on this day

• 1710: Thomas Augustine Arne, composer who wrote the masque Alfred, which included the song Rule Britannia, was born in London.

• 1836: Isabella Mary Mayson, who became Mrs Beeton of cookery-book fame, was born in London.

• 1941: The original incident used in Compton Mackenzie’s Whisky Galore occurred in the Hebrides when a cargo ship ran aground with her holds full of whisky. Islanders hid the quarter of a million bottles from Customs officers.

• 1969: Beatle Paul McCartney married photographer Linda Eastman, while George Harrison was arrested for illegal possession of cannabis.

• 1992: Mauritius broke its links with the British Crown, becoming a fully fledged republic but remaining a member of the Commonwealth.