This is the week that was

13 November:

1896: The last day on which the law required any car to have a man walking in front of it.

1914: The brassiere is patented by Mary Phelps Jacob.

1988: Festo Kazarwa, a rainmaker of Kabale, Uganda, is beaten to death by villagers whose crops and homes have been destroyed by hailstones. He had threatened to summon up hail if they didn't show him more respect.

14 November:

1687: Death of Nell Gwynn, the mistress of Charles II.

1734: Death of Louise de Keroualle, the mistress of Charles II.

1968: Edward Heath appoints Margaret Thatcher shadow education minister.

15 November:

1901: Miller Reese patents an electric hearing-aid in New York. It is of limited application owing to its non-portability.

1968: End of the final voyage of the Queen Elizabeth, the largest passenger ship ever.

1969: The first colour television advert is transmitted. It is for Bird's Eye frozen peas.

16 November:

1803: Birth of William John Thoms, the first person to use the word "folklore".

1959: First performance of The Sound of Music.

17 November:

1869: James Moore of England wins the world's first cycle road race, from Paris to Rouen.

1880: London University awards its first BA to a woman.

1883: The first relay race is run as an experiment in Berkeley, California.

1944: A quacking duck alerts the citizens of Freiburg, Germany, to an air raid. A statue is later erected in its honour.

1970: The first Page 3 girl appears in the Sun.

18 November:

1477: Caxton publishes the first dated book in England: The Dictes and Sayengis of the Philosophres by Earl Rivers.

1883: "The day of two noons" is celebrated in the US, as clock times are synchronised throughout the country.

1928: First appearance of Mickey Mouse. (He had earlier appeared as Mortimer Mouse.)

1963: Bell Telephones introduces the push-button phone.

19 November:

1893: New York World publishes the first colour supplement.

1959: The Archbishop of Canterbury says that adultery should be a criminal offence.