Also on this day

1819: Manchester’s Peterloo Massacre as cavalry charge kills 17 in crowd demanding parliamentary reform.

1960: Cyprus gains its independence from the UK.

1977: Elvis Presley, right, dies at Graceland, his Memphis home.

Thomas, who focused his reporting on Lawrence. The Welshman in Arabic garb became a household name, as charismatic leader of Arab freedom fighters.

Lawrence returned to London and he and Faisal represented the Arabs at the peace conferences at the end of the war. It was believed that an independent Arab state, including parts of Syria, would be the prize for helping the allies take on the Ottoman Empire.

But a deal had already been struck in private – the infamous Sykes-picot agreement. The Middle East was divided into British and French spheres, with no room for independent states.

A disillusioned Lawrence grew to loath the attention his fame attracted and retired from public life in 1922. Four years later he published Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his role in the Middle East.

He remained in the forces until 1935. Shortly after, he was in a motorbike crash and died, aged 46. His legend grew further after his death, with Peter O’toole starring in the 1962 Hollywood blockbuster Lawrence of Arabia.

Question: Which singer, the best-selling female music artist ever, was born this day 1958? Last week I asked which US cartoon character made her screen debut in Dizzy Dishes, this day in 1930. The answer is BETTY BOOP.