ON THIS DAY

NOVEMBER 23

1852: Britain’s first pillar box was erected in St Helier on Jersey.

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.

1910: Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, who poisonedhiswifetoseekanewlifewith 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.

NOVEMBER 24

1859: On The Origin Of Species by Charles Darwin was published.

1864: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,

French painter famous for his scene of Paris low-life, was born in Albi, southern France.

1962: Satirical TV programme That Was The Week That Was went out live on the BBC for the first time, introduced by David Frost, with material by John Cleese. 1963: Lee Harvey Oswald, charged with killing president Kennedy, was shot dead by club owner Jack Ruby at Dallas Police Headquarters.

1965: The Government imposed an experimental 70mph speed limit on motorways. 2005: The biggest overhaul of licensing laws in more than 50 years took effect. It permitted pubs, bars, clubs and stores in England and Wales to serve alcohol for longer – and even round the clock.

NOVEMBER 25

1952: Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap opened in London, at the Ambassadors Theatre with Richard Attenborough as the detective.

1969: John Lennon returned his MBE in protest against British involvement in Biafra and support of US action in Vietnam.

1984: Britain’s top rock stars gathered together as Band Aid to record Do They Know It’s Christmas, in aid of the Ethiopian famine appeal.

NOVEMBER 26

1922: Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon became the first men to see inside the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun near Luxor since it was sealed more than 3,000 years before. 1983: Gold bars worth #25 million were stolen from the Brinks Mat security warehouse at Heathrow Airport.

NOVEMBER 27

1914: The first two trained policewomen to be granted official status in Britain, Miss Mary Allen and Miss E F Harburn, reported for duty at Grantham.

1967: President de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s entry into the Common Market. 1975: Ross McWhirter was shot dead by Irish gunmen at his home in London. With his twin brother, Norris, he edited The Guinness Book Of Records.

1990: John Major became prime minister at 47, the youngest PM that century.