this is the week that was

9 October:

1947: The first telephone conversation between a car 'phone and an aeroplane is made in Wilmington, Delaware.

1959: Margaret Thatcher takes her seat in parliament.

1973: Elvis Presley is divorced.

10 October:

1846: Neptune's moon, Triton, is discovered by William Lassell. It is the only moon known to rotate against the direction of rotation of the planet it orbits.

1886: The dinner jacket makes its first appearance at the Tuxedo Park Country Club in New York.

1953: Winston Churchill adopts a cat called "Margate" at number 10.

1973: Spiro Agnew resigns as vice president.

11 October:

1919: The first airline meals - pre-packed lunches costing three shillings - are served on a London-Paris flight.

1958: First transmission of Grandstand on BBC TV.

12 October:

1609: "Three Blind Mice" is published in London.

1849: Charles Rowley patents the safety pin in the UK, unaware that Walter Hunt beat him to it in the US six months before.

1961: New Zealand abolishes the death penalty.

1986: The Queen becomes the first British monarch to visit China.

13 October:

1792: The cornerstone of the White House is laid in Washington.

1884: Greenwich is adopted as the universal time meridian.

14 October:

1854: The first baby show is held at Springfield, Ohio.

1920: Oxford University opens its degrees to women.

1922: The final turf is laid at Wembley stadium.

1969: The 50p coin comes into circulation.

1982: 5,837 couples are married at a massive wed-in in South Korea.

1985: Sir Clive Sinclair's TPD, makers of the C5, call in the receivers.

15 October:

1666: The first waistcoat on record is worn by Charles I.

1839: Queen Victoria proposed to Prince Albert.

1895: Britain's first motor show opens in Tunbridge Wells.

1951: The first party political broadcast on television is given by Lord Samuel on behalf of the Liberal Party.