ON THIS DAY

• 1710: Thomas Augustine Arne, composer who wrote the masque Alfred, which included the song Rule Britannia, was born in London.

• 1836: Isabella Mary Mayson, who became Mrs Beeton of cookery-book fame, was born in London.

• 1890: Dancer Vaslav Nijinsky was born in Kiev.

• 1941: The original incident used in Compton Mackenzie’s Whisky Galore occurred in the Hebrides when a cargo ship ran aground with her holds full of whisky. Islanders hid the quarter of a million bottles from Customs officers.

• 1969: Beatle Paul Mccartney married photographer Linda Eastman, while George Harrison was arrested for illegal possession of cannabis.

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1977: Egyptian president

Anwar Sadat said he would not allow a single inch of Arab land to remain under Israeli occupation.

• 1987: The UK Government gave the go-ahead to the Sizewell B nuclear processing plant in Suffolk.

• 1992: Mauritius broke its links with the British Crown, becoming a fully fledged republic but remaining a member of the Commonwealth.

• ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into BBC pay practices over alleged discrimination against women, suspecting “some women at the organisation have not received equal pay for equal work”.

• BIRTHDAYS: Liza Minnelli, actress/singer,74;jamestaylor, singer-songwriter, 72; Anish Kapoor, sculptor, 66; Jerry Levine, actor/director, 63.