Birthdays

1876: The first recognisable words were transmitted by telephone over 100ft of wire. Speaking to his assistant, inventor Alexander Graham Bell said: “Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.”

1886: The first Crufts Dog Show to be held in London was organised by Charles Cruft, general manager of a dog biscuit firm.

1969: James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to murdering American civil rights leader Martin Luther King and was sentenced to 99 years in jail. 1988: The Prince of Wales narrowly escaped death in an avalanche at Klosters in the Swiss Alps.

1990: Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft was sentenced to death by an Iraqi military court for espionage.

1994: Frederick West was charged with the murder of eight women after they were dug up in the garden of his Gloucester home.

Chuck Norris, actor, 80; Garth

Crooks, broadcaster and former footballer, 62; Sharon Stone, actress, 62; Neneh Cherry, singer, 56; Prince Edward, 56; Edie Brickell, singer, 54; Chris Sutton, former footballer, 47;

Colin Murray, radio and television presenter, 43; Rafe Spall, actor, 37; Olivia Wilde, pictured, actress, 36.

Quotes of the day

“You have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life, protect them” – the Duchess of Sussex urges men to value and appreciate the women in their lives.

“We need change in terms of how we deal with the climate, we need change in terms of domestic violence, we need change in terms of education and health and I’m getting more and more impatient” – TV presenter and women’s rights activist Sandi Toksvig.

“I was constantly trying to escape myself - I was like a piece of fruit rotting from the inside” – Davina Mccall explains why she took drugs in her twenties.