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 amid their scorched earth policy. But winter was approaching and Napoleon soon had to retreat.

1852: The Duke of Wellington, British 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 Tennessee.

1891: The first penalty kick in an English League football game was taken by Heath of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington.

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 when the fringe caught in the wheel of a Bugatti sports car.

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

1974: Chia-Chia and ChingChing, giant pandas, arrived at London Zoo.

1982: Princess Grace of Monaco, pictured left with her husband Prince Rainier while on honeymoon, previously known as actress Grace Kelly, died in hospital without regaining consciousness after a car crash the previous day.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A Hawaiian crow on the edge of extinction joined the elite group of birds to use tools.