AUGUST 11

1492: The infamous and corrupt Roderigo Borgia bribed enough cardinals to become Pope Alexander VI.

1897: Enid Blyton, children's author, was born in East Dulwich. In the mid-Thirties she began writing her stories which featured Noddy, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven.

1919: Philanthropic American industrialist Andrew Carnegie died. Insisting he wanted to leave the world as a poor man, he gave away more than 308 million dollars. But he failed to achieve his ambition - he had 22 million dollars left.

1942: Barnes Wallis patented the bouncing bomb which was used against the German Mohne and Eder dams in 1943 by the RAF Dambusters Squadron.

1942: The new Waterloo Bridge over the Thames was opened.

1952: King Hussein succeeded to the throne of Jordan.

1956: Abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock died when his car hit a tree near East Hampton, New York.

1965: Violent race riots broke out in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

1975: The Government took ownership of British Leyland, the only major British-owned car company.

1988: Devastating floods brought chaos to the Sudan. After 13 hours of rain, 1.5 million people had been made homeless, and an unknown number died

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR

It was announced that a Scot who gave her life to help protect Jewish schoolgirls during the Holocaust would be officially honoured in her adopted city, 73 years after she died.

BIRTHDAYS

Raymond Leppard, conductor, 91; Don Boyd, film director, 70; Eric Carmen, singer, 69; Hulk Hogan, wrestler and actor, 65; Joe Jackson, rock singer, 64; Nigel Martyn, former footballer, 52; Nigel Harman, actor, 45; Chris Hemsworth, actor, 35.