79: Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 2,000 people. Paradoxically, the eruption not only destroyed Pompeii but also preserved it for all time.

1572: The St Bartholomew's Day massacre took place in Paris when thousands of French Huguenots were killed by order of the Catholic French court.

1724: George Stubbs, portrait and animal painter (especially horses), was born in Liverpool.

1814: British troops under General Ross invaded Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. Both were rebuilt and enlarged.

1875: Matthew Webb, British merchant navy captain, became the first person to swim the English Channel, doing the breaststroke from Dover to Cap Gris Nez in 21 hours, 45 minutes.

1891: The motion picture camera was patented by Thomas Edison.

1916: Eight people died when Zeppelins raided the outskirts of London.

1942: The Duke of Kent, youngest brother of King George VI, died when his Sunderland flying boat crashed en route to Iceland.

1951: The Mau-Mau rebellion began in Kenya.

1965: The 450,000 year-old body of a man was found in a Hungarian limestone quarry.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly had badly hit Tony Blair's standing with Labour voters as well as the public as a whole, a new poll showed.