On This Day - 3rd July
1767
Pitcairn Island was discovered
by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by
Philip Carteret. The islands are best known as home of the descendants of
the Bounty mutineers, an event retold in numerous books and films. Pitcairn
measures about 2 miles across and is the least populated jurisdiction in
the world with only 48 inhabitants, from four main families of Bounty
descendents.
1920The first RAF air display took
place at Hendon, near London.
1928A policeman's helmet and a
bunch of roses were among the pictures shown on John Logie Baird's first
colour television test transmission at Baird Studios, in London.
1938LNER locomotive No.4468
'Mallard' achieved the world speed record for steam traction. A maximum
speed 126 mph was reached between Grantham and Peterborough. Mallard was
designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and was in service until 1963, when she was
retired, having covered almost one and a half million miles and is now at
the National Railway Museum in York. (see 
picture of Mallard )
1940World War II: British warships
attacked three battleships of the French fleet - Dunkerque, Provence and
Bretagne. Fearing that the French ships would fall into Nazi hands, the
British Force attempted to coerce the French battleship squadron to join
the British cause, surrender their ships in British ports or scuttle their
ships. The French Navy refused, as complying with the demand would have
violated the Armistice signed with Germany. The British warships opened
fire and 1200 French sailors perished, 977 on the Bretagne alone.
1952The SS United States set sail
on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship took the
coveted Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary, until that date the
fastest passenger liner to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
1954The end of food rationing in
Britain - almost 9 years after the end of World War II. Smithfield Meat
Market in London opened at midnight instead of 6am to cope with the demand
for beef.
1966Demonstrators in London were
arrested after their protest against the Vietnam War turned violent.
1969Brian Jones, a founding member
of the British rock group Rolling Stones, drowned in his swimming pool
after taking a drug overdose.
1970112 people died when a British
Dan-Air charter, flying a Comet 4 turbojet from Manchester crashed into the
sea near Barcelona. There were no survivors and the remains of the wreckage
provided no clues as to the cause of the crash.
1974Don Revie was appointed manager
of the England football team.
1984Derek Underwood (Kent's left
arm spin bowler) scored his first cricket century, after 22 years of
playing in first-class cricket.
1986The government abandoned its
water privatisation plans
1996It was announced that the Stone
of Scone, the symbol of Scottish nationalism, stolen by Edward I of England
in 1296, was to be returned to Scotland from Westminster Abbey where it has
been used in the coronation of 30 British monarchs.
2000In his first speech as Mayor of
London Ken Livingstone announced that he would stand up to the Government
if they were not acting in the capital's best interests.
2014A 4m x 4m beach hut at Mudeford
Spit near Christchurch in Dorset went on the market for £225,000. The
hut has no bathroom, mains electricity or running water and only glimpses
of the sea that "can be caught from inside, but the view directly
in front of the hut is of (very nice) sand dunes and grass." See 
picture from Highcliffe (once the home of the entrepreneur Harry Selfridge), looking towards Mudeford.