observatory to aid sailors


On August 10, 1675, under the patronage of King Charles II, the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory is laid at Greenwich in London. The observatory was built to provide English navigators with accurate tables of the positions of the moon and stars for use in calculating longitude. In the 1750s, the Royal Observatory began publishing The Nautical Almanac, which established the observatory's site as 0° longitude, or the prime meridian. The almanac's popularity among sailors led in 1884 to the international recognition of Greenwich as the earth's prime meridian, making it the starting point for the world's 24 time zones.

1998

English football club Manchester United becomes the first club in the world to have it's own TV channel - MUTV.

1986

England cricketer Ian Botham scores a record 175 in a one day Sunday League match - including 13 sixes.

1966

The launch of Orbiter I, the first United States lunal satellite.

1962

French and Italian enginners meet under Mont Blanc while building the tunnel linking their two countries.

1961

Britian applies for membership of the EEC - the European Economic Community.

1954

Engliosh champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards retires after riding a total of 4,869 winners.

1911

British MPs vote in favour of them receiving a salary for being Members of Parliament.

1897

The founding the the RAC - the Royal Automobile Club - originally known as the Automobile Club of Great Britain.

1895

Henry Wood conducts the first Promenade Concert at the Queen's Hall in London.

1889

Englishman Dan Rylands of Hope Glass Works, Barnsley, Yorkshire patents the screw bottle top.

1846

The Smithsonian Institution is established in Washington DC, USA to foster scientific research.

1842

Britain passes the Mines Act - forbidding women and children to work underground.

1675

King Charles II of England lays the foundation stone for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in south-east London.

1939

English actress Kate O'Mara.

1923

US actress Rhonda Fleming

1921

American writer Alex Haley.