1883: Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, died aged 35 while attempting to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls.

1926: The first greyhound meeting with a mechanical hare took place at Belle Vue, Manchester.

2000: Portugal midfielder Luis Figo, star of Euro 2000, became the world's most expensive footballer when he joined Real Madrid for £37million from Barcelona.

2002: After just over a year at Arsenal, goalkeeper Richard Wright left Highbury for Everton in a £4.5million deal after failing to oust England number one David Seaman.

2005: Australia won the first Ashes Test at Lord's by 239 runs. England recovered to win the series 2-1.

2005: Lance Armstrong won a record seventh successive Tour de France, his final Tour before retirement.

2006: Jeremy Bates resigned as Great Britain Davis Cup captain 24 hours after the 3-2 Euro/Africa zone defeat by Israel.

2007: Freddy Shepherd stepped down as Newcastle chairman and was replaced by Chris Mort following Mike Ashley's takeover the previous month.