On this day ...

MARCH 2

1836: Texas was proclaimed a republic, independent of Mexico.

1930: Novelist DH Lawrence died in France of tuberculosis.

1949: The first round-theworld non-stop flight was completed by Captain James Gallagher and his 13-man USAF crew. It took 94 hours, during which the plane, Lucky Lady II, was refuelled four times in flight.

1969: The French-built supersonic airliner Concorde made its maiden flight from Toulouse.

1970: Southern Rhodesia broke away from Britain and became a republic under Ian Smith.

1986: The Queen signed the Australia Bill in Canberra, formally severing any Australian constitutional ties with Britain.

1988: Liberals merged with the Social Democrats to form the Social and Liberal Democrats.

1995: Financial dealer Nick Leeson, above, whose multimillion-pound dealings on the high-risk derivatives market in Singapore bankrupted Barings Bank, was arrested at Frankfurt airport.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Hollywood star Susan Sarandon, 72, revealed she was told early on in her acting career that she would not work beyond 40. BIRTHDAYS: Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet Union president, 88; John Irving, novelist, 77; JPR Williams, former rugby player, 70; John Altman, actor, 67; Ian Woosnam, golfer, 61; Jon Bon Jovi, actor/rock singer, 57; Daniel Craig, above, actor, 51; James Arthur, singer, 31.