this is the week that was

11 September:

1895: The original FA Cup is stolen from a Birmingham shop.

1905: The government blames an increase in rural lunacy on the tedium of country life.

1947: The government declares that vegetarians will receive extra potato rations.

1952: The first video recorder is demonstrated by John Mullin and Wayne Johnson.

1978: Georgi Markov is stabbed by a Bulgarian agent with a poisoned umbrella.

12 September:

1379: Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, pardons two herds of swine that had been condemned to death as accomplices to infanticide committed by a sow.

1908: Wedding day of Winston Churchill.

1914: Mary Phelps Jacob patents the brassiere.

1953: Wedding day of John F Kennedy.

1974: A salmon is caught in the Thames, the first since the 1840s.

13 September:

1987: The BBC transmits its first condom commercial.

1988: Festo Kazarwa, a Ugandan rainmaker, is lynched after crops and homes are destroyed by hailstones. He had threatened to summon hail if the villagers did not show him more respect.

14 September:

1687: Death of Nell Gwynn, mistress of Charles II.

1743: Death of Louise de Keroualle, mistress of Charles II.

1896: The speed limit is raised from 4mph to 14mph. Drivers may now proceed without a man walking in front of their car.

1968: Edward Heath appoints Margaret Thatcher to the post of shadow transport minister.

15 September:

1901: The non-portable electric hearing aid is patented by Miller Reese of New York.

1969: Britain's first colour TV advert - for Birds Eye frozen peas.

16 September:

1913: Leonard Woods of Missouri patents the watch-pistol, allowing its owner to shoot a highwayman while apparently handing over his watch.

1959: The Sound of Music is first performed on Broadway.

17 September:

1842: The Illustrated London News reports the death of a cow that had drunk 20 quarts of ale left to cool at a Welsh beer-house.

1944: The town of Freiburg, Germany, is alerted to an impending air raid by the quacking of a duck, which subsequently has a statue erected in its honour.

1970: The first Page Three Girl appears in The Sun.