What happened this week in history
1812 - Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in the House of Commons by bankrupt broker John Bellingham.
1812 - The waltz was introduced to Britain and was condemned as immoral.
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Hide Ad1927 - The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was founded, at the instigation of Louis B Meyer. The first Oscars were awarded two years later.
1939 - Siam became Thailand.
1956 - Elvis Presley entered the British charts for the first time, with Heartbreak Hotel.
1962 - Prince Charles started at Gordonstoun School.
1971 - The Daily Sketch closed down. It had been Britain’s oldest newspaper.
1981 - Singer/songwriter Bob Marley died of lung cancer at the age of 36.
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Hide Ad1985 - Fifty-six spectators died and more than 200 were injured in a flash fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground during a match against Lincoln City.
1987 - Klaus Barbie went on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during the Second World War.
1987 - The first heart and lung transplant took place in Baltimore. The surgery was performed by Dr Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
1996 - On a single day, eight people died during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
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Hide Ad1997 - Chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world champion chess player in a classic match format.
1998 - A French mint produced the first coins of Europe’s single currency – the Euro.
2000 - The Tate Modern was opened by the Queen.
2004 - Eight people were killed in an explosion at a Glasgow plastics factory.
2010 - David Cameron became Prime Minister following talks between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form the UK’s first coalition government since the Second World War after elections produced a hung parliament.