On this day

1760: George III became king, beginning one of the longest reigns in British history – 60 years of tremendous change, during which he went violently insane.

1803: Joseph Hansom, inventor of the Hansom Cab in 1834, was born. They proved the most popular of London’s cabs and were later introduced in New York.

1863: The English Football Association was formed at a meeting at Freeman’s Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.

1881: The Gunfight at the OK Corral took place outside Tombstone, Arizona Territory, between the Ike Clanton gang and Marshal Virgil Earp, his deputised brothers Wyatt and Morgan and Doc Holliday.

1905: Norway became independent from Sweden. 1940: The P-51 Mustang made its maiden flight. 1950: The rebuilt chamber of the House of Commons was opened by King George VI, having been destroyed by bombing in 1941.

1955: The New York underground paper Village Voice was first published, backed by Norman Mailer.

1965: The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to be presented with their MBEs, pictured above left.

1986: Jeffrey Archer, pictured above right, resigned as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, after allegations that he had made a payment to a prostitute to avoid a scandal. He denied the allegations and fought a successful libel case.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A BBC weather presenter struggled to contain a fit of giggles after a caption error labelled her an “ex-offender” during a live broadcast.