1732: George Washington, first president of the United States was born in Virginia.

1797: French soldiers landed at Fishguard but were soon captured. No other foreign force has managed to invade Britain since.

1810: Frederic Chopin, Polish composer and pianist, was born near Warsaw.

1819: The United States bought Florida from Spain.

1857: Lord Baden Powell, English hero of the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War and founder of the Boy Scout movement in 1908, was born in London.

1879: FW Woolworth opened his "nothing over five cents" store in Utica, New York - and nearly went broke. So he moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, opened a "5 and 10 cent store" ... and made millions.

1886: The Times became the first newspaper to institute a classified "Personal" column.

1957: Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was formally granted the style and titular dignity of Prince of the United Kingdom by the Queen in recognition of his 10 years' service to the country.

1972: Seven people died in an IRA bomb attack at Aldershot.

1980: British ice skater Robin Cousins won the gold medal for figure skating in the Lake Placid Olympics.

On this day last year: US President George W Bush led tributes to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose murder by kidnappers in Pakistan was confirmed in a gruesome videotape.

BIRTHDAYS: Sir John Mills, actor, 94; Bruce Forsyth, entertainer, 75; Edward Kennedy, US senator, 72; Sheila Hancock, actress, 70; Duchess of Kent, 70; Judy Cornwell, actress, 63; Niki Lauda, former racing driver, 54; Julie Walters, actress, 53; Nigel Planer, actor/writer, 50; Kyle MacLachlan, actor, 44; Devon Malcolm, former cricketer, 40; Shaka Hislop, footballer, 34; Michael Chang, tennis player, 31; Drew Barrymore, actress, 28.