ON THIS DAY

● 1327: Edward III acceded to the English throne.

● 1533: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (wife number two of six) were married secretly by the Bishop of Lichfield.

● 1759: Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire.

● 1857: Lord Lonsdale (Henry Cecil Lowther), president of the National Sporting Club, who gave boxing its rules and Lonsdale Belts to its champions, was born in London.

● 1924: The first Winter Olympics began in Chamonix, France.

● 1947: Al Capone, Chicago gang boss in the Prohibition era, died of a heart attack, days after suffering a stroke, aged 48.

● 1981: The Gang of Four (Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers) broke away from the Labour Party to set up the Social Democrats.

● 1990: A Boeing 707 jet crashed on Long Island, New York, after running out of fuel, killing 73 people including the pilot. More than 80 passengers survived.

● 2010: One of Saddam Hussein’s closest allies, Ali Hassan al-Majid, the man known as “Chemical Ali”, was executed in Iraq.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall prepared for their appearance on ITV’s This Morning, as the programme neared its 30th anniversary.

● JANUARY 25 CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS: Angela Thorne, actress, 80; Tom Paulin, poet and critic, 70; Emma Freud, broadcaster, 57; David Ginola, former footballer, 52; Jennifer Lewis, actress, 62; Ana Ortiz, actress, 48; Alicia Keys, singer, 38..