ON THIS DAY

■■1421: Henry VI, who inherited the throne at the age of nine months, was born at Windsor.

■■1774: Austria introduced the first state education system.

■■1877: Thomas Alva Edison recited Mary Had A Little Lamb into his phonograph – and made the world’s first recording of the human voice. ■■1888: Will Hay, British music hall and film comedy actor, was born in Stockton-on-Tees.

■■1897: The world’s first motor cab fleet began operations in London. It went out of business in 1900 – its battery-powered taxis moved at only 8mph.

■■1921: Irish independence was granted for the 26 southern states, which became known as the Irish Free State. Six counties which formed Ulster (Northern Ireland) remained as part of the UK.

■■1963: Christine Keeler, above, model involved in the Profumo scandal, was jailed for nine months for perjury.

■■1969: A free concert given by the Rolling Stones at Altamont, California, ended in tragedy when Hell’s Angels stabbed a man to death.

■■1991: Durham were admitted to first-class cricket, the first new county side for 70 years.

■■2012: A powerful typhoon that swept away emergency shelters, a military camp and possibly entire families in the southern Philippines killed around 350 people, with nearly 400 missing.

■■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: An award-winning photographer embarked on a “crazy” winter mountain challenge to help give a seriously ill baby an extra chance of life through the “most expensive drug in the world”.

■■BIRTHDAYS: JoBeth Williams, actress/director, 73; Peter Willey, former Test umpire, 72; Geoff Hoon, politician, 68; Peter Buck, rock guitarist (REM), 65; Nick Park, animator, 63; Gordon Durie, former footballer, 56; Judd Apatow, film producer 54; Andrew Flintoff, former cricketer 44.

■■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%