1189: Richard the Lionheart was crowned King at Westminster after the death of his father, Henry II.

1651: Oliver Cromwell's army defeated Royalist forces at the Battle of Worcester.

1783: Britain finally recognised the United States of America by signing the Treaty of Paris, ending the American War of Independence.

1913: American film star Alan Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Although only 5ft 6in tall, it did not hamper his career since leading ladies stood in trenches or he stood on boxes.

1916: The first pilot to shoot down a Zeppelin was Captain Leefe Robinson. During a raid on London, his tiny biplane attacked the airship which caught fire and crashed in Cuffley, Hertfordshire. He was later awarded the VC.

1939: Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and France declared war on Germany.

1962: The Trans-Canada highway, 4,800 miles from St John's Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia, was opened.

1976: The US spacecraft Viking II landed on Mars after a journey lasting six days short of one year.

1980: Peter O'Toole opened as Macbeth at the Old Vic which proved to be the most successful flop of modern times, panned by the critics but playing to packed houses.

On this day last year: Terrified Catholic children rushed sobbing out of Holy Cross Primary School in north Belfast after running a gauntlet of abuse from hundreds of angry Protestant residents trying to stop them from going to the Ardoyne school at the centre of a bitter sectarian dispute.

Birthdays: Professor Alison Lurie, writer, 75; Pauline Collins, actress, 62; Al Jardine, singer, 60; Valerie Perrine, actress, 59; Gerard Houllier, football manager, 55; Derek Redmond, former athlete, 37; Charlie Sheen, actor, 37; Gareth Southgate, footballer, 32.