1848: Captain Matthew Webb, the first person to swim the English Channel in August 1875, was born. He died trying to swim the Niagara Rapids in 1883.

1991: Serge Blanco, playing for France against Scotland, became the most capped rugby union player. He went on to win 93 caps. On the same day, England recorded their first rugby union international win in Cardiff for 28 years.

1996: Manchester City signed former England striker Nigel Clough from Liverpool in a £1.5million deal.

2003: Michael Owen admitted running up gambling losses of between £30,000 and £40,000.

2005: Former captain Martin Johnson confirmed he would not be touring New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions.

2006: Former Rangers striker Kenny Miller signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic.

2007: The Belgravia Group announced to the Stock Exchange they no longer intended to make an offer for Newcastle. Sportswear billionaire Mike Ashley later launched a successful takeover bid.

2009: Craig Bellamy joined Manchester City from West Ham on a four-and-a-half-year contract. City also announced they had terminated discussions with AC Milan over the proposed transfer of former world footballer of the year Kaka.