1812: One of the worst winters on record began - and caused the defeat of the mighty Napoleon. During his retreat from Moscow, troops endured temperatures as low as minus 37 degrees C for 27 consecutive days.

1841: Edward VII, eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born. He was 61 when he was crowned and gave his name to the Edwardian Age in English manners, fashion and literature.

1859: Flogging in the British Army was abolished.

1881: Dr Thomas Kalmus, US inventor of Technicolor in 1912, was born.

1922: The SS - Schutzstaffel or Protection Squad' - was formed in Germany.

1938: "Kristallnacht" in Germany, when Nazis burned 267 synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish homes and businesses, smashing windows - which gave the night its name.

1940: Neville Chamberlain died just months after resigning as Britain's wartime Prime Minister.

1953: Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, author of Under Milk Wood, died aged 39, after falling into an alcoholic coma following the consumption of 18 stiff whiskies.

1979: A computer fault led to a full-scale nuclear alert in the United States.

1989: The East German government lifted the Iron Curtain to allow free travel through the Berlin Wall. Thousands of East Berliners swarmed through the crossing points.

On this day last year: A body was found at the site of a devastating explosion at the Corus steelworks in Port Talbot, police said.

BIRTHDAYS: Ronald Harwood, playwright, 68; Roger McGough, poet, 65; Donald Trelford, columnist, 65; Tom Weiskopf, golfer, 60; Lou Ferrigno, actor, 50; Karen Dotrice, actress, 47; Alan Curbishley, football manager, 45; Tony Slattery, actor and comedian, 43.