ON THIS DAY

■■ 217: Roman emperor Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) was assassinated.

■■1838: Brunel’s 236ft steamship Great Western left Bristol for New York on her maiden voyage.

■■ 1904: Britain and France signed a mutual recognition of each other’s colonial interests.

■■1908: Liberal Herbert Henry Asquith became Prime Minister.

■■ 1925: The Australian government and the British Colonial Office offered low-interest loans to enable Britons to emigrate to Australia.

■■1950: Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky died in London.

■■ 1967: Barefoot Sandie Shaw won the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK with Puppet On A String.

■■1973: Death of Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor, above, who pioneered Cubism, aged 91.

■■ 1986: Clint Eastwood was elected Mayor of Carmel in California.

■■2005: More than four million people attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

■■ 2013: Former Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher died at the age of 87 following a stroke.

■■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A grandfather who thought he was the victim of a scam after being told he was receiving a British Empire Medal (BEM) said he felt “privileged” after being invited to the King’s coronation.

■■ BIRTHDAYS: Steve Howe, rock guitarist, 77; Joe Royle, football manager, 75; Julian Lennon, musician, 61; Alec Stewart, former cricketer, 61, above; Mark Blundell, former racing driver turned commentator, 58; Robin Wright Penn, actress, 58; Patricia Arquette, actress, 56.

■■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2021 was 65.7%