On this day in 1298, the Battle of Falkirk took place between the Scots led by Sir William Wallace and the English led by Edward I of England. The Scots were outnumbered and as a result suffered heavy losses in their defeat by the English; however Edward was unable to continue a campaign in Scotland and he retreated to Carlisle. Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland shortly after the battle.

The Battle of Lochmaben Fair took place on this day in 1484; a raiding party led by Alexander Stewart, the Duke of Albany, and James Douglas, the 9th Earl of Douglas, being defeated by supporters of James III, the brother of Alexander. Douglas was taken prisoner and then sent to Lindores Abbey where he died four years later.

Also on this day in 1793, explorer Alexander Mackenzie completed the first crossing of North America when he reached the Pacific Ocean. Mackenzie marked his triumph by carving the words Alex Mackenzie from Canada by Land 22d July 1793 on a rock.

On this day in 1902, Marion Wilberforce, one of the first eight women pilots to be recruited by the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1940, was born. Her job was to fly new aircraft from the factories to the squadrons. This work was originally done by men, generally pilots who were not fully fit for operational flying and who were nicknamed Ancient and Tattered Airmen; the women were nicknamed Atagirls.

On this day in 1827, publisher Archibald Constable died. Born in Carnbee, Fife in 1774, Constable started to deal in rare books from 1795; he bought the Scots Magazine in 1801 and the following year issued the first Edinburgh Review. Constable then went in to the publishing business and was responsible for printing much of Walter Scott’s works, including Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805) and Marmion (1807). In 1808, Scott transferred his business to Ballantyne, but returned to Constable in 1813 following the financial problems at Ballantyne; Waverley was published by Constable the following year. Financial problems for Constable and bankrupty at Ballantyne led to problems for Scott, which resulted in the author’s prolific output to pay off his own debts. Constable started afresh in 1827 and his firm is still in business as Constable & Robinson following a merger in 1999.

Also on this day in 1796, poet Robert Burns died in Dumfries at the age of 37. Burns was buried four days later, on the same day that his widow, Jean Armour, gave birth to his son, Maxwell.

On this day in 1811, James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin, was born. Bruce served as Governor-General of Canada from 1847-1854 and Viceroy of India from 1862-1863. He is buried in the churchyard of St. John in the Wilderness, near Dharamsala in India where he died in 1863.

Also born on this day in 1958, musician Mick MacNeil, keyboard player with Simple Minds from 1978-1989, was born in Glasgow.

Also on this day in 1819, geologist John Playfair died. Playfair was a friend of geologist James Hutton and wrote Illustrations of the Huttonion Theory of the Earth which summarised the latter’s work.

On this day in 1304, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, Edward I of England captured Stirling castle during a siege in which he used a siege engine known as the War Wolf.

On this day in 1896, writer Archibald Joseph (A J) Cronin was born in Cardross, Dunbartonshire. Cronin is probably best known as the creator of Dr. Finlay, the main character of Dr. Finlay’s Casebook that was first shown on BBC from 1962-1971. However Cronin also wrote a number of other novels and short stories, many of which were adapted as films.

Other births on this day include: Alan Gorrie, musician and founding member of the Average White Band, in Perth in 1946; and percussionist Evelyn Glennie in Aberdeen in 1965.

Also on this day in 1333, the Battle of Halidon Hill took place near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Scots, led by Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated by the English led by Edward III of England.

On this day in 1948, boxer Jim Watt was born in Glasgow. Following a successful amateur career, Watt turned professional in 1968. During the 1970s he won British and European titles; however the pinnicle of his career was when he won the WBC Lightweight Championship in 1979. Watt retired in 1981 after losing the championship; by then his record was 38 wins (27 by a knockout) out of 46 professional fights.

Other births on this day include: actor John Stuart in Edinburgh in 1898; Ian Stewart, musician and founder member of the Rolling Stones, in Pittenweem, Fife in 1938.

On this day in 1695, the Bank of Scotland was established under an Act of the Scottish Parliament to support Scottish businesses. Englishman John Holland, one of the bank’s founders, served as the first Governor. In 1696, the bank became the first in Europe to successfully issue bank notes; it was also the first (in 1959) to install a computer for processing accounts centrally. In 2001, the Bank of Scotland and the Halifax merged to become HBOS, the Halifax Bank of Scotland; in 2009, HBOS was taken over by Lloyds-TSB.

Also on this day in 1790, philosopher and economist Adam Smith died in Edinburgh.

On this day in 1832, 31 Shetland sixerns and a total of 105 crewmen were lost in a storm; this is still remembered as The Bad Day in the islands. A Distress Fund was set up in London, which raised £3000 for the families of the fishermen lost. The crew of one boat did manage to survive the storm when they were picked up by a passing ship. However, the captain of the vessel refused to alter his course so the survivors had to cross the Atlantic to Philadelphia; they finally returned to their homes about six months later.

On this day in 1914, novelist and naturalist Gavin Maxwell was born in. Maxwell is best known as the author of Ring of Bright Water, an autobiographical tale about raising otters in Scotland. Prior to this, Maxwell had been an instructor with the Special Operations Executive at Arisaig during World War II. After the war, he purchased Soay, a small island off the coast of Skye, where he attempted to establish a basking shark fishery; after the failure of this venture, Maxwell toured Iraq. When he returned to Scotland, with an otter, he moved to Sandaig where Ring of Bright Water was set. In 1968, following a fire that destroyed his home on Sandaig, Maxwell moved to Eilean Ban, another island that he owned off the coast of Skye. Maxwell died in 1969; there is now a museum dedicated to Maxwell on Eilean Ban as well as an otter sanctuary.

Also on this day in 1909, mathematician William Gemmell Cochran was born in Rutherglen.

On this day in 1794, John Gibson Lockhart, the son-in-law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott, was born in Lanarkshire. Lockhart attended Glasgow University and then Oxford before returning to Glasgow; he later moved to Edinburgh where he studied Scots Law and then, in 1817, he joined the staff of Blackwood’s Magazine. While in Edinburgh, Lockhart got to know Scott and in 1820 married his eldest daughter, Sophia. Lockhart resigned from Blackwood’s in 1854 and died later that same year. He is buried in Dryburgh Abbey near his father-in-law.

Other births on this day include: Anglican bishop John Douglas in Pittenweem in Fife in 1721; and James W. Black, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988, in 1924.

On this day in 1249, Alexander III was crowned at the age of eight at Scone. Alexander went on to rule Scotland for 35 years in what became known as The Golden Age as it was mainly a peaceful time in Scotland’s history. However that all changed in 1286 when, on his way from Edinburgh to Kinghorn in Fife during a stormy night, Alexander fell to his death from his horse. When his only living heir, Margaret, the Maid of Norway, died in 1292, Scotland entered a period of struggle for its own independence from English rule.

Also on this day in 1820, the trial of the Radicals captured at Bonnymuir started in Stirling. The trial followed a period of unrest and striking in Scotland at a time when demands were being made for political reform; a small group had been making their way to the Carron ironworks to seize weapons when they were attacked at Bonnymuir. Those captured faced a charge of High Treason and two of those accused, John Baird and Andrew Hardie, were executed; a further 20 were transported to penal colonies.

On this day in 1174, William the Lion was captured at Alnwick during the rebellion against Henry II of England. As part of his ransom, William was to acknowledge Henry as his feudal superior; this he did in 1175 when a signed the Treaty of Falaise, which remained in force for a further 15 years.

On this day in 1830, the General Assembly’s Institution, now known as the Scottish Church College, was founded in Calcutta by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy.