ON THIS DAY

> Birthdays: Queen Beatrix, Minnie Driver and Justin Timberlake

1606: Guy Fawkes, chief conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, was hung, drawn and quartered.

1788: Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart), the Young Pretender, died in Rome.

1797: Composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

1868: The four great bronze lions at the base of Nelson’s Column were completed by painter Sir Edwin Landseer and positioned in Trafalgar Square.

1910: Dr Crippen poisoned his wife, then cut her in small pieces and buried her remains in the cellar.

1943: Field Marshal Paulus surrendered the German 6th Army to the Russians at Stalingrad - the worst single defeat in German military history.

1953: More than 300 people died in widespread flooding in Kent, Essex and East Anglia.

1956: AA Milne, writer of children’s books, notably Winnie The Pooh, died in Hartfield, Sussex.

1983: Wearing seat belts in cars became compulsory in Great Britain.

1991: Allied forces recaptured the Saudi border town of Khafji in the first ground battle of the Gulf War.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Duchess of Sussex received a rock star welcome from students when she visited a London university to learn more about the work of a Commonwealth institution.

BIRTHDAYS: Philip Glass, composer, 83; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 82; Phil Manzanera, rock guitarist (Roxy Music), 69; John Lydon, rock singer (Johnny Rotten), 64; Anthony LaPaglia, actor, 61; Lloyd Cole, singer/songwriter, 59; Minnie Driver, actress, 50; Justin Timberlake, pop star/actor, 39.