On this day ...

DECEMBER 11

1803: Composer Hector Berlioz was born near Grenoble.

1894: The first motor show opened in Paris, with nine exhibitors.

1903: The first wildlife preservation society in Britain was founded under the name The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire.

1936: Edward VIII abdicated as King after a reign of 325 days, in favour of his brother, the Duke of York, who became King George VI.

1945: London’s second Waterloo Bridge, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, opened.

1967: The prototype of the world’s first supersonic airliner, Concorde, was revealed.

1988: An Ariane-4 rocket, carrying the Astra 1A satellite to bring 16 television channels to Britain, was launched from Kourou, French Guiana.

2017: TV entertainer Keith Chegwin, above, died aged 60.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: More fatal motorbike crashes take place on nights where there is a full moon, research revealed.

BIRTHDAYS: Anna Carteret, actress, 76; Brenda Lee, pop singer, 74; Jermaine Jackson, singer/songwriter, 64; John Lukic, former footballer, 58; Nigel Winterburn, former footballer, 55; Stig Inge Bjornebye, former footballer, 49; Ben Shephard, above, television presenter, 44; Hailee Steinfeld, American actress and singer, 22.