On this day ...

FEBRUARY 12

1554: Lady Jane Grey, queen of England for nine days, was executed on Tower Green by her cousin Queen Mary Tudor.

1809: Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, was born in Kentucky.

1809: Charles Darwin, above, naturalist and author, was born in Shrewsbury. His work On The Origin Of Species (1859) formulated his theory of evolution and natural selection.

1870: Marie Lloyd (Matilda Alice Victoria Wood), Cockney music hall star who sang risque songs and had a scandalous private life, was born in London.

1898: Henry Lindfield of Brighton became the first British motorist to be killed in a car crash - a result of a steering failure.

1818: Chile proclaimed an independent republic.

1924: Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin was first performed in New York.

1929: Actress Lillie Langtry, mistress of Edward VII, died.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Sea levels are increasing at an accelerating rate that could see them rising by a whole centimetre per year by 2100, research revealed.

BIRTHDAYS: Franco Zeffirelli, film director, 96; Annette Crosbie, above, actress, 85; Nicholas Soames, politician, 71; Arsenio Hall, actor and comedian, 63; Steve Backley, former athlete, 50; Gethin Jones, television presenter, 41; Jesse Spencer, actor, 40; Christina Ricci, actress, 39.