On this day

1499: Perkin Warbeck, the Flemish imposter claiming to be Richard, Duke of York, was hanged at the Tower of London. 1852: Britain’s first pillar box was erected in St Helier on Jersey.

1869: Valdemar Poulsen, Danish inventor of the tape recorder, which he patented in 1898, was born.

1887: Boris Karloff, actor best-known for horror roles, was born in London.

1888: Harpo Marx, the Marx Brother who never spoke on screen, was born in New York. 1889: The world’s first jukebox was installed in the Palais Royal Saloon, San Francisco.

1910: Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, who poisoned his wife to seek a new life with his lover, Ethel Le Neve, was hanged at Pentoville Prison.

1963: The first episode of the BBC TV serial Doctor Who was screened in Britain. The Doctor was played by William Hartnell (below).

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:

Hexham in Northumberland was crowned Britain’s happiest place to live in an annual poll.