Spice Girls, Cilla Black and Yves Saint Laurent '“ on this day in history...

Pinch, punch, first of the month and a Happy Minden Day!
The Spice Girls secured their seventh UK number one single, with Viva Forever, on this day in 1998.The Spice Girls secured their seventh UK number one single, with Viva Forever, on this day in 1998.
The Spice Girls secured their seventh UK number one single, with Viva Forever, on this day in 1998.

Minden Day, celebrated on August 1 by some units of the British Army, commemorates the 1759 Battle of Minden, during the Seven Years’ War,

It happened on August 1 down the years

30BC – Roman general Mark Antony died, aged 53

10BC - Roman emperor Claudius is born. He died in 54, aged 63;

1831 – A new London Bridge opens.

1834 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force.

1923 – The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor, visited Mansfield;

1936 – Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is born. He died in 2008, aged 71

1963 – King’s Mill was destroyed by fire, causing damage estimated at £100,000;

1964 – The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

1980 – Linney’s sold its shop on West Gate, Mansfield, to newsagent Martin’s;

1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles;

1987 – Eurythmics star Dave Stewart married Bananarama and Shakespeare’s Sister star Siobhan Fahey. They divorced in 1996.

1989 – Mansfield Woodhouse-born internationally acclaimed concert pianist John Ogdon died, aged 52;

1994 – A tourist information office opened in Mansfield Town Hall;

1998 – The Spice Girls scored their seventh UK number one single with Viva Forever.

2015 – Singer and entertainer Cilla Black died at her holiday home in Spain, aged 72

Happy birthday

Public Enemy star Chuck D, 56 today;

Oscar-winning Film director Sam Mendes, the man films such as Skyfall and American Beauty, 51 today;

Former Nottingham Forest striker Junior Agogo, 37 today;

Former Notts County loan striker Chris Iwelumo, 38 today;

Former England goalkeeper David James, 46 today;

Manchester United star Bastian Schweinsteiger, 32 today.