This Day in History - 16th July

1439Kissing was banned in England because of the Plague.

1557 The death, aged 41, of Anne of Cleves, Queen of England and 4th wife of Henry VIII.

1723The birth of Sir Joshua Reynolds, an influential English painter, specialising in portraits. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy. King George III appreciated his merits and knighted him in 1769.

1902Eight bills for the building of London underground lines received their second reading in the House of Commons.

1915The American born writer Henry James became a British citizen, to highlight his commitment to England during the first World War.

1945The leaders of the three Allied nations (Winston Churchill, Harry S Truman and Josef Stalin) gathered in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.

1955Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix at the Aintree track near Liverpool - the first time an Englishman had triumphed in the race. His success in a variety of categories placed him among the world's elite and he is often called 'the greatest driver never to win the World Championship'.

1964The Rolling Stones had their first UK No.1 single with It's All Over Now, although their American tour, just a month earlier had been, in Bill Wyman's words, 'a disaster',

1970Prime Minister Edward Heath declared a state of emergency following the start of a national dock strike - the first state of emergency issued in Britain since 1926.

1987The two biggest airlines in the UK (One time rivals British Caledonian and British Airways) merged in order to compete with America's giant air corporations.

1988Lord Harewood, the Queen’s cousin, brought in police to investigate the theft of the world’s smallest horse, Pernod, a 27-inch-high Shetland stallion.

1993Britain's internal security service, MI5, held the first photocall in its 84-year history when Stella Rimington (Director General) posed openly for cameras at the launch of a brochure outlining the organisation's activities.

1996Diana, Princess of Wales, announced that she was severing links with more than 100 charities.

2001Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged that public services could not be transformed totally within the coming Parliament.

2001The Labour Government was defeated in the House of Commons for the first time since it came to power in 1997.