This Day in History - 19th June

1306The Earl of Pembroke's army defeated Robert the Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven, west of Perth. Robert the Bruce was King of the Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329.

1566King James VI of Scotland and I of England was born.

1809Curwen's Act was passed in Britain, to prevent the sale of parliamentary seats, thus decreasing the number of seats which the British government could manipulate for its regular supporters.

1829Robert Peel's Act was passed, to establish a new police force in London and its suburbs. They were known as Peelers and then Bobbies, derived from his surname and Christian name respectively.

1861Douglas Haig, British field-marshal was born. Haig became known as 'Butcher of the Somme', after he unnecessarily sent thousands of British troops to their deaths. After the war, he devoted himself to the care of ex-Servicemen.

1912 The opening of Peasholm Park in Scarborough, the vision of Harry Smith, Borough Engineer from 1897 - 1933. Underneath the lake lie the remains of a medieval manor, once owned by the future King Richard III.

1917The British royal family renounced the German names and titles of Saxe-Coburg, (responding to anti-German sentiment) and became Windsor.

1925The birth of Charlie Drake, slapstick English comedian. His catchphrase 'Hello, my darlings' came about because his short (5' 1")stature placed his eyes directly level with a lady's bosom!

1961Kuwait declared its independence from the United Kingdom after which the state's oil industry saw unprecedented economic growth. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded and annexed by neighbouring Iraq.

1970Edward Heath became the new British prime minister after a surprise victory for the Conservatives and the defeat of Labour leader Harold Wilson.

1975An inquest jury decided that the missing Lord Lucan murdered the 29-year-old nanny of his three young children.

1978Cricketing star Ian Botham became the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.

1980Three gunmen who attacked the British embassy in Baghdad were shot dead by Iraqi security forces.

1996Britain offered to slaughter up to 67,000 more cattle in an effort to end the ban on British beef after cattle had become infected with BSE.

1997The US fast-food chain McDonalds won a two-year libel case in Britain against two environmental campaigners who claimed that the company caused environmental damage and exploited workers in the Third World.

1997William Hague became the youngest leader of the Conservative Party for 200 years. He beat Kenneth Clarke in the election following the resignation of John Major.

1999The wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex ( the fourth, and youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh) and Sophie Rhys-Jones. The wedding took place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

2012Isle of Man based Excalibur Almaz announced details of a plan to take people to orbit the moon for the first time since 1972, but budding space-travellers would have to find around £100m first. Excalibur said it was confident that its recycled Russian equipment would be enough to attract the handful of multi-millionaires it needed to fund and crew its lunar orbit.