ON THIS DAY

311: Christians were legally recognised in the Roman Empire. 1789: George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States of America. 1803: The USA bought Louisiana and New Orleans from France. 1900: Engine driver Casey Jones died at the throttle of the Cannonball Express at Illinois Central, slowing down the train to save passengers’ lives. 1906: London bus routes were numbered. 1944: The first of 500,000 prefabricated homes (prefabs) went on show in London. 1945: Adolf Hitler shot himself dead in his underground bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin. Eva Braun, whom he had married the previous day, died beside him by taking a cyanide pill. 1975: The Vietnam War ended when the South Vietnam Government surrendered to North Vietnam. Fighting had continued despite the signing of peace treaties in 1973. 1980: Armed terrorists seized the Iranian Embassy in London and threatened to blow it up if their demands were not met. 1993: Tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed by an obsessed fan during a quarter-final match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg. 1995: Bill Clinton became the first US President to visit Northern Ireland. BIRTHDAYS: Willie Nelson, country singer, 82; Burt Young, actor, 75; Bobby Vee, singer, 72; King Carl Gustav of Sweden, 69; Leslie Grantham, actor, 68; Jane Campion, film director, 61; Kirsten Dunst, actress, 33; Dianna Agron, actress/singer, 29. QUOTES OF THE DAY: “I’d love it if they booed me” - Actor Jonathan Pryce on his role as Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice. “All the videos I see now are sexy and raunchy. What’s the point? I don’t get it” - Singer Nancy Sinatra. “Having masses of tattoos on your face does not encourage people to take you seriously or think you would make a good employee. It may be prejudice but it’s true and we should be honest with our kids and friends” - TV’s Kirstie Allsopp. “My life is like Tetris, constantly trying to fit everything in” - Jamie Oliver. “Since I am a republican, I thought it would be somewhat hypocritical to pop to the Palace” - Actress Honor Blackman, who turned down a CBE. “We speak probably twice a week, and it’s nice to speak to someone like him, because he has done everything right and everything wrong” - Singer Ed Sheeran on Sir Elton John. “An adept floater of tides and rider of passions. But despite the chest hair and sexual adventures, he is essentially a child” - Historian David Starkey’s description of Russell Brand.