NOW & THEN

0 Edward VIII announced in a radio broadcast that he was abdicating the throne on this day in 1936 ed over ten rounds by Trevor Berbick, in Nassau, Bahamas.

1981: Peru’s Javier Perez de Cuellar became secretary-general of the United Nations.

1987: Charlie Chaplin’s famous cane and bowler were sold at Christie’s for £82,500, and his boots for £38,500.

1990: It was decided to place concrete puffins on the cliffs at Cardigan Island, west Wales, to try to lure real birds back.

1994: President Boris Yeltsin sent Russian tanks and troops into the renegade region of Chechnya.

2001: The People’s Republic of China joined the World Trade Organisation.

2009: American golfer Tiger Woods announced that he was to take an indefinite leave from professional golf to try to work on “healing” his family after revelations surrounding infidelity.