On this day ...

SEPTEMBER 3

1783: Britain finally recognised the United States of America by signing the Treaty of Paris, ending the American War of Independence.

1913: American film star Alan Ladd, above, was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

1916: The first pilot to shoot down a Zeppelin was Captain William Leefe Robinson. During a raid on London, his tiny biplane attacked the airship which caught fire and crashed in Cuffley, Hertfordshire.

1939: Great Britain, Australia and France declared war on Germany.

1962: The Trans-Canada highway, 4,800 miles from St John’s Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia, was opened.

1976: The US spacecraft Viking II landed on Mars after a journey lasting six days short of one year.

2004: After three days, the Beslan school siege ended when special forces stormed the building in an unplanned onslaught. The Russian massacre claimed the lives of more than 330 people – about half of them children.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A new camera which can see through the human body had been developed, it was announced.

BIRTHDAYS: Pauline Collins, actress, 78; Al Jardine, singer, 76; Valerie Perrine, actress, 75; Derek Redmond, former athlete, 53; Charlie Sheen, actor, 53; Gareth Southgate, above, football manager, 48; Fearne Cotton, TV and radio presenter, 37; Chris Fountain, actor, 31.