What happened this week in history

1560 – The Roman Catholic Church was overthrown and Protestantism was established as the national religion in Scotland.

1740 - Pope Benedict XIV, previously known as Prospero Lambertini, succeeded Clement XII as the 247th Pope.

1771 - Edinburgh botanist James Robertson made the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis in Scotland.

1836 - Under the Registration Act, it became necessary to register births, deaths and marriages.

1896 - Bridget Driscoll from Croyden became the first pedestrian to be killed by a car, in the grounds of London’s Crystal Palace, despite the four mph speed limit in place.

1919 - At the age of 12 years and 298 days, swimmer Gertrude Ederle became the youngest world record holder in any sport, when she won the 880 yards freestyle in Indianapolis.

1922 - In America, Federal agents began a crackdown on hipflasks.

1943 - The Royal Air Force began Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany’s V-weapon program.

1960 - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best performed for the first time as The Beatles.

1961 - Country singer Patsy Cline recorded ‘Crazy’ It wasn’t a hit in the UK until 30 years later.

1967 - Coventry City manager Jimmy Hill announced he was quitting the club to pursue a television career.

1977 - Thousands of fans arrived in Graceland to pay their last respects to Elvis, who died on August 16.

1988 - The President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, and US Ambassador Arnold Raphel were killed in a plane crash.

1989 - Electronic tagging of criminals was used for the first time in Britain. The recipient was Richard Hart, who had been accused of theft.

2008 - American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games.