1910: Kissing was banned on French trains after it was claimed it would delay services.

1939: HMS Illustrious was launched. It was Britain's largest aircraft carrier.

1955: Prime minister, Winston Churchill resigned. He was succeeded by Anthony Eden. Becuase of a strike there were no British newspapers to record the event.

1960: The film Ben Hur won a record ten Oscars.

1988: It was announced that the UK passport would be phased out.

1997: The Grand National was postponed after coded IRA bomb threats were received at Aintree. The race was finally held on April 7.

2000: Scientists discovered the longest comet on record. It had a tail more than 350 million miles long, almost four times the distance between the earth and the sun.

2002: George Bush called on Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to end his invasion of Palestinian cities. The move followed international criticism of America for not doing enough to end the crisis.