This Day in History - 22nd July

1298The English used longbows for the first time, when they defeated the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk. The Scottish pikemen were cut to pieces by Edward I's archers.

1706The 'Acts of Union' were agreed by commissioners from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which, when passed by the countries' Parliaments, led to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1812The Duke of Wellington defeated the French in the Battle of Salamanca, in Spain.

1844The Rev. William Archibald Spooner, Anglican clergyman and warden of New College, Oxford, was born. He was famous for 'Spoonerisms' in which letters are switched to produce such expressions as - 'It is kisstomary to cuss the bride' (.... customary to kiss the bride) 'a well-boiled icicle' ( .... well-oiled bicycle) and ' Come into the arms of the shoving leopard' (.... loving shepherd).

1889The birth of James Whale, film director of horror classics such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Invisible Man (1933).

1939Terence Stamp, actor, was born, in Stepney, London. He had an off-screen romance with Julie Christie, while they were filming Far from the Madding Crowd.

1946More than a year after the end of World War II, bread was rationed in Britain. The shortage was blamed on a poor harvest and drought.

1972Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Sweden for possession of drugs.

1986MPs voted to abolish corporal punishment in state schools.

1991British prime minister John Major unveiled the government's Citizen's Charter aimed at improving public services.

1997Diana, Princess of Wales was among 3,000 people at a Mass in Milan in memory of murdered Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace.

1999The first Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show in the North of England was held at Tatton Park in Cheshire. 

2005Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was mistaken for a terrorist suspect and was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station in south London as the hunt was intensified for those responsible for the London bombings on the 7th and 21st July.

2007Torrential rain swept across large parts of the UK at the weekend. Hull was under water, but the flooding spread around the UK with Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire being some of the counties worst affected.

2010A luxury Koenigsegg CCXR (one of only six ever made), valued at £1.2m and a £350,000 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce were clamped outside Harrods in central London after being illegally parked. The cars were released for £70 each as the fines were paid within 14 days.

2012Bradley Wiggins, aged 32, became the first British cylist to win the Tour de France. He finished with a winning margin of 3 minutes and 21 seconds.

2013The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy (George Alexander Louis). After his grandfather, Prince Charles and his father Prince William, he is third in line to succeed his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

2014A National Audit Office report found that the Home Office did not know if more than 175,000 people who had no right to be in the UK had left or not. All had been refused temporary or permanent migration but their whereabouts were not known.