What happened this week in history

1698 - Samuel Clinton awoke – after 151 days asleep.

1756 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg.

1778 - Joseph Bramah patented the valved flush toilet.

1868 - E D Young reported to the Geographical Society that explorer Dr Livngstone was still alive in ‘darkest Africa’.

1879 - Thomas Edison patented the electric lamp.

1906 - The River Thames caught fire as oil on the surface ignited.

1913 - American athlete Jim Thorpe was stripped of his Olympic decathlon and pentathlon gold medals after it was ruled he was a professional athlete. He had been playing baseball for £25 per week.

1926 - John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television at his London workshop.

1930 - Women civil servants voted for the compulsory retirement of women on marriage.

1931 - Sunday opening of cinemas was declared illegal.

1943 - The American Air Force carried out its first bombing raids on Germany.

1945 - The Red Army liberated the Nazi’s biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz.

1951 - The U S Air Force started atomic testing in the Nevada desert.

1967 - Three American astronauts died when fire engulfed the ‘Apollo 1’ capsule on its launch pad at Cape Kennedy.

1968 - The first edition of Twinkle hit the shelves.

1973 - The Vietnam ceasefire agreement was signed between North Vietnam and America.

1974 - The Brisbane River breached its banks causing the largest flood to affect the city of Brisbane in the 20th century.

1984 - Singer Michael Jackson was rushed to hospital with burn injuries to his head after a stunt for a Pepsi commercial went wrong.

2001 - High street store C&A closed the doors on many of its UK shops for the final time.

2010 - Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPad.