On this day

1741: A weary Handel finished his Messiah, 24 days after he had started it. Supplied with the libretto, he confined himself in his room at Brook Street, London, living almost entirely on coffee until he completed the music.

1812: Napoleon entered Moscow, which had been abandoned by the Russians and their scorched earth policy. But winter was approaching and Napoleon soon had to retreat.

1852: The Duke of Wellington – English military commander, the Iron Duke, victor at Waterloo, statesman and Tory prime minister – died aged 83 at Walmer Castle in Kent.

1886: The typewriter ribbon was patented by George Anderson, of Memphis, Tennessee.

1891: The first penalty kick in an English League football game was taken by Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington. Previously, an infringement resulted only in a free-kick for the wronged side.

1901: US president William McKinley died in Buffalo, eight days after being shot by an anarchist. He was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.

1927: Isadora Duncan, the American dancer, was strangled by her scarf in Nice, France, when the fringe caught in the wheel of a Bugatti sports car.

1964: British daily newspaper the Daily Herald ceased publication and was replaced by The Sun.

1974: Giant pandas Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching arrived at London Zoo.

1982: Princess Grace of Monaco, sometimes better known as American actress Grace Kelly, died in Monaco’s hospital without regaining consciousness after a car crash the previous day.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A second earthquake in the space of a week hit English town Leighton Buzzard, according to the British Geological Survey.

Princess Grace of Monaco.