30AD The date on which dancing girl Salome was said to have been presented with the head of John the Baptist on a plate by King Herod.

1782 The 100-ton battleship HMS Royal George sank off Spithead with the loss of more than 900 lives.

1831 Faraday demonstrated the production of electricity from magnetism with the first transformer.

1842 The Treaty of Nanking was signed, ending the Opium War (1839-42) between China and Britain, and ceding Hong Kong to Britain.

1882 England cricketers lost to Australia in England for the first time, and from an epitaph that appeared in the Sporting Times the word "Ashes" came into being.

1885 The first motorcycle was patented by Gottlieb Daimler in Germany.

1895 The Rugby League was formed at a meeting in the George Hotel in Huddersfield, with 21 representatives of the leading Lancashire and Yorkshire Rugby Union clubs - the present title of "Rugby League" was adopted in 1922.

1897 "Chop-suey" (meaning various things), the most famous Chinese dish, was devised by a New York chef to appeal to Chinese and American tastes.

1930 The Rev William Spooner, who gave the world spoonerisms, died.

1966 The Beatles gave their last live concert performance in Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Britain may push for a deadline to be imposed on Saddam Hussein to readmit United Nations weapons inspectors, the Government said.

BIRTHDAYS: Lord (Richard) Attenborough, actor/director, 80; Lord Marmaduke Hussey, ex-chairman of the BBC governors, 80; Elliott Gould, actor, 65; William Friedkin, film director, 64; Joel Schumacher, film director, 64; Richard Gere, actor, 54; Viv Anderson, football coach, 47; Lenny Henry, actor/comedian, 45; Michael Jackson, singer, 45; Rebecca De Mornay, actress, 42; Liz Fraser, singer, 40.