ON THIS DAY
1660: The Royal Society was founded in London.
1757: William Blake, mystic and visionary English poet and painter, was born in London.
1905: The Irish political party Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith.
1934: Winston Churchill warned that weak defences could mean that Britain could be “tortured into absolute subjection” in any war with Germany.
1943: The Big Three – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin – met in Tehran to “plan strategy“and discuss post-war policy, including treatment of a defeated Germany.
1968: Enid Blyton, creator of Noddy and Big Ears among many other children’s favourites, died.
2010: Britain shivered in record low temperatures, including a “ridiculously low“minus 17C.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Royal Mint announced plans to launch a new 50p to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.