this is the week that was

31 July:

1910: Dr Crippen is arrested at sea, the first arrest by radio.

1965: Cigarette adverts are banned on British television.

1971: David Scott and Jim Irwin drive on despite a jammed front wheel on their Lunar Roving Vehicle (Moon Buggy).

1 August:

1793: France introduces the kilogram, the first metric unit.

1833: Parliament allocates pounds 20m compensation for owners of slaves freed on British territory.

1944: Germany introduces post codes.

1969: Britain abolishes the old halfpenny.

2 August:

1100: Death of William Rufus, shot by an arrow, probably fired by his brother Henry I.

1589: Death of Henry II, stabbed by a mad monk.

1876: Death of Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok, shot in the back by Jack McCall.

1987: Luis Reina becomes the first Spanish matador to enter a bullring with an advertising logo on his suit.

1990: Iraq occupies Kuwait.

3 August:

1921: A catalpa grove in Ohio infested with leaf caterpillars becomes the first crop to be sprayed from the air.

1925: An Indiana motorist who killed a pedestrian is ordered by a court to spend an hour alone with the body.

1926: England's first traffic lights are set up at Piccadilly Circus.

4 August:

1966: John Lennon claims the Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ. Beatles' records are promptly banned in South Africa and several American states.

5 August:

1891: The first American Express travellers cheques are cashed.

1914: The first electric traffic lights come into operation in Cleveland, Ohio.

1916: American chewing gum goes on sale in France.

1970: Penalty kicks are first used as a tie-breaker in a football match in England.

1986: Princess Anne wins her first horse-race at Redcar.

6 August:

1623: Death of Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway.

1637: Death of Shakespeare's contemporary, Ben Jonson.

1859: Beecham's Powders carry the first advertising slogan: "worth a guinea a box".

189 0: First use of the electric chair, to execute William Kemmler in Auburn prison, New York.

1926: Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the channel.