ON THIS DAY

● 1767: Georg Telemann, the most prolific composer of all time, died in Hamburg. He wrote more than 1,000 cantatas, 40 operas, 120 concertos, 44 passions, 600 orchestral suites and 12 sets of church services with pieces for every Sunday of the year.

● 1797: Admiral Nelson was wounded in the right arm by grapeshot. He had it amputated that afternoon.

● 1867: The first patent for barbed wire was taken out by Lucien Smith of Kent, Ohio.

● 1870: Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist, was born. He wrote the classic spy yarn The Riddle Of The Sands but after joining the IRA he was arrested and executed for being in possession of unauthorised weapons.

● 1876: Custer’s Last Stand took place at Little Big Horn, Montana. The Sioux Indians, led by Crazy

Horse, killed Custer and all 264 soldiers of his 7th US Cavalry.

● 1945: The United Nations Organisation was founded.

● 1953: John Christie was sentenced to death for murdering four women including his wife.

● 1969: Pancho Gonzalez and Charlie Pasarell played a record 112-game singles match on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, lasting five hours 12 minutes. Gonzalez, aged 41, won.

● 2009: Tributes from the world of music, film and celebrity flooded in following the death of 50-year-old “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: SpaceX launched its heftiest rocket with 24 research satellites.

● BIRTHDAYS: Roy Marsden, actor, 79; Carly Simon, singer, 75; Tim Finn, musician, 68.