1689: Death - in the Tower of London - of the despised Judge Jeffreys who sentenced more than 300 to death at his "bloody assizes.

1775: American patriot Paul Revere made his famous ride to Lexington to warn of the British army's advance.

1906: San Francisco was devastated by a massive earthquake.

1934: The first launderette opened in Fort Worth, Texas. It was called a Washateria.

1946: The League of Nations was formally dissolved, its assets passing to the United Nations.

1949: The Republic of Ireland Act came into force as Eire became a republic.

1954: Colonel Nasser became Prime Minister and military governor of Egypt, having seized power while President Neguib was away from the capital.

1955: Death of physicist Albert Einstein, one of the most creative intellects in history.

1966: The Sound Of Music won an Oscar after receiving an almost universal panning from the critics. It grossed 60 million in its first year.

1968: London Bridge was sold for £1 million to oil tycoon Robert McCullough. He had it rebuilt at Lake Havasu in the United States.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Islamic organisations told of their horror at the discovery of the body of a Muslim woman in a hospital mortuary covered with rashers of bacon.