814: Death of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor.

1547: Henry VIII (pictured) died at Richmond, in a room reeking of the stench from his leg ulcers.

1596: Sir Francis Drake died at sea off Panama.

1807: London's Pall Mall was the first street in any city in the world to be lit by gaslight.

1829: Body-snatcher William Burke was hanged in front of a huge crowd.

1908: The London Playhouse Theatre opened.

1932: The Japanese occupied Shanghai, start of a full-scale invasion of China.

1935: Iceland became the first country to legalise abortion.

1953: Derek Bentley, aged 19, was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, despite public protests. Bentley and Christopher Craig, aged 16, had been found guilty of murdering a policeman, but Craig escaped the gallows because of his age.

1986: US space shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after take-off, killing seven astronauts.

1993: The IRA bomed Harrods for the third time i n 20 years. Four people were injured.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Press Complaints Commission has upheld a complaint by the Prime Minister and his wife about a newspaper article on their eldest son's university plans.

BIRTHDAYS:

ACKER Bilk, jazz clarinettist, 73; Sacha Distel, singer, pictured, 70; David Lodge, author, 68; Alan Alda, actor, 67; Bobby Ball, comedian, 59; John Edmonds, trade unionist, 59; Prof Sir John Tavener, composer, 59; Nick Raynsford, Local Government Minister, 58; Robert Wyatt, rock musician, 58; Elijah Wood, actor, 22.