This Day in History - 7th October

1765 Delegates from nine of the American colonies protested against the British Stamp Act, which raised a direct tax on the colonies.

1806 The first carbon paper was patented by its English inventor, Ralph Wedgwood.

1918 The death of Hubert Parry, English composer. As a composer he is best known for the choral song 'Jerusalem', based on Blake's poem that begins with the lines - 'And did those feet in ancient time. Walk upon England's mountains green.' The term 'dark Satanic Mills', referenced in the poem, is interpreted as referring to the early Industrial Revolution that destroyed nature and human relationships.

1920 The first women were admitted to study for full degrees at Oxford University

1922 The first royal broadcast was made, by the Prince of Wales, on 2LO, 11 days before it changed its named to the BBC.

1946 The BBC presented its first edition of Woman's Hour, a daily programme of music, advice and entertainment for those in the home. The programme included an item on how to de-slime your flannels (!) and also broadcast the first episode of the thriller serial 'Dick Barton, Special Agent'.

1957 Jayne Torvill, English ice skater, was born. With fellow skater Christopher Dean, they won a gold medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. The 1984 Winter Olympics led to world fame when they performed to the music of Maurice Ravel's Boléro and received twelve perfect 6.0 marks, one of five occasions when they were awarded all perfect scores for artistic impression.

1959 Three hundred people were rescued after being cut off by a blaze on Southend's pier, (the world's longest pleasure pier on England's south-east coast).

1959 The birth of Simon Cowell, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

1966 The Rolling Stones made their last appearance on ITV's 'Ready Steady Go'.

1977 Ninety sets of Swedish identical twins travelled to Felixstowe for a brief shopping trip!

1977 The Winter Gardens at Morecambe in Lancashire became a listed building. Originally built as the Victoria Pavilion Theatre in 1897, the theatre closed to the public in the same year that it was listed. A campaign for its restoration has been ongoing since 1986.

1983 Plans to abolish the Greater London Council (GLC) were announced.

1986 A new British newspaper, The Independent, was published.

1992 The first Braille cash dispenser was installed, by the Northern Rock Building Society in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

2004 The death of Kenneth Bigley, an English civil engineer who was kidnapped in Baghdad on 16th September 2004, along with his colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, both U.S. citizens. All were subsequently beheaded despite the attempted intervention of the Muslim Council of Britain and the indirect intervention of the British government.

2008 UK banking shares plunged on fears that more financial institutions would need government assistance to stay solvent. HBOS shares dropped 42% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) fell 39%.

2013 Buckingham Palace held its first official football match to mark the Football Association's 150th anniversary. The competitive fixture was the idea of FA president Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. London side Civil Service FC, the only surviving team of 11 that formed the FA on 26th October 1863, lost 2-1 against Polytechnic FC, set up in 1875. At half-time, palace footmen and women - wearing waistcoats and tail-coats - carried water, orange slices and chocolate bars on silver-plated platters onto the pitch for the players.

2013 The Scout Association announced an alternative version of its membership promise for young people who do not believe in God. As from January 2014, instead of vowing "to do my duty to God", scouts would be able to promise to "uphold our scout values"; with the new promise existing alongside the core scout promise, which has remained unchanged for 106 years.