Happy Anniversary: A short speech

28 February:

1923: The House of Lords passes a bill declaring that a married woman who commits an offence in the presence of her husband may no longer be deemed to have been coerced by him.

1950: The Assembly in Paris passes a bill curbing the sale of Coca-Cola.

1988: In Miami, a 90-year-old man is charged with beating his 76- year-old bride to death with a hammer, during an argument over their honeymoon plans.

1 March:

1880: Pennsylvania becomes the first US state to abolish slavery.

1934: The Prince of Wales says: 'I see no reason why women should not wear shorts.'

1954: The US make their first H- bomb test at Bikini Atoll.

1966: After a flight of three-and-a- half months, the Russian probe Venus III lands on Venus, the first craft to land on another planet.

2 March:

Birthday of two popes: Leo XIII (1810) and Pius XII (1876) as well as Cardinal Basil Hume (1923).

1717: The first ballet, The Loves of Mars and Venus, is presented at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

1958: Gary Sobers scores 365 not out, the highest test score, against Pakistan at Kingston, Jamaica.

3 March:

1895: Compulsory driving tests for cyclists are instituted in Munich.

1904: Kaiser Wilhelm makes the first recording of a political speech on an Edison cylinder.

1931: 'The Star-Spangled Banner' becomes the official US national anthem.

4 March:

1919: Oxford University drops compulsory Greek as an entrance requirement.

1924: The song 'Happy Birthday to You' is published by Clayton F Summy.

1944: Researchers claim that tests on 3,341 children in Bath have shown that babies conceived in winter are the most intelligent.

5 March:

1946: Winston Churchill says 'an iron curtain has descended across Europe,' in a speech at Fulton, Missouri.

1960: Elvis Presley is discharged from the army.

1986: Villagers near Malacca, Malaysia, beat to death a dog believed to be one of a gang of thieves who tranform themselves to animals.

6 March:

1902: The army permits soldiers to wear gloves on or off duty.

1924: Pius XI becomes the first pope to have a wireless installed in the Vatican.

1946: The Food Ministry in London issues a recipe for squirrel pie.