ON THIS DAY

1499: Perkin Warbeck, the Flemish imposter claiming to be Richard, Duke of York, was hanged at the Tower of London. 1852: Britain’s first pillar box was erected in St Helier on Jersey. 1869: Valdemar Poulsen, Danish inventor of the tape recorder, which he patented in 1898, was born. 1887: Boris Karloff, actor best-known for horror roles, was born in London. 1888: Harpo Marx, the Marx Brother who never spoke on screen, was born in New York. 1889: The world’s first jukebox was installed in the Palais Royal Saloon, San Francisco. 1910: Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, Harpo Marx who poisoned his wife to seek a new life with his lover, Ethel Le Neve, was hanged at Pentoville Prison. 1963: The first episode of the BBC TV serial Doctor Who was screened in Britain. The Doctor was played by William Hartnell.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Hexham in Northumberland was crowned Britain’s happiest place to live in an annual poll.