ON THIS DAY
1791: The optical telegraph (semaphore machine) was unveiled in Paris. 1836: Texas was proclaimed a republic, independent of Mexico. 1882: Robert MacLean tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Queen Victoria at Windsor. 1930: Novelist DH Lawrence died in France of tuberculosis. 1949: The first round-the-world non-stop flight was completed by Captain James Gallagher and his 13-man USAF crew. It took 94 hours, during which the plane, Lucky Lady II, was refuelled four times in flight. 1958: A British team led by Vivian Fuchs completed the first crossing of the Antarctic, covering 2,158 miles from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea in 99 days. 1969: The French-built supersonic airliner Concorde made its maiden flight from Toulouse. 1970: Southern Rhodesia broke away from Britain and became a republic under Ian Smith. 1986: The Queen signed the Australia Bill in Canberra, formally severing any Australian constitutional ties with Britain. 1988: A new political party was born when Liberals merged with the Social Democrats to form the Social and Liberal Democrats. 1995: Financial dealer Nick Leeson, whose multimillion-pound dealings on the high-risk derivatives market in Singapore bankrupted Barings Bank, was arrested at Frankfurt airport after a week-long manhunt. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Actor Bill Roache led tributes to “the father of Coronation Street”, its creator, Tony Warren, who died aged 79. BIRTHDAYS: Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet Union president, 86; Tom Wolfe, novelist, 86; John Irving, novelist, 75; JPR Williams, former rugby player, 68; John Altman, actor, 65; Ian Woosnam, golfer, 59; Jon Bon Jovi, actor/rock singer, 55; Daniel Craig, actor, 49; James Arthur, singer, 29.