1859 The world's first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania, by Edwin Drake.

1882 Hollywood film producer Sam Goldwyn was born - his original name was Goldfish. He helped found MGM but as an independent producer was responsible for films including Ben Hur (1926) and Porgy And Bess (1959).

1883 Krakatoa, a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java, erupted with thousands killed by the resulting tidal waves.

1899 CS Forester, English novelist, was born in Cairo. He published The African Queen in 1935 and two years later created a series of historical novels featuring his most popular character, Captain Horatio Hornblower.

1912 Tarzan Of The Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first went into print as a magazine serial.

1966 Francis Chichester left Plymouth in Gipsy Moth IV on his single-handed voyage around the world.

1967 The man who helped make The Beatles, Brian Epstein, died in his London home from an overdose of sleeping pills.

1975 The last descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, died, aged 83.

1979 Earl Mountbatten, the Queen's cousin, was killed when the IRA exploded a remote-controlled 50lb bomb on his boat Shadow V off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland.

1991 EC members recognised the independence of the Baltic states.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A leading member of the Iraqi opposition said he believed the United States was committed to ousting Saddam Hussein, welcoming US Vice President Dick Cheney's speech warning of the dangers of "inaction

BIRTHDAYS: Lady Antonia Fraser, writer, 71; Michael Holroyd, biographer, 68; Tuesday Weld, actress, 60; Barbara Bach, actress, 56; John Lloyd, former tennis player, 49; Glen Matlock, rock musician, 47; Bernhard Langer, golfer, 46; Gerhard Berger, former motor racing driver, 44; Siobhan Redmond, actress, 44; Jeanette Winterson, writer, 44; Mark Ealham, cricketer, 34; Herbie Hide, boxer, 32; Denise Lewis, Olympic heptathlon gold medallist, 31; Dietmar Hamann, footballer, 30.