this is the week that was

3 July:

1928: the first commercially available television set goes on sale in the US for $75.

1954: the end of post-war rationing in Britain.

4 July:

1776: King George III writes in his diary: "Nothing of importance happened today," overlooking the American Revolution.

1826: Death of two American presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

1829: London's first horse-drawn buses come into service.

1848: On American Independence Day, the Communist Manifesto is published.

1984: Dog licences abolished in the UK.

5 July:

1817: The first gold sovereigns are issued in Britain.

1841: Mr Thomas Cook organises the first excursion, by rail from Leicester to Loughborough, for members of the temperance movement.

1865: Britain introduces the world's first speed limits: 2mph in towns, 4mph in the country. There are two cars in Britain at the time.

1948: Jean Murray, of Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan, becomes the first baby born on the National Health.

6 July:

1806: Pope Pius VII is arrested for excommunicating Napoleon.

1952: The last tram runs in London.

1957: John Lennon, 17, first meets Paul McCartney, 15.

1979: Elizabeth Ryan, winner of 19 Wimbledon titles, dies on the day Billie-Jean King beats her record.

7 July:

1906: The first hot-air balloon race in the UK.

1942: The Vatican allows women without stockings to enter St Peter's in Rome.

1982: The Queen is disturbed in her bedchamber by intruder Michael Fagan.

8 July:

1905: May Sutton becomes the first foreigner to win a Wimbledon title.

1932: Harold Davidson, the rector of Stiffkey, is found guilty of disreputable association with women, after allegations that he made improper advances to a waitress in a Chinese restaurant. He died in 1937 after being mauled by a lion in Skegness.

9 July:

1887: Paper napkins are introduced at the annual dinner of John Dickenson in Hastings.

1969: An Irish zoo celebrates the first rhino born in captivity.