ON THIS DAY

1791: The optical telegraph (semaphore machine) was unveiled in Paris.

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1836: Texas was proclaimed a republic, independent of Mexico.

1882: Robert MacLean tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Queen Victoria at Windsor.

1930: Novelist DH Lawrence died in France of tuberculosis.

1949: The first round-the-world nonstop flight was completed by Captain James Gallagher and his 13-man USAF crew. It took 94 hours, during which the plane, Lucky Lady II, was refuelled four times in flight.

1958: A British team led by Vivian Fuchs completed the first crossing of the Antarctic, covering 2,158 miles from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea in 99 days.

1969: The Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde made its maiden flight from Toulouse.

1970: Southern Rhodesia broke away from Britain and became a republic under Ian Smith.