this is the week that was

23 October:

4004BC: According to James Usher, the date of the Creation. At 9am, precisely, as John Lightfoot pointed out.

1918: The Commons votes to allow women to become MPs.

1926: A decree in Rome bans women from public office.

24 October:

1857: In Sheffield, Cambridge men form the first soccer club.

1861: The Pony Express Mail Service ceases operation.

25 October:

1951: Margaret Roberts (later Thatcher) polls 27,760 votes in the Dartford constituency. She is defeated by NN Dodds who gets 40,094.

1957: The first nuclear civil defence manual advises wearing hats and gloves and using lots of soap and water in the event of nuclear attack.

26 October:

1881: Wyatt Earp defeats the Clanton gang in a gunfight at the OK Corral.

1909: Austria proposes a tax on bachelors.

27 October:

1662: Charles II sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV.

1901: First use of a getaway car in a shop robbery in Paris.

1931: The last General Election not to be held on a Thursday. (It was Tuesday.)

28 October:

1929: Above Florida, Mrs TW Evans is the first person to give birth in an aeroplane.

1943: The Court of Appeal in London rules that savings from housekeeping money belong to the husband.

1949: First appearance on television of Sooty with Harry Corbett.

29 October:

1927: Russian archaeologist Peter Kozlov, discovers the tomb of Genghis Khan.

1986: The final section of the M25 is opened.