ON THIS DAY

1752: Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar.

1812: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Moscow and Russians set fires throughout the city.

1814: Francis Scott Key writes America’s national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

1960: Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded.

1990: The first ever gene therapy is carried out by W French Anderson at Bethesda, Maryland, on a four-year-old girl with an inherited genetic deficiency.

1998: Northern Ireland’s new power-sharing parliament starts proceedings.

2001: Ansett, Australia’s second biggest airline, collapses, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and placing 60,000 jobs in jeopardy.

Birthdays: Kepler Wessels, South African and Australian cricketer (1957-); Amy Winehouse, British singer (1983-2011).