1346 Edward III of England, aided by his son Edward the Black Prince, defeated the French at The Battle of Crecy.

1740 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, pioneer balloonist, was born in Annonay, France. He and his brother created the idea for the hot air balloon by filling paper bags with smoke from the fire and letting them rise to the ceiling.

1819 Prince Albert, Consort to Queen Victoria, was born in Bavaria.

1875 John Buchan, Scottish novelist and statesman, was born in Perth. At the age of 39 he was confined to bed and wrote The 39 Steps. He became Governor General of Canada in 1935 and was created Baron Tweedsmuir.

1930 The Man of a Thousand Faces, actor Lon Chaney, died.

1936 The BBC transmitted the first high definition television pictures introduced by its announcer Leslie Mitchell. More than 7,000 people queued to see the pictures from Alexander Palace on sets at the Olympia Radio Show.

1940 The RAF bombed Berlin for the first time in retaliation for attacks on London.

1952 The Soviet Union announced that the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile tests had taken place.

1978 Charles Boyer, actor who was everyone's idea of the great French lover, died, aged 80. He took an overdose two days after his wife died.

1978 Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected Pope John Paul I. Within 33 days he was dead.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Johannesburg Earth Summit was getting under way with the promise that leaders would take action on the environment, debt and poverty.

BIRTHDAYS: THE Duke of Gloucester, 59; Alison Steadman, actress, 57; Steve Wright, disc jockey, pictured, 49; Macaulay Culkin, actor, 23.