On this day: Royal Society of Edinburgh| First batch of Coca-Cola

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 29 March

29 march

1783: The Royal Society of Edinburgh incorporated by charter.

1792: Sweden’s King Gustavus III was assassinated.

1849: Britain annexed Punjab in India by treaty with Maharajah of Lahore.

1864: Ionian Islands were ceded by Britain to Greece.

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1871: The Royal Albert Hall, London, built in memory of Prince Albert, was opened by Queen Victoria. One of the prince’s own compositions was played at the opening.

1886: The first batch of Coca-Cola was brewed over a wood fire by graduate chemist John S Pemberton.

1903: Regular news service between London and New York began using Marconi’s wireless.

1928: The House of Commons overwhelmingly passed the Equal Franchise Bill, giving the vote to all women aged 21 or over.

1939: The Spanish Civil War was declared to have ended. Franco was named leader of the nation.

1940: Metal strips were introduced into Bank of England £1 notes as an anti-forgery device.

1967: France launched its first nuclear submarine.

1973: Last American troops left South Vietnam, ending direct military role of United States in Vietnam war.

1981: The first London Marathon was run. It was won by American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen.

1986: World’s first test-tube quins were born in London.

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1990: Viscount Linley waived £30,000 of £35,000 libel damages against Today newspaper.

1993: Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven won him his first Oscars – for Best Film and Best Director.

2004: The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places.

2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined Nato as full members.

2010: Thirty-nine people were killed and more than 60 injured in two suicide bomb attacks on the Moscow Metro during the morning rush hour.

2012: Respect Party candidate George Galloway took the Bradford West parliamentary seat from Labour, winning the by-election by 10,140 votes.

BIRTHDAYS

John Suchet, Alloa-born television reporter, 69; Jennifer Capriati, tennis player, 37; Julie Goodyear MBE, actress, 71; Eric Idle, comic actor, 70; Terry Jacks, singer, 69; Dianne Kay, actress, 61; Christopher Lambert, actor, 56; Lucy Lawless, actress, 45; Elle Macpherson, model, 49; Sir John Major, MP 1979-2001, Conservative prime minister 1990-7, 70; Chapman Pincher, investigative journalist, 99; Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, director-general, National Trust, 55; Annabella Sciorra, actress, 53; Lord Tebbit of Chingford, MP 1970-1992 and Cabinet minister, 82; Vangelis (Evangelos Papathanassiou), composer, 70.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1790 John Tyler, tenth United States president; 1869 Sir Edwin Lutyens, architect; 1913 RS Thomas, poet; 1925 Frederick Treves, actor; 1935 Ruby Murray, singer; 1936 Sir Richard Rodney Bennett CBE, composer.

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Deaths: 1788 Charles Wesley, evangelist and hymn writer; 1848 John Jacob Astor, fur trader and financier; 1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott; 1982 Carl Orff, composer; 1992 Earl Spencer, father of Princess of Wales.

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