Happy Anniversary: Death of Bela Lugosi cloaked in mystery

Some of the anniversaries in the forthcoming week that you might otherwise have overlooked:

16 August:

1956: Death of Bela Lugosi, who was buried, according to his wishes, draped in his Dracula cloak.

1958: Birth of Madonna (Louise Veronica Ciccone).

1973: The Soviet Union denounces Sesame Street as 'imperialistic'.

1977: Death of Elvis Presley.

17 August:

1896: Miss Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, becomes the first British pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle. She froze in fright as she saw it approaching at 4mph. On the same day, gold was first discovered in the Klondike.

1978: Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newan and Max Anderson make the first transatlantic balloon flight, from Maine to Normandy.

18 August:

1587: Virginia Dare is born, the first child of English parents in America.

1930: Work on the two halves of Sydney Harbour Bridge finally meets in the middle.

1947: It is announced that Princess Elizabeth will go on honeymoon without a trousseau, owing to the clothes shortage.

1960: First oral contraceptive marketed in the United States.

19 August:

1897: Electric-powered taxis begin service in London. They are withdrawn as uneconomic in 1900.

1960: Soviet Union launches two dogs into space.

20 August:

1920: The Detroit News becomes the world's first newspaper to list daily radio programmes.

1940: Winston Churchill says: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'

21 August:

1923: The City of Kalamazoo, Michigan, forbids dancers to stare into the eyes of their partners.

1928: Joseph Schenk, head of United Artists Corp., says talkies are just a fad and will not last.

1964: Three women are found guilty of indecency for wearing topless dresses in London.

1976: Mary Langdon becomes Britain's first female fireman.

22 August:

1928: The nomination of Alfred E Smith for the United States' Presidency becomes the first televised news event.

1960: The Russian space dogs (see 19 August) return safely.