A year ago . . .

1686: Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, German physicist who invented the mercury thermometer, was born. 1809: Dartmoor Prison was opened to house French prisoners of war. From 1850 it was used for convicts. 1819: Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace. 1941: The German battleship Bismarck sank HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. 1969: The Black And White Minstrel Show, at London’s Victoria Palace, closed after 4,354 performances in seven years. 1974:

Jazz musician, bandleader and composer Edward ‘Duke’ Ellington died. 1978:

Princess Margaret’s 18-year marriage to Lord Snowdon was ended by a special procedure divorce.