1312: Edward III, King of England from 1327, was born.

1460: Prince Henry of Portugal - Henry the Navigator - died aged 66.

1687: Nell Gwynn died, aged 37. The mistress of King Charles II, she was the best-known orange seller of all time.

1850: Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, was born in Edinburgh.

1851: A telegraphic service between London and Paris was started.

1914: The brassiere was patented in the United States by heiress Mary Phelps Jacob. Previously women had worn a version of the child's liberty bodice to protect them when playing sport.

1917: In London, bankers and chambers of commerce called for the decimalisation of the British currency.

1936: Edward VIII told Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin he intended to marry twice-divorced Mrs Simpson, pictured.

1947: Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Exchequer, resigned after admitting he had disclosed tax proposals to a reporter minutes before he presented the Budget.

1987: The first criminal conviction based on genetic fingerprinting led to a rapist being sentenced to eight years at Bristol Crown Court.

On this day last year: The Taliban were abandoning their spiritual stronghold of Kandahar as their grip on power in Afghanistan disintegrated in the face of the Northern Alliance offensive.

BIRTHDAYS: Most Rev George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 67; Howard Wilkinson, FA director, 59; Joe Mantegna, actor, 55; Whoopi Goldberg, actress, 53; Steve Zahn, actor, 34.