1434: The River Thames froze over and, exactly 281 years later, it froze again - hard enough for a Frost Fair to be held on the ice.

1713: Laurence Sterne, clergyman, novelist and humourist, was born in Tipperary.

1815: Grace Darling, lighthouse-keeper's daughter and heroine of the wreck of the Forfarshire, was born.

1849: Francis Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy, was born in Manchester.

1859: Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin was published.

1864: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter famous for his scene of Paris low-life, was born in Albi.

1962: The satirical TV programme That Was the Week That Was went out live from the BBC for the first time, introduced by newcomer David Frost, with material written by equally unknown John Cleese.

1963: Lee Harvey Oswald, charged with killing President Kennedy, was shot dead by club owner Jack Ruby at Dallas Police Headquarters.

1965: The Government imposed an experimental 70mph speed limit on motorways.

1991: Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock group Queen, died of Aids, aged 45.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko called for nationwide strikes and protests amid vote-rigging claims in the presidential election.