1405: The Mongol leader Tamerlane the Great died during an expedition to conquer China.

1673: Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin), French dramatist and writer of comedies, died of a brain haemorrhage after a coughing fit on stage.

1818: Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patented the "draisine", the forerunner of the bicycle.

1883: A Mr Ashwell, of Herne Hill, London, patented the Vacant/Engaged toilet door sign.

1909: Geronimo, the great Apache leader, died. His real name was Goyathlay, which means "one who yawns".

1923: The inner chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun was opened at Luxor by the team led by Lord Carnarvon.

1959: The Queen gave Marlborough House to the nation for use as a Commonwealth Centre.

1972: Parliament voted in favour of Britain joining the European Common Market.

1972: Volkswagen broke the record held by the Model T Ford by selling the 15,007,034th production model of the Beetle.

1982: Death of jazz pianist and composer Thelonius Monk, instrumental in the development of "be-bop".

On this day last year: It was disclosed that the Government had helped secure a £70 million "soft" loan, funded by taxpayers, which helped controversial Labour Party donor Lakshmi Mittal to buy Romania's Sidex steelworks.