1802: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata was published.

1831: George Pullman, US industrialist and inventor who designed the de luxe railway carriages that bear his name, was born.

1847: Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh.

1869: Sir Henry Wood, English conductor, was born in London. He founded the Promenade Concerts (Proms) and he conducted them until his death in 1944.

1875: Bizet's Carmen was first performed at the Opera Comique in Paris. Critics called it "painful, blatant, noisy and eminently repulsive" and the composer died brokenhearted three months later.

1911: Jean Harlow (Harlean Carpenter), the platinum blonde actress, was born in Kansas City, pictured.

1931: The US Congress adopted The Star Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, as the national anthem.

1961: Edwin Bush was Britain's first suspected criminal to be identified by means of an "Identi-kit" picture.

1974: A Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed near Paris, killing more than 340 people, including members of an English rugby club.

1982: The Barbican Arts Centre in London was opened.

1991: Estonia and Latvia voted to secede from the Soviet Union.

NATIONAL DAY OF MOROCCO

On this day last year: Constitutional experts were divided on what the future would hold for the Earl and Countess of Wessex after the couple announced they had decided to quit their careers.

BIRTHDAYS: Sir Peter O'Sullevan, racing commentator, 85; James Doohan, actor, 83; Miranda Richardson, actress, 45; Fatima Whitbread, athlete, 42; Darren Anderton, footballer, 31; Ronan Keating, pop singer (Boyzone), 26; Jessica Biel, actress, 21.