ON THIS DAY - JULY 3

The beginning of the Dog Days, which last until mid-August. The hot, unhealthy days, so named by the Romans, were associated with madness in dogs.

1608: French explorer Samuel Champlain founded the city of Quebec.

1728: Robert Adam, architect of the classical style, was born in Kirkcaldy.

1806: Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibited the first edible cultivated strawberry, which he called Keen's Seedling.

1863: The Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War ended with the Confederate Army routed and more than 50,000 dead or wounded.

1920: The first RAF air display took place at Hendon.

1928: A policeman's helmet and a bunch of red roses were among the pictures shown on John Logie Baird's first television transmission in colour at Baird Studios, London.

1954: Food rationing ended in Britain. Smithfield market opened at midnight instead of 6am to cope with the demand for beef.

1959: The first radio broadcast of Sing Something Simple with Cliff Adams and the Adams Singers took place, providing non-stop songs for half an hour.

1969: Brian Jones, who had just left the Rolling Stones, was found drowned in his swimming pool. On the same day in 1971, Doors singer Jim Morrison died of a heart attack in Paris.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Prime Minister David Cameron issued a plea for an end to violence in Egypt, as deadly political unrest continued to grip the country.

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