ON THIS DAY

● 1701: Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer who created the centigrade temperature scale, was born in Uppsala.

● 1703: The first Eddystone Lighthouse was swept away in the Great Storm. More than 8,000 died across the country.

● 1914: The first two trained policewomen to be granted official status in Britain, Miss Mary Allen and Miss E F Harburn, reported for duty at Grantham.

● 1942: As German troops arrived in Toulon, the French fleet was scuttled in the harbour to prevent the warships falling into enemy hands.

● 1944: Between 3,500 and 4,000 tons of high explosives went off in a cavern beneath Staffordshire, killing 68 people and wiping out an entire farm.

● 1963: The Buchanan Committee warned of future chaos as traffic in cities multiplied.

● 1967: President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s entry into the Common Market.

● 1975: Ross Mcwhirter was shot dead by Irish gunmen at his home in London. With his twin brother, Norris, he edited The Guinness Book Of Records.

● 1990: John Major became prime minister at 47, the youngest PM that century.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: British academic Matthew Hedges thanked those involved in securing his release after he arrived back in the UK from the United Arab Emirates, where he was jailed for life for spying then given a pardon by the nation’s president days later.

● BIRTHDAYS: John Alderton, actor, 79; Randy Brecker, jazz trumpeter,74;charlieburchill, rock guitarist (Simple Minds), 60.