ON THIS DAY

● 480 BC: The Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis to halt their advance into Europe.

● 1846: The German astronomer Johann Galle and his assistant Heinrich d’Arrest discovered Neptune.

● 1848: Chewing-gum was first commercially produced by John Curtis on a stove in his home in Bangor, Maine, and sold as State Of Maine Pure Spruce Gum.

● 1889: Wilkie Collins, English novelist and pioneer of detective fiction (The Woman In White, The Moonstone), died in London.

● 1912: The first Keystone Cops film was released in America by Mack Sennett, called Cohen Collects A Debt.

● 1939: Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist and founder of psychoanalysis, died in Hampstead, aged 83.

● 1964: The first performance of Fiddler On The Roof took place in New York with Zero Mostel singing If I Were A Rich Man.

● 1973: Juan Peron was reelected president of Argentina after being ousted almost 18 years earlier.

● 1974: The BBC Ceefax teletext service began – it was the world’s first.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Berry Gordy, 90, the Motown mogul who launched the careers of numerous stars including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, announced his retirement.

● BIRTHDAYS: Julio Iglesias, singer, 77; Bruce Springsteen, rock singer, 71; Nicholas Witchell, journalist, 67; Cherie Blair (Cherie Booth QC), barrister, 66; Karl Pilkington, TV presenter, 48; Trinidad James, American rapper, 33.