871: Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown.

1066: Harold was crowned King of England in succession to Edward the Confessor. Ten months later he died at the Battle of Hastings.

1412: St Joan of Arc, known as the Maid of Orleans, was born. She believed she had a divine mission to expel the English from France.

1540: Henry VIII married the "Flanders Mare, Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife.

1838: US inventor Samuel Morse gave the first demonstration of his electric telegraphic system.

1880: Tom Mix, US actor who made his name in early westerns, was born. He was one of the silent screen's most popular cowboys, appearing in more than 100 films before retiring in 1934.

1928: Four people drowned when the River Thames flooded parts of London.

1931: The new Sadler's Wells Theatre in London opened.

1945: The Battle of the Bulge ended.

1964: Pope Paul VI finished a three-day tour of the Holy Land, the first Pope to visit there since Christianity began.

1997: John Major's majority in the House of Commons ended as Conservative MP Sir John Gorst withdrew his support for the Government.

THE CHRISTIAN FESTIVAL OF EPIPHANY

On this day last year: The condition of Chancellor Gordon Brown's daughter Jennifer deteriorated after she suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Birthdays:

PJ Kavanagh, novelist, 72; Sylvia Syms, actress, 69;Syd Barrett, ex-rock musician (Pink Floyd), 57; Anthony Minghella, film director, 49; Rowan Atkinson, comic actor, 48; Angus Deayton, TV presenter, 47; Joey Lauren Adams, actor, 32.