This Day in History - 11th December

1282 The death of the last native Prince of Wales - Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd.

1688 James II fled to France, never to return and was forced to abdicate after William of Orange had landed in England on 5th November.

1769 Venetian blinds were patented (in London) by Edward Beran.

1877 English photographer Eadweard Mubridge won a long standing bet for a millionaire by proving that a horse's four feet are all off the ground simultaneously once every stride. He used multiple cameras around the track, each taking a single frame via a series of trip wires.

1895 The death, at Much Wenlock in Shropshire of William Penny Brookes. He was an English surgeon, magistrate, botanist, and educationalist especially known for inspiring the modern Olympic Games, the Wenlock Olympian Games and for his promotion of physical education and personal betterment. 

1903 The first wildlife preservation society was formed in Britain to protect fauna. It was called the Society for the Preservation of Wild Fauna of the Empire.

1914 The Royal Flying Corps, which later became the RAF, adopted the red, white and blue roundel to identify its aircraft more easily during World War I. 

1914 In the Battle of the Falklands, all British ships survived whilst four German cruisers were sunk.

1936 After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. Edward planned to marry divorcee Mrs. Wallis Simpson and, before he left for France, he made a final radio broadcast to the nation. He was succeeded by his brother, George, who became George VI.

1952 Derek Bentley, aged 19, and 16 year old Christopher Craig, were found guilty of the murder of a policeman in south London. Because of his age, Craig was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, while Bentley, who did not fire the gun, was sentenced to hang. Despite a public outcry, the sentence was carried out on 27th January 1953.

1967 Concorde, the world's first supersonic airliner, was rolled out of its hangar for public viewing for the first time.

1975 An Icelandic gunboat opened fire on unarmed British fishery support vessels in the North Atlantic Sea, heightening the 'Cod War'.

1979 Rhodesia reverted to British rule after Parliament passed a bill to end 14 years of illegal independence from Britain.

1986 Church leaders condemned a radio campaign about Aids for 'condoning promiscuity'.

1987 Charlie Chaplin’s famous memorabilia were sold at Christie’s in London. His cane and bowler went for £82,500 and his boots for £38,500.

1990 The Government set aside £42M to British haemophiliacs who became infected with the HIV virus after being treated with contaminated Factor VIII

2005 A huge fire continued to burn at Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It was the largest of its kind in peacetime Europe and the noise of the explosions could be heard as far away as the Netherlands.

2014 Ray Teret, a 73 year old DJ friend of paedophile Jimmy Savile, was jailed for 25 years for a catalogue of historical sex offences against young girls. He was convicted of seven rapes and 11 indecent assaults against schoolgirls in the 1960s and 1970s