It happened this week...

JUNE 29

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1801: The first census in Britain was carried out showing a population totalling 8,872,000.

1855: The Daily Telegraph was published in London for the first time, priced twopence, with Alfred Bate Richards its first editor.

1868: The Press Association, the UK's national news agency, was founded in London.

1905: The inaugural meeting of the Automobile Association (AA) took place at the Trocadero Restaurant in London, attended by 50 motorists.

1956: Actress Marilyn Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller.

1960: BBC Television Centre opened in London.

1966: Barclays Bank introduced Barclaycard, the first British credit card.

1986: Richard Branson's boat Virgin Atlantic Challenger II completed the fastest Atlantic crossing in three days, eight hours and 31 minutes.

JUNE 30

1800: The Glasgow Police Act, the first such Act in Britain, was finally passed through the persistence of Glasgow city authorities. This allowed the formation of the City of Glasgow Police.

1837: A British Act of Parliament abolished punishment by pillory.

1894: London's Tower Bridge was officially opened to traffic by the Prince of Wales.

1940: German forces occupied the Channel Islands.

1960: Norman Bates was unleashed onto an unsuspecting world when Hitchcock's classic chiller Psycho was premiered in New York.

1974: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Soviet-born ballet dancer, defected while on tour in Canada with the Bolshoi Ballet.

JULY 1

1837: Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths came into effect in England and Wales.