Primrose Day - The Primrose Society places primroses at the statue of Benjamin Disraeli in Parliament Square on the anniversary of his death in 1881. The primrose was Disraeli's favourite flower.

1587: Sir Francis Drake sailed into Cadiz and sank the Spanish fleet - an action known as "singeing the King of Spain's beard".

1775: In Lexington, the opening shot was fired - by a British general - in the American War of Independence.

1824: Poet Lord Byron died of a fever at Missolonghi while aiding Greek insurgents against the Turks in their fight for independence. He was 36.

1843: The gas meter was patented by Carl Ludwig Farwig.

1882: Death of biologist Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution revolutionised scientific thinking.

1906: Pierre Curie, French physicist who worked with his wife on magnetism and radioactivity and who discovered radium, was run over and killed in Paris.

1927: Mae West was found guilty of indecent behaviour in her Broadway production of Sex. She was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined £500.

1951: Eric Morley, publicity officer with Mecca, devised the Miss World beauty contest.

1956: Prince Rainier of Monaco married actress Grace Kelly.

1958: Footballer Bobby Charlton made the first of 106 appearances for England. In the match, against Scotland, he scored the first of his record 49 international goals.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Two more members of Saddam Hussein's regime were in allied custody as the hunt for his chief henchmen continued.