ON THIS DAY

● 1346: Edward III of England, aided by his son Edward the Black Prince, defeated the French at The Battle of Crecy.

● 1740: Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, pioneer balloonist, was born in Annonay, France. He and his brother created the idea for the hot air balloon by filling paper bags with smoke from the fire and letting them rise to the ceiling.

● 1819: PrinceAlbert,Consort to Queen Victoria, was born in Bavaria.

● 1875: John Buchan, Scottish novelist and statesman, was born in Perth. At the age of 39 he was confined to bed and wrote The 39 Steps. He became Governor General of Canada in 1935 and was created Baron Tweedsmuir.

● 1940: The RAF bombed Berlin for the first time in retaliation for heavy raids on London.

● 1952: The Soviet Union announced that the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile tests had taken place.

● 1978: French actor Charles Boyer died, aged 78. He took an overdose two days after his wife died.

● 1978: Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected Pope John Paul I. Within 33 days he was dead.

● 2012: Tributes poured in from around the world to Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, who died aged 82.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Doctors had started prescribing pot plants instead of pills in a new scheme for patients in Manchester, it was revealed.

● BIRTHDAYS: The Duke of Gloucester,76;AlisonSteadman, actress, 74; Steve Wright, disc jockey, 66; Chris Boardman, former cyclist, 52.