Happy Anniversary: Footballers are legal

HERE are some of the more obscure anniversaries you might wish to celebrate in the coming week:

19 July:

1848: Amelian Bloomer introduces new female garments at Seneca Falls, New York State.

1918: Baseball declared 'non- essential occupation' under the 'Work or Fight' law in the United States.

20 July:

Feast Day of St Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of women in childbirth. She was eaten by a dragon but escaped when its stomach exploded.

1837: London's first railway station opened at Euston.

1885: Professional football becomes legal in England.

21 July:

National Day of Belgium

1797: Nelson loses his right arm at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

1984: James Fixx, 52, the man who started the jogging craze, had a heart attack and died while out jogging.

1988: First recorded case of a bull being killed by a jet aircraft, when the animal attacked a landing Boeing 737 at Baruda airport, western India.

22 July:

National Day of Poland

1284: According to legend, the day on which the Pied Piper appeared in Hamelin.

23 July:

National Day of Ethiopia and the United Arab Republic.

1986: Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson.

24 July:

1824: The world's first public opinion poll shows that Andrew Jackson is leading John Quincy Adams in the race for the American presidency.

1851: Repeal of the Window Tax.

1926: Belle Vue, Manchester, opens as Britain's first greyhound racing track.

1936: The 'Speaking Clock' service begins. It receives over 250,000 calls in the first week.

25 July:

1888: Frank McGurrin, official stenographer for Salt Lake City Federal Court, shows the power of touch-typing by winning a contest against Louis Taub, a four-finger typist who looked at the keyboard.

1909: Louis Bleriot makes the first channel crossing by aeroplane.

1978: Mrs Leslie Brown gives birth in Oldham to Louise Brown, the first baby to have been conceived in a test-tube.