1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera was first performed, with a score derived from popular ballads of the time.

1820 George III, longest-lived and longest-reigning King of England, died at Windsor aged 81.

1856 Queen Victoria instituted Britain's highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross.

1879 WC Fields US comedian who claimed he wouldn't act with children or animals, was born in Philadelphia.

1886 Karl Benz patented the first practical car with petrol-driven internal combustion engine. It had three rubber-tyred wheels and went at 9.3mph.

1916 Zeppelins bombed Paris for the first time.

1942 Desert Island Discs started on BBC Radio, presented by Roy Plomley. His first castaway was comedian Vic Oliver.

1980 Jimmy Durante, "Schnozzle", American comedian, died aged 87.

1985 Oxford University dons refused to grant Mrs Thatcher an honorary degree.

1988 Failed opera singer Bantcho Bantchevsky leapt to his death from the balcony of New York's Metropolitan Opera House during a performance of Verdi's Macbeth.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Solicitor Sally Clark, 38, jailed for life for the murders of her two baby sons was dramatically freed by the Court of Appeal.