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16 February 1659: Britain’s first cheque is issued
Features Merchant Nicholas Vanacker made out the first British cheque payable to Mr Delboe for the grand sum of £400, dated 16 February 1659.
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13 February 1914: American artists get organised with ASCAP
Features On this day in 1914, musicians and writers formed the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to better enforce their copyrights.
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12 February 1994: Edvard Munch’s The Scream is stolen
Features One of the world's most famous paintings, The Scream by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, was stolen from the National Art Museum in Oslo on this day in 1994.
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12 February 1851: the Australian gold rush
Features On this day. in 1851 gold prospector Edward Hargraves discovered a grain of gold in New South Wales, and sparked Australia’s first gold rush.
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11 February 1990: Nelson Mandela is released from prison
Features On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 26 years, as South Africa began the process of dismantling apartheid.
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11 February 1826: England gets its third university
Features London University – later University College, London – was founded on this day in 1826, becoming in the process England's third university.
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10 February 1906: HMS Dreadnought is launched
Features Britain upped the stakes in naval warfare when it launched the era-defining HMS Dreadnought on this day in 1906 – by far the most powerful ship of its day.
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10 February 1355: The St Scholastica’s Day riots
Features On this day in 1355, the “town versus gown” rivalry in Oxford boiled over into three days of fighting, dubbed the St Scholastica’s Day riots.
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8 February 1971: Nasdaq begins trading
Features On this day in 1971, America’s “National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations” – or Nasdaq exchange – began trading.
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