ON THIS DAY

● 1133: Henry II, the first PlantagenetKing(1154-89),was born in Le Mans.

● 1790: Death of Flora Macdonald, Scottish Jacobite heroine who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape to safety after his defeat at Culloden.

● 1879: William Henry Beveridge, who produced the report which laid the foundations of the British welfare state, was born in Rangpur, Bengal.

● 1918: Moscow was declared the new capital of Russia in place of Petrograd.

● 1936: The Spitfire fighter plane made its maiden flight.

● 1946: Winston Churchill introduced the phrase “Iron Curtain”. He said in a speech: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”

● 1953: JosephStalin,Russian Communist leader, died in mysterious circumstances – officially from a brain haemorrhage. On the same day, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev died.

● 1984: Scientists warned of a “greenhouse effect” amid growing concern that carbon dioxide, produced by fossil fuels, would damage the environment.

● 1993: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was banned for life after failing a drug test.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A naked British tourist was found walking down a coastal Sydney street after an early morning swim led to a search-and-rescue operation involving a helicopter and police boat.

● BIRTHDAYS: Samantha Eggar, actress, 81; Eddy Grant, singer, 72; Elaine Paige, singer, 72; Eva Mendes, actress, 46.