1695: Henry Purcell, English composer, died of tuberculosis, aged 36. It is said that a friend asked him if he had made his peace with God. He replied: "We've never quarrelled."

1783: Man's first free-flight was made by Jean de Rosier and the Marquis d'Arlandes in the Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon. They rose 500 feet above Paris and, after 25 minutes, landed a few miles south.

1843: Thomas Hancock patented vulcanised rubber.

1888: Harpo Marx, the Marx Brother who never spoke on screen, was born in New York.

1910: Count Leo Tolstoy, author of War And Peace and Anna Karenina, died in virtual poverty at Astopovo. He had made his fortune over to his wife - and then quarrelled with her.

1918: The German battle fleet surrendered to the Allies at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.

1934: Cole Porter's Anything Goes opened in New York and made a star of Ethel Merman.

1936: The first television gardening programme was broadcast by the BBC - In Your Garden with Mr Middleton.

1953: The discovery of The Piltdown Man skull by Charles Dawson in Sussex in 1912 was finally revealed as a hoax.

1974: IRA bombs in two Birmingham public houses killed 17 people and left a further 120 injured.

On this day last year: Self-styled pop mogul Jonathan King was in disgrace after being jailed for abusing schoolboys.

BIRTHDAYS: Beryl Bainbridge, novelist, 68; Dr John (Mac Rebennack), R&B musician, 62; Juliet Mills, actress, 61; Goldie Hawn, actress, 57; Lorna Luft, actress, 50; Tina Brown, magazine editor, 49; Bjork, singer, 37; Andrew Caddick, cricketer, 34; Alex James, rock musician (Blur), 34; Justin Langer, cricketer, 32.