On this day

1405: The Mongol leader Tamerlane the Great died during an expedition to conquer China.

1673: Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin), the French dramatist and writer of comedies, died on stage in Paris, at the age of 51. 1818: Karl Christian Ludwig Drais von Sauerbronn patented the “draisine”, the forerunner of the bicycle, but which ran on rails. 1883: AMr Ashwell, of Herne Hill, London, patented the Vacant/Engaged toilet door sign.

1909: Geronimo, the great Apache leader, died. His real namewas Goyathlay, which means “one who yawns”.

1959: The Queen allowed Marlborough House to be used by the government and, as a result, it became the home of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation. 1972: Volkswagen broke the record held by the Model T Ford by selling the 15,007,034th production model of the Beetle. 1978 – The Provisional IRA detonated a bomb at the La Mon restaurant, Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.

1981: Paris Hilton, the American hotel heiress and TV personality, was born in New York City. 1982: Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, instrumental in the development of “bebop”, died.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: More than 280,000 people signed a petition calling for all children to be given a meningitis vaccine following the death of a two-year-old girl.