On this day ...

AUGUST 24

79 AD: Vesuvius, above, erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 2000 people.

1572: The St Bartholomew’s Day massacre took place in Paris when thousands of French Huguenots were killed by order of the Catholic French court.

1724: George Stubbs, portrait and animal painter (especially horses), was born in Liverpool.

1814: British troops under General Ross invaded Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. Both were rebuilt and enlarged.

1875: Matthew Webb, British merchant navy captain, became the first person to swim the English Channel, doing the breaststroke from Dover to Cap Gris Nez in 21 hours, 45 minutes.

1891: The motion picture camera was patented by Thomas Edison.

1916: Eight people died when Zeppelins raided the outskirts of London.

2014: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Napa, California, in the northern San Francisco Bay area.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Devastating floods triggered by monsoon rains killed more than 950 people and displaced close to 40 million people across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

BIRTHDAYS: Antonia (AS) Byatt, writer, 82; Jean-Michel Jarre, composer, 70; Sam Torrance, golfer, 65; Stephen Fry, actor/writer/presenter, above, 61; Steve Guttenberg, actor, 60; Jared Harris, actor, 57; Rupert Grint, actor, 30.