ON THIS DAY

JANUARY 25

1759: Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire. 1924: The first Winter Olympics began at Chamonix, France.

1947: Al Capone, Chicago gang boss in the Prohibition era, died of a heart attack, days after suffering a stroke, aged 48.

1981: The Gang of Four (Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers) broke away from the Labour Party to set up the Social Democrats. 2010: One of Saddam Hussein’s closest allies, Ali Hassan al-Majid, the man known as “Chemical Ali”, was executed in Iraq.

JANUARY 26

1788: The first consignment of convicts from England arrived in Australia, at Sydney Cove.

1841: Hong Kong was proclaimed British sovereign territory.

1871: The Rugby Football Union was founded.

1905: The world’s largest diamond was found at the Premier Mines in Pretoria, South Africa. The Cullinan Diamond weighed more than 1.25lb.

1965: Hindi was made the official language of India.

1972: The musical Godspell had its first London performance.

1993: Vaclav Havel became the first president of the new Czech Republic. JANUARY 27

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg. 1778: Joseph Bramah patented the valved flush toilet.

1879: Edison patented his electric lamp. 1926: John Logie Baird gave a public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution in London.

1973: America signed a ceasefire to end its military action in Vietnam. JANUARY 28

1547: Henry VIII died at Richmond, in a room reeking of the stench from his leg ulcers.

1807: London’s Pall Mall was the first street in any city in the world to be lit by gaslight.

1829: Body-snatcher William Burke was hanged in front of a huge crowd.

1935: Iceland became the first country to legalise abortion.

2014: The routes of high-speed rail links to cities in the north of England were unveiled, in a move Prime Minister David Cameron said would boost Britain’s stagnant economy.

JANUARY 29

1856: Queen Victoria instituted Britain’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross.

1886: Karl Benz patented the first practical car with petrol-driven internal combustion engine. It had three rubbertyred wheels and went at 9.3mph.

1942: Desert Island Discs started on BBC Radio, presented by Roy Plomley. 1985:OxfordUniversityrefusedtogrant MargaretThatcheranhonorarydegree.