1258: Salisbury Cathedral was consecrated.

1842: Sir James Dewar, Scottish physician and chemist, and inventor of the vacuum flask, was born in Fife.

1854: The Battle of Alma, fought by the British against the Russians in the Crimean War, produced six winners of the Victoria Cross.

1885: Jelly Roll Morton, pianist, composer and singer and one of the first jazz musicians, was born in New Orleans.

1917: The first RSPCA animal clinic was opened in Liverpool.

1931: Britain came off the gold standard to stop foreign speculation against the pound. The devaluation brought strikes and even a near mutiny on 15 navy ships berthed in Scotland.

1944: Guy Gibson, British pilot and Victoria Cross winner for his Dambusters'' action against the Mohne and Eder dams, was killed when his aircraft crashed in Holland on its way back to base.

1961: The first non-stop swim across the Channel and back was started by Argentinian Antonio Albertondo; he successfully completed the feat the following day after 43 hours five minutes.

1984: A suicide bomber drove a lorry load of explosives at the US embassy in Beirut, killing 40 people.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: PM Tony Blair said he was confident differences on Iraq could be overcome after talks with the French and German leaders in Berlin.