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.

● 1919: Viscountess (Nancy) Astor became Britain’s first woman MP, holding a safe Plymouth seat for the Tories in a by-election caused by her husband’s elevation of the peerage.

● 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 – Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt – met in Tehran to “plan strategy” and discuss post-war policy, including treatment of a defeated Germany.

● 1967: Horseracing was suspended in Britain after an outbreakoffoot-and-mouthdisease.

● 1968: Enid Blyton, creator of Noddy and Big Ears among many other children’s favourites, died.

● 1983: The government announced an end to the monopoly by opticians on the sale of glasses.

● 2010: Britain shivered in record low temperatures, including a “ridiculously low” minus 17C in Wales.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A search for the winner of a £76 million lottery prize was stepped up, as the deadline for claiming on a missing ticket approached.

● BIRTHDAYS: Berry Gordy, Tamla Motown founder, 90; Randy Newman, singer/songwriter, 76; Kris Akabusi, former athlete and TV presenter, 61; Judd Nelson, actor, 60.