On this day

1645: Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud was beheaded on Tower Hill for treason.

1840: Sir Rowland Hill introduced the Penny Post and 112,000 letters were posted in London on the first day.

1863: The London Underground railway was opened by William Gladstone. The Metropolitan Railway went from Paddington to Farringdon Street, stopping at seven stations.

1880: Grock the circus clown was

Wettach in Switzerland.

1890: Cleopatra’s tomb was discovered.

1901: The first oil strike – in Texas.

1920: The League of Nations held its first meeting at Geneva. It was dissolved in 1946 and replaced by the United Nations. born as Adrien 1929: Comic book character Tintin, left, appeared for the first time.

1935: The so-called King and Queen of Hollywood, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, were divorced.

1971: Coco Chanel, pictured above, French fashion designer and one of the most influential couturiers of the 20th Century, died aged 87.

1985: Eight people were killed in a

Putney, south-west London.

2007: David Beckham agreed to sign a five-year with US side Los Angeles Galaxy worth

£128 million.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Duke of Cambridge witnessed two robotic operations on cancer patients during a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital. pictured gas blast above in deal