This Day in History - 1st September

1532 Lady Anne Boleyn was made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII. Less than 4 years later Henry had her investigated for high treason. She was found guilty of adultery and incest and was executed on 19th May 1536.

1865 Joseph Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery.

1886 The Severn Tunnel, (railway tunnel) between England and Wales, was opened for goods traffic.

1931 The birth in Carnforth, Lancashire of Cecil Parkinson, Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister. Parkinson was forced to resign in October 1983 after it was revealed that his former secretary, Sara Keays, was carrying his child.

1939 At dawn on 1st September, Germany made a massive invasion of Poland and bombed Warsaw at 6am, beginning World War II in Europe. The service to 2,000 televisions also ceased in Britain. There would be no more TV for seven years.

1951 The Premier supermarket opened in Earl’s Court, London; the first supermarket in Britain.

1958 Iceland expanded its fishing zone, putting it into conflict with the United Kingdom and the beginning the Cod Wars.

1960 The Government announced that Britain's first betting shops would be allowed to open for business from May 1961.

1971 The British penny and the threepenny piece coins ceased to be legal tender as decimalization continued.

1976 The first of 11,500 standpipes were connected in Yorkshire as local reservoirs reached their lowest levels in years.

1981 Garages in Britain began selling petrol in litres.

1982 Former Ipswich manager Bobby Robson was appointed England football manager. 

1989 In Britain, the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher began the controversial privatisation of the public water authorities.

2000 Channel services were disrupted after two separate groups of stowaways jumped from freight trains as they arrived in Kent.

2001 England beat bitter rivals Germany 5-1 in the World Cup qualifying tie, with Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick.

2001 The death of Brian Moore, sports commentator and television presenter who covered nine World Cups, six European Championships and every FA Cup Final on ITV from 1969 to 1988 and again in 1998.

2011 The introduction of an EU-wide ban on the manufacturing and importing of 60W incandescent clear light bulbs, in favour of energy-saving fluorescent and halogen bulbs and LED lights.