Happy Anniversary: From Tom King to King Arthur

SOME of the events of great insignificance that have occurred this week in history:

6 December

National Day of Finland.

1557: The court of the Commune of Saint Quentin, France, condemns a pig to be 'buried all alive' for having devoured a child.

1774: Austria becomes the first country to introduce a state system of education.

1877: Edison recites 'Mary had a little lamb' to make the first recording of the human voice.

1926: Mussolini approves a tax on bachelors.

7 December

1817: Death of William Bligh, former captain of HMS Bounty.

1907: Eugene Corrie becomes the first referee to officiate from inside a boxing ring at the fight between Tommy Burns and Gunner Moir in London.

1911: The pigtail is outlawed in China.

1982: The first execution by lethal injection is performed at Fort Worth prison in Texas. The injectee was Charles Brooks Jr.

8 December

1863: Tom King of England becomes the first world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating John Heenan.

1934: An air mail service is inaugurated between London and Australia.

1981: Arthur Scargill is elected president of the National Union of Mineworkers.

9 December

1783: Newgate prison holds its first executions.

1814: Death of Joseph Brahmah, inventor of the beer pump.

1960: The first episode of Coronation Street is screened.

10 December

1844: Union Hall, Hartford, Connecticut, holds 'A grand exhibition of the effects produced by inhaling Nitrous Oxide, Exhilarating or Laughing Gas.'

1845: Robert Thompson invents pneumatic tyres.

1868: The first traffic lights come into operation on the corner of Bridge Street and New Palace Yard outside the Houses of Parliament. They blew up the following year, severely injuring the policeman operating them. They were removed in 1872.

1917: The first postmark slogans appear on British letters: 'Buy British War Bonds Now.'

1927: Greyhound racing begins at Wembley Stadium.

11 December

1769: Venetian blinds are patented by Edward Beran of London.

1844: Nitrous oxide first used for a tooth extraction. The tooth belonged to a dentist, Dr Horace Wells, it was pulled by Dr John M Riggs, and the anaesthetic was administered by Gardner Quincy Colton, a travelling showman and demonstrator of laughing gas. When he had stopped laughing, Wells proclaimed 'a new era in tooth-

pulling'.

1894: The first motor show opens in Paris with nine exhibitors.

1956: Television broadcasts are permitted for the first time between 6pm and 7pm.

1987: Charlie Chaplin's cane and bowler hat sell for pounds 82,500 at Christies. His boots fetch pounds 38,500.

12 December

1915: The first all-metal plane, made by Junkers of Germany, makes its maiden flight.

1917: 543 killed in the world's worst train crash, at Modane, France.

1955: Christopher Cockerell patents the hovercraft.

1988: Satellite pictures are first beamed to London betting shops to allow horse races to be watched live.