National day of Ghana - Formerly the Gold Coast, it became the first British colony in Africa to achieve independence, on March 6, 1957.

1836: The Alamo fell to Mexican forces under Santa Anna. Legendary frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie both died in the 12-day battle.

1890: An ornithologist released 60 pairs of starlings in New York's Central Park as a memorial to Shakespeare. The starling is now America's worst bird pest!

1899: Chemist Felix Hoffman patented the world's most famous pain-relief drug, the aspirin.

1926: The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon was engulfed by flames, leaving only a blackened shell.

1930: Clarence Birdseye marketed the first frozen foods in Massachusetts.

1944: US planes from bases in Britain began daylight bombing raids on Berlin.

1951: Ivor Novello (David Ivor Davies), Welsh-born composer, playwright and actor, died in his flat above the Strand Theatre, London.

1961: George Formby, film star and music hall artist, who sang comic songs and accompanied himself on the banjo, died.

1974: Labour returned to power with Harold Wilson at the helm after the Liberals rejected Edward Heath's offer of coalition with a cabinet post for their leader Jeremy Thorpe.

1987: The ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with her bow door open leaving Zeebrugge harbour - 193 died.

1988: Three IRA terrorists were shot dead by SAS men in Gibraltar.

1991: Dr George Carey elected new Archbishop of Canterbury.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: PM Tony Blair promised that Iraq's oil would be placed out of the hands of Britain and the United States following a war to prove that the rich reserves were not the motive for conflict.