Today in History — June 20, 1996: English umpire Dickie Bird takes a bow at Lord’s

The second test match between England and India begins at Lord’s with an emotional welcome for umpire Dickie Bird. Standing in his 66th and final Test, Bird had to wipe away his tears as he walked on through a guard of honour formed by the two teams at the bottom of the pavilion steps. Five balls later, Bird was in the thick of the action as he had no hesitation in giving England captain Mike Atherton out lbw to Javagal Srinath for nought. Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird was born in Barnsley in 1933 and, after a modest career as a county cricketer with Yorkshire and Leicestershire, he turned to umpiring. He joined the first-class panel in 1970 and stood in his first Test three years later, also at Lord’s. “Lord’s is the best ground in the world. His debut match — England against the West Indies — will be remembered as much for the bomb scare which led to a lengthy stoppage as for anything which went on the field. Bird stood in the first three World Cup finals and a total of 160 one-day internationals around the world.

1605 Russia’s Czar Theodore II is assassinated in a palace revolution.

1837 Queen Victoria ascends the British throne following the death of her uncle.

1840 American inventor Samuel Morse is granted a patent for his electro-magnetic telegraph system.

1941 The US Army Air Forces is established, replacing the US Army Air Corps, later it becomes the US Air Force in 1947.

1863 West Virginia becomes the 35th state of the US.

1867 US President Andrew Jackson proclaims treaty for purchase of Alaska from Russia.

1891 Britain and the Netherlands define their boundaries in Borneo.

1961 Kuwait is admitted to Arab League.

1933 Army stages coup in Siam, now Thailand.

1963 US and Soviet Union sign an agreement to set up a hotline between the two superpowers.

1968 American sprinter Jim Hines becomes the first man to run 100 metres in less than 10 seconds, setting a world record of 9.95 seconds.

1973 Juan Peron returns to Argentina after 18-year exile.

1975 Award-winning film ‘Jaws’ goes on release in US.

1982 Sajaa gas facility is inaugurated in Sharjah.

1987 UAE Supreme Council reinstates His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi as the legitimate Ruler of Sharjah.

1989 Three hundred crew-members of a Soviet cruise liner that struck an iceberg in the Arctic Circle.

1990 Asteroid Eureka is discovered by David H Levy and Henry Holt.

1992 Czech leader Vaclav Klaus and Slovak leader Vladimir Meciar agree to split Czechoslovakia in two.

1997 Turkey’s Islamic-influenced government falls when the president asks Mesut Yilmaz to form a government.

2001 General Pervez Musharraf takes the oath as President of Pakistan.

2002 The US shuts down its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, after a terrorist threat.

2008 Scientists confirm Phoenix Mars Lander’s discovery of ice on Mars.

2010 Poles vote to elect a successor to President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash at Russia.

2011 Tunisian court sentences ousted president Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and his wife in absentia to 35 years in jail each.

2014 Flash floods in Bulgaria kills at least 11 people after torrential rains lashes the east of the country.

2015 Brazil superstar Neymar is thrown out of the Copa America for indiscipline.