ON THIS DAY

● 1582: Pope Gregory XIII announced the new Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar. It was not adopted by Britain until 1752, when a “loss” of 11 days had to be made up.

● 1825: Thomas Bowdler, who took out the “naughty bits” in Shakespeare’s work, died. He gave the English language the word “bowdlerise”.

● 1848: France became a republic for the second time, following the abdication of King Louis Philippe.

● 1905: The Simplon Tunnel through the Alps, 12.3 miles long, was completed.

● 1920: American-born Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons following her election as an MP two months earlier.

● 1923: The Flying Scotsman locomotive began hauling scheduled services between London and Scotland.

● 1932: Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird beat his own land speed record at Daytona Beach by reaching 253.96 mph.

● 1938: A nylon toothbrush, the first commercial nylon product, went on sale in New Jersey.

● 1991: In their first parliamentary elections under a genuine multi-party system, voters in Lithuania rejected Communist rule.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A village in Devon became the first in the UK to introduce a church bell flood warning service.

● BIRTHDAYS: Phil Knight, billionaire co-founder of Nike, 82; Denis Law, commentator/former footballer, 80; Paul Jones, blues singer/broadcaster, 78; John Stapleton, TV presenter, 74; Dennis Waterman, actor, 72.