On this day ...

FEBRUARY 26

1531: About 20,000 people died in an earthquake in Lisbon.

1797: £1 notes were first issued by the Bank of England.

1815: Napoleon escaped from exile on the island of Elba and returned to France.

1839: The Grand National was first run at Aintree.

1846: William Frederick Cody – Buffalo Bill – American army scout and showman, was born in Scott County, Iowa.

1935: Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) was first demonstrated in Daventry by Robert Watson-Watt.

1936: The Volkswagen car factory was opened in Saxony by Adolf Hitler.

1950: Scottish music hall singer and comedian Sir Harry Lauder, above, died, aged 79.

1983: Irishman Pat Jennings became the first footballer to play in 1,000 first-class football matches.

1989: Burke’s Peerage reported that King Arthur’s Round Table had been found near Stirling, on the banks of the Carron River.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A charity reported that the number of people living with diabetes had doubled in the last 20 years. BIRTHDAYS: Sandie Shaw, singer, 72; David Edgar, playwright, 71; Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister, 69; Michael Bolton, above, singer/songwriter, 66; Erykah Badu, singer/actress, 48; Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player, 42; Corinne Bailey Rae, singer/ songwriter, 40.