Born on this Day 16th August
1902 Georgette Heyer
1930 Ted Hughes
1939 Sir Trevor McDonald
1940 John Craven
1946 Lesley Ann Warren
1947 Katherine Hamnett
1953 James ‘JT’ Taylor
1954 James Cameron
1958 Madonna
1967 Ulrika Jonsson
1980 Robert Hardy
1983 Colin Griffiths

Music

1962 Original Beatles drummer Pete Best was fired by Brian Epstein and replaced by Ringo Starr

1966 The Monkees’ first single, ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ was released

1975 Phil Collins, drummer with Genesis, replaced the departing Peter Gabriel as lead singer

Sport

1988 Vinny Jones was given an indefinite ban by Wimbledon after he was sent off during a pre-season match

1991 The 103 year old Football League collapsed when te 22 first division clubs handed in their notice of resignation, intending to join the Premier League

Showbiz

1968 Mia Farrow divorced Frank Sinatra

1985 The final episode of the popular adventure series ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ was shown on US television

1991 Karaoke moved into the living room with the launch of Astra dishes from Lifestyle Satellite Jukebox

Events

1904 Construction began on New York’s Grand central Station.

1960 Britain granted independence to the crown colony of Cyprus.

1989 A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto’s stock market.

1994 Following protests over 50 sheep carried in the hold of a jumbo jet between Australia and Singapore, British Airways announced it was to review its policy of flying live farm animals.