ON THIS DAY

1792: The Mint of the United States was established, striking its first silver dollars.

1801: Nelson put a telescope to his blind eye at the Battle of Copenhagen and thus ignored the command to cease fighting. He continued the action until the pro-French Danish fleet was totally subdued.

1805: Hans Christian Andersen, master of the fairy tale, was born in Odense, Denmark.

1873: British trains were fitted with toilets – but only in sleeping cars.

1877: The first human cannonball act was performed at London’s Amphitheatre, when Lady Zazal was shot by elastic springs into a safety net.

1947: The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst was formed.

1954: Britain’s first TV soap opera, The Grove Family (named after Lime Grove Studios), was transmitted.

1977: Charlotte Brew on Barony Fort became the first woman to ride in a Grand National. Her mount refused at the 27th fence. The winner was Red Rum, becoming the only horse to score three victories.

1982: Argentinian forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The number of suspected modern slavery victims in the UK had hit a record of more than 10,000 – up 52 per cent in a year, figures revealed.

BIRTHDAYS: Penelope Keith, actress, 81; Linda Hunt, actress,

76; Camille Paglia, social critic and author, 74; Paul Gambaccini, DJ and broadcaster, 72; Linford Christie, former Olympic gold medal-winning athlete and athletics coach, 61; Keren Woodward, singer (Bananarama), 60; Dermot Reeve, former cricketer/commentator, 58; Teddy Sheringham, former footballer, 55.