ON THIS DAY

490BC: The original Marathon was won by a messenger who ran 24 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. He told of victory, then dropped down dead.

1573: Caravaggio, Italian painter, was born.

1745: God Save The King was first performed at Drury Lane Theatre.

1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson qualified to become Britain’s first practising woman doctor.

1923: The Radio Times was first published.

1964: Harpo Marx, the silent one who played the harp, died aged 75.

1978: Pope John Paul I died after only 33 days as Pontiff.

1991: Miles Davis, legendary jazz trumpeter, died aged 65.