On this day ...

FEBRUARY 22

1732: George Washington, above, first president of the United States, was born in Virginia.

1810: Frederic Chopin, Polish composer and pianist, was born near Warsaw.

1819: The United States bought Florida from Spain.

1857: Lord Baden Powell, English hero of the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War and founder of the Boy Scout movement in 1908, was born in London.

1879: FW Woolworth opened his first store in Utica, New York, which later failed and closed in May 1880.

1957: Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was formally granted the style and titular dignity of Prince of the United Kingdom by the Queen in recognition of his 10 years’ service to the country.

1972: An IRA bomb killed seven people at Aldershot barracks.

1980: British ice skater Robin Cousins won the gold medal for figure skating

in the Lake Placid Olympics.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A man was freed by firefighters after getting his genitals trapped in a ring spanner.

BIRTHDAYS: Sheila Hancock, actress, 86; Judy Cornwell, actress, 79; Niki Lauda, former racing driver, 70; Julie Walters, above, actress, 69; Nigel Planer, actor/writer, 66; Kyle MacLachlan, actor, 60; Devon Malcolm, former cricketer, 56; Shaka Hislop, former goalkeeper, 50; Michael Chang, former tennis player, 47; Drew Barrymore, actress/ director, 44.