ON THIS DAY

• 1189: Richard the Lionheart was crowned king of England at Westminster after the death of his father, Henry II.

• 1658: Oliver Cromwell, Puritan leader and Lord Protector of England, died of pneumonia.

• 1752: What should have been September 3 became September 14 with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. Crowds flocked through the streets crying: “Give us back our 11 days.”

• 1783: Britain finally recognised the United States of America by signing the Treaty of Paris, ending the American War of Independence.

• 1916: The first pilot to shoot down a Zeppelin was Captain William Leefe Robinson. During a raid on London, his tiny biplane attacked the airship which caught fire and crashed in Cuffley, Hertfordshire. He was later awarded the VC.

• 1939: Great Britain, Australia and France declared war on Germany.

• 1962: The Trans-Canada highway, 4,800 miles from St John’s Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia, was opened.

• 1976: The US spacecraft Viking II landed on Mars after a journey lasting six days short of one year.

• 2004: After three days, the Beslan school siege ended when special forces stormed the building in an unplanned onslaught. The Russian massacre claimed the lives of more than 330 people.

• 2018: Around 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in Libya’s capital city.

• BIRTHDAYS: Pauline Collins, actress, 79; Al Jardine, singer, 77; Derek Redmond, former athlete, 54; Charlie Sheen, actor, 54.