1636: Harvard University was founded, the first in the US. It was named after John Harvard, the English-born Puritan minister who bequeathed £779 and a 300-volume library.

1831: Michael Faraday demonstrated the first dynamo.

1886: The Statue of Liberty Elightening the World - to give it its full name - was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland as a monument to democracy. The French paid for the statue, the Americans for the pedestal.

1914: Polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Silk was born in New York. Within 10 years of his discovery the vaccine reduced the incidence of polio by 95 per cent.

1914: George Eastman announced the invention of a colour photograph process to be marketed by his Eastman Kodak Company.

1929: The collapse of the New York Stock Exchange sparked a world economic crisis.

1949: Sooty (pictured) made his first appearance on BBC television.

1958: The State Opening of Parliament was televised for the first time.

1971: The House of Commons voted in favour of Britain entering the Common Market - by a majority of 112.

1794: Robert Liston, Scottish physician who carried out the first operation with the aid of an anaesthetic in Britain, was born in Linlithgow.

The statue was designed by Auguste Bartholdi and took nine years to complete.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: An early-morning US raid on Kabul's northern outskirts killed at least 10 people, witnesses said - the second apparent stray strike in less than 24 hours to cause civilian fatalities.