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1933: Loch Ness Monster sighted
Although accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland's Loch Ness date back 1,500 years, the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster is born when a sighting makes local news on 2 May 1933. Several London newspapers sent correspondents to Scotland, and a circus offered a £20,000 reward for capture of the beast. A famous 1934 photograph showed a dinosaur-like creature with a long neck emerging out of the murky waters, leading some to speculate that Nessie was a solitary survivor of the long-extinct plesiosaurs. Since then a succession of investigators have employed devices from sonar to underwater video trying to find definitive proof of the Loch Ness Monster's existence. Revelations in 1994 that the famous 1934 photo was a hoax hardly dampened the enthusiasm of tourists to Loch Ness.
2005
The British designed Skylark rocket makes its last voyage into space.1999
Mireya Moscoso is elected as the first female President of Panama.1982
The Falkland War: The Argentine cruiser General Belgrano is sunk by the British submarine HMS Conqueror in the South Atlantic.1969
Britain's latest cruise liner, the Queen Elizabeth II (QE2), the last of the Cunard liners built for transatlantic service, sails on her maiden voyage from Southampton.1964
The Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces are suspected of causing the explosion which sinks the USS Card docked at Saigon, South Vietnam.1953
Hussein is crowned King of Jordan.1953
Football legend Sir Stanley Matthews, at the age of 38, wins an FA Cup winners' medal as Blackpool come back from trailing 3-1 to beat Bolton 4-3. In recognition of the impact he had on the match, it has become known as the 'Matthew’s Final'.1952
First jet passenger service begins between London and Johannesburg in South Africa.1945
The Second World War: German troops around the world surrender to allied forces at part of the terms of surrender.1866
A combined alliance of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador force the Spanish fleet to withdraw at the Battle of Callao during the Chincha Islands War in South America.1808
During the Peninsular War, a popular uprising against the French occupation of Spain begins in Madrid.1670
King Charles II of England gives a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.1568
Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven Castle and raises a small army.1975
England and Manchester United footballer David Beckham.1969
| West Indian test cricketer Brian Lara. |
1962
| English snooker player Jimmy White. |
1944
Internationally acclaimed Led Zepplin guitar player Jimmy Page.
1941
American singer songwriter, political activist and sometime companion of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez.1916
| British actress Peggy Mount. |
1909
American politician Barry Goldwater.1908
French feminist writer and life partner of Jean-Paul Satre, Simone de Beauvoir.
1903
American paediatrician Dr Benjamin McLane Spock. His most famous book: Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946) has sold more copies in the United States of America than almost any other book.1895
J. Edgar Hoover. Becomes head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.1892
| Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, World War One German pilot Red Baron. |
1892
| Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, World War One German pilot Red Baron. |