DAY FEBRUARY 16 1957 The BBC launches the pop show 6.5 Special. 1959 Fidel Castro became president of Cuba. 1972 Nine-hour electricity blackouts took place in Britain as a result of the miners strike. Births: Johann Strauss, composer, 1866;

DAY FEBRUARY 16

1957 The BBC launches the pop show 6.5 Special.

1959 Fidel Castro became president of Cuba.

1972 Nine-hour electricity blackouts took place in Britain as a result of the miners' strike.

Births: Johann Strauss, composer, 1866; John Schlesinger, director, 1926; Sonny Bono, of Sonny and Cher, 1935.

Deaths: Angela Carter, author of Wise Children, 1992; Sir Walter Winterbottom, ex-England soccer boss, 2002.

Today's birthdays: June Brown, from EastEnders, 80; Ian Lavender, once of Dad's Army, 61; Iain Banks, author of The Wasp Factory, 53; John McEnroe, ex-Wimbledon men's singles champion, 48; Amanda Holden, actress, 36; Cathy Freeman, Olympic sprinter, 34.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17

1933 First publication of Newsweek.

1958 The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) set up.

1972 The House of Commons voted for Britain to enter the Common Market.

Births: William Cadbury, chocolate pioneer and philanthropist, 1867; Gene Pitney, singer-songwriter, 1941.

Deaths: Moliere, French playwright, 1673; Graham Sutherland, artist, 1980; Guy Laroche, designer, 1989.

Today's birthdays: Patricia Routledge, actress, 78; Barry Humphries (or Dame Edna Everage), 73; Brenda Fricker, actress, 62; Rene Russo, actress, 53; Paris Hilton, model and socialite, 26.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18

1678 John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress published.

1885 First publication of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

1930 American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto.

1971.

Births: Jack Palance, actor, 1919.

Deaths: Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb, 1967.

Today's birthdays: Len Deighton, spy novelist, 78; Toni Morrison, author, 76; Bobby Robson, ex-England soccer boss, 74; Yoko Ono, artist and John Lennon's widow, 74; Cybill Shepherd, actress, 57; John Travolta, actor, 53; Rob Andrew, ex-England Rugby Union international, 44; Colin Jackson, British 110m world champion, 40; Gary Neville, Manchester United soccer star, 32.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 19

1878 The Women's Institute was set up.

1982 The De Lorean car company went into receivership.

1985 First broadcast of EastEnders.

Births: Lee Marvin, actor, 1924.

Deaths: Derek Jarman, director of Blue and Caravaggio, 1994; Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leader, 1997; Stanley Kramer, director of High Noon, 2001.

Today's birthdays: Smokey Robinson, singer-songwriter, 67; Ray Winstone, actor, 50; Prince Andrew, 47; Leslie Ash, actress from Men Behaving Badly, 47.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20

1947 Lord Montbatten appointed last Viceroy of India.

1962 US astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth three times in the space capsule Friendship 7.

Births: Robert Altman, director of Gosforth Park, 1925.

Deaths: Ferruccio Lamborghini, car designer, 1993; Robert Bolt, director and screenwriter, 1995.

Today's birthdays: Sidney Poitier, actor, 80; Jimmy Greaves, ex-England and Spurs soccer star, 67; Mike Leigh, director of Vera Drake, 64; Blenda Blethyn, actress, 61; Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 56; Kelsey Grammer, actor, 52.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21

1931 First publication of the New Statesman.

1952 Identity cards were scrapped in Britain.

1956 The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme was set up.

1961 First appearance of The Beatles at The Cavern Club in Liverpool.

1965 Americal black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot dead at a meeting in New York.

1975 Four White House aides were jailed for their part in the Watergate scandal.

Births: W H Auden, poet, 1907; Douglas Bader, Second World War fighter pilot, 1910; Sam Peckinpah, director of The Wild Bunch, 1925; Nina Simone, singer-songwriter, 1933.

Deaths: Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer, 1991; John Thaw, actor, 2002.

Today's birthdays: Jilly Cooper, author, 70; Alan Rickman, actor, 61; Mary-Chapin Carpenter, singer-songwriter, 49; Jennifer Love Hewitt, actress, 28; Charlotte Church, singer, 21.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22

1892 Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan opened in London.

1956 First floodlight Football League game, between Portsmouth and Newcastle Utd at Fratton Park.

Births: George Washington, US President, 1732; Robert Baden-Powell, creator of the Boy Scout movement, 1857; John Mills, actor, 1908; Kenneth Williams, of Carry On fame, 1926.

Deaths: Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown's Schooldays, 1896; John Lewis, chain store pioneer, 1963; Florence Ballard, singer with The Supremes, 1976.

Today's birthdays: Bruce Forsyth, entertainer, 79; Edward Kennedy, US senator, 75; Sheila Hancock, actress, 74; Julie Walters, actress, 57; James Blunt, singer-songwriter, 33; Drew Barrymore, actress, 32.